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Ladybbird 20-07-14 18:53

WAR CRIMES: PUTINS' Top Secret EVIL Weapon JAMS Airlines/Ships Signals
 
Is This the BUK Missile Launcher that Shot Down MH17 Being Smuggled Back to Russia:
- Motorist Captures Military Truck Carrying BUK M1 in Border Town



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NEW
- A driver followed this military truck (left and inset) on a main road on Saturday night for two kilometres in a 'border area' of Russia before uploading the footage, filmed with a dashboard camera, on the internet. The cargo had no escort and Ukrainian sources have seized on it, captioning the footage:

'A Russian blogger filmed the BUK M1 in Russia, the one that shot the Boeing.' Reports from Ukraine suggested the BUK had been smuggled in the dead of night into Russia soon after the plane was blasted out of the sky on Thursday last week.


It came after images were released of a launcher rumbling through Torez (right), held by pro-Russian separatists, just two hours before the Malaysia Airlines flight was shot down.


A driver followed this military truck on a main road for two kilometres in a 'border area' of Russia before uploading the footage, filmed with a dashboard camera, on the internet.
The cargo had no escort and Ukrainian sources have seized on it, captioning the footage: 'A Russian blogger filmed the BUK M1 in Russia, the one that shot the Boeing.'


SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO


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Offending launcher? A driver filmed this BUK launcher on the back of a military track rumbling back across the Russian border on Saturday


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Claims: Ukrainian officials have seized the footage and labelled it a 'film of the BUK M1 in Russia, the one that shot the Boeing'


'For two kilometres, a blogger from Russia has been driving behind covered BUK 1M which, according to his words, had been driving from the Ukrainian border. His opinion it that is exactly that BUK that made the shot,' said one version spreading on the web.
The driver is heard saying: 'No kidding.'


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Suspicious: Ukrainian spies reportedly filmed the launcher used in the attack being smuggled to Russia - with two missiles missing


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A view of what is believed to be a BUK surface-to-air missile battery being driven along a path on July 17 in Torez, Ukraine

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Launch site? The BUK missile system photographed in Torez hours before MH17 was downed by 2 missiles


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Russian air defense missile system BUK M2 seen at a military show at the international forum in Zhukovsky outside Moscow, in 2010


:rolleyes:


Is this SAM, Missing 2 Missiles, being Smuggled out of Ukraine Back into Russia?


Ladybbird 27-04-15 17:36

re: Germany Didn't Warn MH17 Pilots NOT to Fly Over Ukraine>Russia Shot Down Flight
 
Germany 'Was Told of Risk' of Flying over Ukraine Just Before Flight MH17 Was Shot Down - But 'FAILED to Pass on Warning'

  • German government 'knew of risk of flying over Ukraine', it is claimed
  • Diplomatic cables refer to Ukrainian air force plane shot down on 14 July 2014
  • Malaysia Airlines's flight MH17 was shot down on 17 July last year
Daily Mail UK, 27 April 2015


The German government had been warned of a heightened risk of flying over eastern Ukraine just days before the MH17 disaster last year, it has been claimed.

Despite being told of the risk of flying over Ukraine in diplomatic cables sent two days before the crash, Germany failed to pass on the warning, local media reported.


Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine on 17 July, and all 298 aboard were killed.


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Warning: Despite being told of the risk of flying over Ukraine in diplomatic cables two days before the MH17 crash, the German government failed to pass on the warning


German foreign ministry cables sent on July 15, cited an incident from the day before when a Ukrainian air force plane was shot down at around 20,000 feet over rebel-held territory.

German intelligence had repeatedly warned of the risk to aviation security, and had assessed the downing of the Ukrainian military plane on July 14 as a 'significant development because of its altitude', German public TV channels NDR and WDR reported.



Earlier this month, the Dutch government - which lost 189 citizens in the disaster - said that, with nearly all of the victims identified, efforts had shifted to finding those responsible for shooting the plane down as it flew over Ukraine last July.
After a meeting of foreign ministers from Malaysia, Ukraine and Australia on the sidelines of a cyber-security conference in The Hague, Holland's Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said there was general agreement on this course of action.


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Tragedy: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine on July 17 last year, and all 298 aboard were killed


'Now that we're very far with repatriation (of the victims' remains), investigation and prosecution are becoming more central,' Koenders said in a statement.
'The ministers believe that prosecution is not only important for the countries with victims on board. Civil aviation is vulnerable and every safety violation is a concern shared worldwide.'

Forensics laboratories in the Netherlands have identified remains of 296 of the 298 MH17 victims and recovered large parts of the wreckage for investigation.

Prosecutors are testing the theory that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air BUK missile fired from an area held by pro-Russian forces.
Because two-thirds of the victims were Dutch citizens, the Netherlands is leading several post-crash investigations.

The final report is due to be published in October.

Ladybbird 13-05-22 22:54

Russian WAR CRIMES: Investigating and Tracking Down Russian Soldiers
 
First Ukraine WAR CRIMES Trial With Russian Sergeant 21, Accused of Killing Civilian

13 May 2022 ITV News






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A 21-year-old Russian soldier has become the first member of his country's military to go on trial for allegedly committing a war crime in Ukraine.



Sergeant Vadim Shyshimarin, who appeared in court in Kyiv for the first time on Friday, is accused of killing an unarmed Ukrainian civilian.

It's alleged the captured member of a Russian tank unit shot a 62-year-old man in the head through an open car window in the north-eastern village of Chupakhivka during the first days of the war.

He faces up to life in prison under a section of the Ukrainian criminal code that addresses the laws and customs of war.

Shyshimarin's trial, which marks the first war crimes trial since Moscow invaded its neighbour 11 weeks ago, was attended by scores of journalists at the Solomyanskyy district court in Kyiv and will be watched closely by the world.



Ladybbird 23-05-22 15:16

re: WAR CRIMES: DEATH Sentences Handed to Brits Aiden Aslin & Shaun Pinner
 
Russian Soldier Jailed For Life For Killing Civilian First Ukraine War Crimes Trial

BBC News 23 May 2022


A court in Ukraine has jailed a Russian tank commander for life for killing an unarmed civilian at the first war crimes trial since the invasion.

Captured soldier Sergeant Vadim Shishimarin was convicted of killing Oleksandr Shelipov, 62, in the north-eastern village of Chupakhivka on 28 February.

He admitted shooting Mr Shelipov but said he had been acting on orders and asked forgiveness of his widow.

Multiple other alleged war crimes are being investigated by Ukraine.






Ladybbird 04-06-22 14:47

re: WAR CRIMES: DEATH Sentences Handed to Brits Aiden Aslin & Shaun Pinner
 
A Difficult and Painful Question’: Ukraine Ponders How to Punish Collaborators

More than 1,400 cases of treason and collaboration with the Russian army have been brought against citizens


The Guardian UK 4 JUN 2022


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War crimes prosecutors at work


On the third day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the mayor of the city of Kupyansk received a call from a Russian army commander suggesting they talk.



Russian forces were already on the outskirts of the city, in the north-eastern Kharkiv region. Mayor Gennady Matsegora released a video address explaining that he had accepted a Russian offer.

“I took the decision to take part in negotiations to avoid loss of life,” he said. Matsegora handed over the city to Russian control without a fight. Later, he allegedly provided Russian soldiers with transportation, housing, fuel and food.

Now he is one of hundreds of Ukrainian citizens accused of collaborating with the invading army, and could face up to 15 years in prison. Kupyansk is still under Russian occupation, so Matsegora has not been arrested, but in places where the Russians have been pushed back, Ukrainian authorities have already made arrests of those suspected of collaboration.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, said at the beginning of May that there were more than 700 treason cases open against Ukrainian citizens, and another 700 cases of collaboration. In the besieged Kharkiv region alone, prosecutors said they had now opened 50 cases, including against seven police officers, five mayors and a judge. They all stand accused of paving the way for Moscow to occupy villages and kill dozens of people.

“Out of those 50 people, half have been arrested. The others, unfortunately, remain in the occupied territories and haven’t been arrested yet,” said Oleksandr Filchakov, the chief prosecutor for the Kharkiv region.

The governor of the region, Oleh Synehubov, said there were various forms of collaboration, such as handing over information. “It can include giving the Russians lists of those locals who are in the military, the families of military people, or the people who are veterans of the [Donbas] war,” he said.

Filchakov claimed there were cases of collaborators handing the Russians lists of wealthy local people. “They explained to the occupiers where they live and what kind of riches they possess. So later the Russian soldiers came to those houses together with the collaborators and were stealing their possessions.”



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Oleksandr Filchakov, Kharkiv region’s chief prosecutor



In the village of Pivdenne, the chair of the council was arrested for attempted collaboration. Prosecutors said they found evidence that he had been in touch with Russian agents.

“He was making preparations for the occupation. But the Russians never arrived there and we arrested him a few days after the invasion,” said Maksym Klymovets, a district prosecutor in the Kharkiv region.

For the Ukrainian authorities, it is important to show that punishment for those who helped the Russian invasion will be swift and stern. But at the same time, the process comes with lots of tricky questions.

These include whether Ukraine’s prosecutors and judges, who for years have battled accusations of corruption and nepotism, can be trusted not to abuse the process. Numerous high-ranking officials may also be asked questions about negligence at the beginning of the invasion, or even treason.


On Sunday the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, showed that accusations of negligence or worse could extend right to the top of government structures when he fired the head of the SBU security service in Kharkiv during a visit to the city. Zelenskiy accused the man of “thinking only about himself” instead of helping to defend the city during the initial days of the war. “The law enforcement organs will look into what his motives were,” Zelenskiy said.

Another problem is how to grade different forms of collaboration and make sure punishments are appropriate. “There are people who were looking forward to jump into the other army, there are people who collaborated because they wanted to save their lives, and there are also people who were forced to collaborate at gunpoint,” said Ilko Bozhko, a Ukrainian military official from the east operational command.

Ukrainian prosecutors face a particularly tricky task in the occupied areas of southern Ukraine, which were taken by the Russians at the start of the war. There, Russian officials are busy attempting to impose Russian rule over everyday life, such as by moving Ukrainian schools to the Russian curriculum.

If Ukraine regains control of these territories, there could be thousands of people who have committed acts that fall under the technical definition of collaboration, such as teachers who continued to work under the new curriculum. But many feel prosecutors should be lenient when it comes to such cases.

“This is a very difficult and painful question,” said Sergii Gorbachov, the education ombudsman of Ukraine. “It’s very difficult to decide where the line is. I don’t think you can demand heroism from unarmed civilian people. The most important thing is not to voluntarily collaborate. When we get the occupiers off all our land, I expect big problems over how we decide on this question.”

Volodymyr Ariev, an MP with the European Solidarity party headed by Ukraine’s former president Petro Poroshenko, said he hoped parliament would draft a new law on collaboration that would allow for swift and effective punishment but also prevent abuse and rank cases in order of seriousness.

“We need to be able to ascertain the level of collaboration and also the level of damage caused, and to be able to differentiate in different cases,” he said. “Some people should go to jail, but some should just be fined or banned from public service.”

Ladybbird 08-06-22 12:24

Re: WAR CRIMES: Russia Officials Open Trial Against Britons Captured Fighting in Ukra
 
Pro-Russia Officials Open Trial Against Britons Captured Fighting in Ukraine


Prosecutors from self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic say men face death penalty

BBC News 8 JUN 2022.

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https://e3.365dm.com/22/05/768x432/s...20220504145720


Captured British soldiers Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin

Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, the British fighters captured after defending Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks.



Russian proxy fighters in east Ukraine have said they are opening a trial against two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who were captured fighting alongside Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol.

The two men, who are serving in the Ukrainian military, and Ibrahim Saadun, a captive from Morocco, were shown sitting in a courtroom cage reserved for defendants in a video released on pro-Russian social media channels on Tuesday.

Prosecutors from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, a proxy government in east Ukraine controlled by Russia, have said that the men face the death penalty for “terrorism” and for fighting as “mercenaries” against the Russian invasion.

Aslin and his fellow defendants have said they were regular soldiers fighting in the Ukrainian military and should be treated as prisoners of war.
Ukrainian servicemen sit in a bus after they were evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant

Kremlin mulls Nuremberg-style trials based on second world war tribunals



If the images from the courtroom are confirmed, the men would be the first Ukrainian soldiers to be tried by pro-Russian forces in what observers say could be a series of show trials meant to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Do you know the information in your indictment?” an interpreter asked Aslin, 28, from Newark, Nottinghamshire. “Tak tochno,” he replied, a military response meaning “affirmative”. Shaun Pinner, 48, from Watford and Bedfordshire, also said he understood the charges against him.


Russian officials have threatened to hold military tribunals they have called “Nuremberg 2.0”, meant to mirror war crimes trials being held in Kyiv for atrocities committed by invading Russian soldiers. Observers say the trials may be deliberately constructed to put maximum pressure on the west and to prompt prisoner exchanges for Russian soldiers captured and tried in Ukraine.



In a statement, Aslin’s family asked for privacy from the media. “This is a very sensitive and emotional time for our family, and we would like to say thank you to all that have supported us,” they said.

“We are currently working with the Ukrainian government and the Foreign Office to try and bring Aiden home. Aiden is a much-loved man and very much missed, and we hope that he will be released very soon.”

Ukraine has sentenced three Russian soldiers to prison for war crimes tied to the Russian offensive that began on 24 February. Vadim Shishimarin, 21, was sentenced to life in prison for killing a 62-year-old civilian in Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region early in the war. And two soldiers, Alexander Bobikin and Alexander Ivanov, were each sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for shelling attacks on population centres that “violated the laws and customs of war”.

‘They’ve gone through hell’: fears for British prisoners of war in Ukraine



Prosecutors said Aslin and his co-defendants were charged with four separate offences: committing a crime as part of a criminal group; forcible seizure of power or forcible retention of power; being a mercenary; and the promotion of training in terrorist activities.

But the two men were serving in Ukraine’s marines while taking part in the defence of Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks. Aslin, who had previous volunteered with a Kurdish militia against Islamic State fighters, ran a popular Twitter account and had been pictured being sworn into the Ukrainian armed forces.

Nonetheless, both men have been paraded before television cameras since they surrendered alongside hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers in May after months spent in a desperate defence of the Ukrainian steelworks.

Andrew Hill, 35, a father of four from Plymouth, was also captured during fighting in southern Ukraine.



Ladybbird 10-06-22 11:25

re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Investigating and Tracking Down Russian Soldiers
 
DEATH Sentences Handed to Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner Branded Sham Judgements

BBC News 10 JUN 2022


The death sentences handed to three men, including two Britons, who were captured by Russia while fighting for Ukraine have been branded a "sham judgement with absolutely no legitimacy".

Aiden Aslin, 28, from Nottinghamshire and Shaun Pinner, 48, from Bedfordshire, were were convicted of taking action towards violent seizure of power at a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).


The third man sentenced is reported to be Saaudun Brahim, a Moroccan national.



Ladybbird 14-06-22 11:32

re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Investigating and Tracking Down Russian Soldiers
 
Iron Princess of Crimea Fired by Vladimir Putin After Criticising Russian War Crimes

Daily Mirror 14 JUN 2022







Ladybbird 28-06-22 11:53

re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Investigating and Tracking Down Russian Soldiers
 
Ukraine WAR: Russian Strike on Shopping Centre a WAR Crime - G7 Leaders

At least 18 people have died in a missile strike on a shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk.

BBC 28 JUN 2022




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Hundreds of firefighters were involved in putting out the fire, which burned for several hours


Some 1,000 civilians were estimated to be inside the busy mall at the time of the attack at around 15:50 (12:50 GMT), President Volodymyr Zelensky said.


The leaders of the G7 group of richest nations - who are meeting in Germany - condemned the attack as "abominable".



"Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime," they said in a joint statement.

Russia has been blamed for the attack, which also injured at least 59 people, and there are fears the death toll will continue to rise.

Pictures online showed the building engulfed in flames and thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

Ukraine's President Zelensky described the attack as one of the "most brazen terrorist acts in European history".

He said the mall had no strategic value to Russia and posed no danger to its forces - "only the attempt of people to live a normal life, which so angers the occupiers".

"Only totally insane terrorists, who should have no place on earth, can strike missiles at such an object," he added.

Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, called the attack a "Ukrainian provocation", but cited no evidence to suggest that the missile strike had been staged.

The local governor, Dmytro Lunin, described the attack as a crime against humanity, writing on Telegram that is was "an obvious and cynical act of terror against the civilian population".

Authorities say 440 people from emergency services are working on location, including 14 psychologists brought in to support those affected.

Photos from the scene show the blackened and charred shell of the building with the roof caved in.

In one video taken shortly after the strike, a man can be heard calling out: "Is anybody alive… anybody alive?" Soon after, ambulances arrived to take the injured to hospital.

But there are still people missing and as night fell, family members gathered at a hotel over the road, where rescue crews have set up a base to wait for any news. Lights and generators have been brought to the site so crews can continue the search overnight, Reuters news agency reports.

The central-eastern city of Kremenchuk is located about 130km (81 miles) from Russian areas of control.


At the Scene,, Sophie Williams, BBC News


Here in Kremenchuk, you can still smell the smoke throughout the town, hours after the missile strike on the shopping mall.

All that is left is the mangled shell of the building.


The area is eerily quiet: the only sound is that of the rescuers moving debris as they search for people underneath.

An official informs us that the fire has been fully extinguished, but smoke is still billowing from the building.

The mall was struck at 16:00 local time and it is not yet clear how many people were inside when it happened. But there are fears that the death toll could rise.


The Ukrainian Air Force command said the shopping centre was struck by Kh-22 missiles launched from Tu-22M3 long-range bombers. However, the BBC has been unable to verify this.

"The centre was just destroyed. Before, we had strikes on the outskirts of the city, this time around, this is the centre of the city," an eyewitness, Vadym Yudenko told the BBC.

"I'm out of words," he added. "I did not expect that something like this could happen in my town."

The missile strike took place as the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and UK gathered in Germany for the G7 summit to discuss - among other things - toughening sanctions against Russia.

In addition to strongly condemning the attack, a joint statement issued by the Western leaders vowed to "continue to provide financial, humanitarian as well as military support for Ukraine, for as long as it takes".

Kremenchuk, in the Poltava province of Ukraine, is one of Ukraine's largest industrial cities, with a population of nearly 220,000 people in a 2021 census.

It is not the first time the city has been hit by missiles - there was one strike recorded in April and another 10 days ago at a nearby oil refinery.



Map Showing Kremenchuk
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cp...13_mallmap.png





Speaking after the shopping mall attack, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called it the "latest in a string of atrocities", while UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it would strengthen the resolve of Western allies to stand by Ukraine.

"This appalling attack has shown once again the depths of cruelty and barbarism to which the Russian leader will sink," Mr Johnson said.

Ladybbird 07-07-22 11:06

re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Investigating and Tracking Down Russian Soldiers
 
Ukraine WAR: 21,000 Alleged WAR Crimes Being Investigated, Prosecutor Says

Ukraine says it is investigating more than 21,000 WAR Crimes and crimes of aggression allegedly committed by Russia since the start of its invasion.

BBC News 7 JUL 2022.



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Ukraine says it has uncovered multiple mass graves in Bucha and other towns near Kyiv that were briefly seized by Russian troops

Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova told the BBC she was receiving reports of between 200 to 300 war crimes a day.

She admitted that many trials would be held in absentia, but stressed that it was "a question of justice" to continue with the prosecutions.

Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February. It denies all war crimes allegations.





Speaking to the BBC's World Service Outside Source programme, Ms Venediktova warned that Russian soldiers who killed, tortured or raped civilians "should understand that it's only a question of time when they all will be in court".

She said that although her team was working in regions across Ukraine, it was unable to investigate all cases "properly and effectively" because of a lack of access to some people and areas. This was an apparent reference to Ukraine's territories occupied by Russian troops.

In May, Ms Venediktova said that about 600 suspects had already been identified and 80 prosecutions had begun.

The first Russian soldier to be put on trial in Ukraine, Sgt Vadim Shishimarin, was sentenced to life in prison for killing a civilian in May.

Ukraine says it has uncovered multiple mass graves in Bucha, Borodyanka and other towns near the capital Kyiv that were briefly seized by Russian troops.

The International Criminal Court has described Ukraine as a "crime scene", dispatching its largest team of detectives ever to the country to assist in multiple investigations.


Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.

Ukraine's prosecutors wrestle with a new role: war crimes investigators



On the ground, Ukraine's military said Russian troops were preparing for an offensive in the eastern Donetsk region, shelling several towns.

Russia captured nearly all of the neighbouring Luhansk region over the weekend, part of its attempts to seize the wider Donbas area.

In its update, Ukraine's military said its forces were under intense pressure but had so far held off Russian forces.

Residents of Slovyansk, a key city in Ukrainian hands, were earlier urged to evacuate further west - a day after a deadly Russian attack on a local market.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said "artillery from our Western partners had started working very powerfully, so the losses of the occupiers will only increase".







Ladybbird 14-09-22 10:37

re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Investigating and Tracking Down Russian Soldiers
 
Ukraine WAR: Accounts of Russian TORTURE Emerge in Ukraine Liberated Areas

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


BBC UK 14 SEP 2022


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Artem says he was held by Russians in a police cell for more than 40 days, and was electrocuted




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 electrocution.

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

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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 kille

d 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".



Map Showing Kharkiv Counter-Attack


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Ladybbird 16-09-22 09:27

re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Investigating and Tracking Down Russian Soldiers
 
Ukraine Mass Burial Site With 440 Bodies Discovered in Izium, Says Police Chief

Evidence of Genocide: Zelenskyy Says There is Evidence of Genocide in Recapture Ukrainian Towns


Volodymyr Zelenskiy likens discovery to Bucha massacre carried out by Russian forces, as officials begin forensic investigations


BBC News 16 SEP 2022.





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Ukraine mass burial site with 440 bodies discovered in Izium, says police chief



Volodymyr Zelenskiy likens discovery to Bucha massacre carried out by Russian forces, as officials begin forensic investigations

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia of “leaving death everywhere” after Ukrainian authorities said they had found a mass grave in a forest in the north-eastern city of Izium containing more than 440 bodies.

Ukraine’s president likened the find, in an area recaptured this week from Russian forces, to the previous mass killings of civilians in the cities of Bucha, outside Kyiv, and Mariupol.

Speaking in a video address on Thursday night, Zelenskiy called on the world to “hold Russia to real account for this war”.

“Russia leaves death everywhere and it must be held responsible for that,” he declared. “The necessary procedures have already begun [in Izium]”.



Video from Izium showed a sandy pine forest dotted with graves. Wooden crosses marked the locations.

One hand-written sign read: “Ukraine armed forces, 17 people, Izium city, [taken] from morgue.” A few listed numbers – 345, 347, 444. Others had no inscriptions at all.


Serhiy Bolvinov, the chief police investigator for Kharkiv region, told Sky News some of the people had died as a result of shelling and airstrikes. He said forensic investigations would be carried out on every grave. A process of mass exhumations would begin shortly.

“I can say it is one of the largest burial sites in a big town in liberated [areas] … 440 bodies were buried in one place,” he said.

Oleh Kotenko, Ukraine’s missing persons ombudsman who visited the forest on Thursday, said some graves contained names and dates. Corpses of Ukrainian soldiers were taken in a van from the local morgue and tossed into a mass grave in black sacks, he said.

Citing video posted by Russian soldiers on social media, he said there were probably more than 17 bodies in one location. “We haven’t counted them yet, but I think there are more than 25 or even 30,” he said. Investigators with metal detectors were scanning the site for hidden explosives.

Izium resident Sergei Gorodko said that among the hundreds buried in individual graves were dozens of adults and children killed in a Russian airstrike on an apartment building. He said he pulled some of them out of the rubble “with my own hands”.

Thousands of Russian troops fled Izium at the weekend, following a stunning Ukrainian counter-offensive. The Russians abandoned almost all of Kharkiv province and retreated to new defensive positions east of the Oskil River, about 10 miles from Izium. There was no immediate public comment from Moscow.

The Ukrainian defence ministry tweeted: “Mass graves are being discovered in Izium after liberation from the (Russians),” and it added: “the current largest burial (site) has 440 unmarked graves”.

The exact circumstances of how residents died have yet to be determined. In February and March, Russian troops killed more than 1,400 people in the Kyiv region, including in the suburb of Bucha, during their failed attempt to seize the Ukrainian capital.

They rounded up, interrogated and executed hundreds of civilians. Most of the victims were men. They also included the female heads of villages, who were shot and buried with their families, and parents and children gunned down as they tried to drive to safety.

‘People disappeared’: Izium’s residents on Russia’s occupation



Dozens of bombed-out apartment buildings in Izium’s city centre lie derelict along roads covered with the debris of what has been one of this war’s most fierce battles, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,000 people, according to Ukrainian officials.

On Wednesday, the city – described as a second Mariupol because of the heavy bombardments it has suffered – was visited by the outside world for the first time after its recapture.

The Russian army killed more than 20,000 people in Mariupol, a south-eastern city on the Sea of Azov, according to Kyiv. Russian troops encircled the port in early March and systematically bombed it until mid-May, attacking from land, sea and air.


Survivors buried loved ones in makeshift graves next to their apartment blocks and in children’s playgrounds. Others were left entombed in the basements and cellars of high-rise apartment blocks pulverised by Russian strikes. Bodies remained there for weeks.

Russia has repeatedly denied it targets civilians or has committed war crimes.





Ladybbird 25-09-22 03:09

re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Investigating and Tracking Down Russian Soldiers
 
Russian Detainees Expose Moscow Police Officer Who TORTURED Them

BBC News 25 Sept 2022



On 6 March, huge anti-war demonstrations across Russia saw more than 5,000 protesters arrested. 29 were taken to Moscow's Brateyevo Police Station for questioning.

There, an unnamed police officer wearing black subjected at least 11 young women to verbal and physical abuse, often amounting to torture. This included suffocation.


Two of the detainees recorded their ordeals and on release leaked the audio to the press. Despite international outrage and multiple calls for an investigation by a Russian politician, the authorities did not open a criminal case.

In place of one, the victims set out to find the ‘man in black’ themselves. Using a leaked database from a Russian food delivery company called Yandex, archived social media accounts, and old dating profiles,


BBC Eye’s new documentary ‘Finding My Torturer’ tells the story of how these young women came together to expose the identity of their torturer and his commanding officer.


Ladybbird 02-10-22 11:09

Re: Ukraine WAR CRIMES: Freed Hostage Delivers Final Message From Aid Worker to Daugh
 
Freed British Hostage Delivers Tragic Final Message From Aid Worker to His Daughters

Dylan Healy and Paul Urey were ambushed while they undertook an aid mission in war-torn Ukraine. The nation is continuing to fight against Vladimir Putin's invasion

The Guardian UK 2 OCT 2022



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Former chef Dylan met Paul's daughters Chelsea, 21, and Courtney, 17, a few days ago


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Dylan Healy reunited with his parents Cliff and Helen in Eastbourne


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Paul was diabetic and Dylan was at least able to tell Chelsea and Courtney the Russians did give him medication.

Dad-of-four Paul Urey died in his cell

Dylan knows Paul had been tortured too and had to break the grim news to his daughters Chelsea and Courtney Coman



Tragic aid worker Paul Urey sent a message to his girls, telling them: “I love you so much.”

Paul, 45, died in Ukraine, where he and Brit pal Dylan Healy, 22, were tortured.

Dylan told grieving sisters Courtney and Chelsea: “Your dad loved you and thought about you every day.”

A freed Briton today tells how he and a fellow aid worker endured a mock execution and were relentlessly tortured by Russian troops.

Dylan Healy and Paul Urey were ambushed during an aid mission in Ukraine, ordered out of their cars and forced to kneel by the roadside.

One soldier ****ed his gun... and Dylan feared the worst. But it was a sick hoax as the man fired a shot into the ground between them... and the men were bundled off to a prison.

After their ordeal, the pair vowed to each other that if the worst ever did happen to one of them, the other would contact their family.

And after father-of-four Paul, 45, later died in captivity, Dylan kept that pledge during an emotional meeting with his pal’s daughters Courtney, 17, and Chelsea, 21.

They met just days ago – when Dylan had the grim task of explaining how he and Paul had been tortured... but he also had a special message for the girls.

Dylan, 22, tells the Sunday Mirror: “Me and Paul promised that if anything happened we would speak to each other’s families.

“He said, ‘Let my family know I love them, that I thought about them every day.’ I never thought I’d have to do it – after we were captured, I thought we’d both die.”

And he told the girls: “He was desperate to make it home to see you.”

Courtney says: “It was difficult hearing what Dad went through, but at least we know the truth now.

“At one point there were reports he’d been dismembered. That was awful, but thankfully untrue.”

She and Chelsea, of Warrington, were forced to raise £10,000 to repatriate his body after the Foreign Office refused to pay.

The body is now in the UK and a post-mortem will be held before Paul can be laid to rest.

Dylan Healy details 'mock execution' moment to Paul Urey's daughters

Dylan – who says he has survivor’s guilt over Paul’s death – donated the final £60 to help hit their target.

He says: “I was nervous meeting his daughters but it was good... like I’ve known them for years.”

Chelsea says the meeting was a relief, adding: “I’m so grateful we heard it from him and not someone else.

"We didn’t want to pressure Dylan, didn’t want him to think he was being interrogated again. We’re just so happy he agreed to meet us.”

The sisters have invited Dylan to attend Paul’s funeral.

Dylan, who was freed on September 21 with four other Brits, says he was beaten with batons, tortured with electric prongs and waterboarded as his captors tried to extract a confession.

Recalling the mock execution, he says: “All the gunman had to do was pull the trigger and we were gone. We were silent. He asked us if we had any last words and we said no.

"Then he fired a shot into the mud in the middle of the two of us. Paul went, ‘That was a close one’.”

It was a terrifying start to months of mistreatment before Paul’s death in captivity on July 10.

His captors cited “stress and medical reasons”, but Ukraine suggested there were signs of torture after the body was released.

Dylan’s life changed when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

An Arsenal fan, he lived in Ely, Cambs, and worked as a hotel chef. Appalled by Vladimir Putin ’s aggression, Dylan went to join the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, despite only ever being in the Army Cadets. Parents Helen and Cliff backed him.

Dylan says: “They were really supportive, they said, ‘Go, do it – but make sure to come home’. They were chilled, but Mum cried at the station.”


Ladybbird 19-10-22 02:33

re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Investigating and Tracking Down Russian Soldiers
 
Burying The Dead in Bucha

60 Minutes 19 Oct 2022



https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.V...F9&pid=Api&P=0



The story of the three Ukrainian men who gathered the bodies of their dead neighbors and buried them in the shadow of St. Andrews Church in Bucha.



Ladybbird 06-11-22 15:17

Re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Investigating and Tracking Down Russian Soldiers
 
Investigating War Crimes in Ukraine and Tracking Down Russian Soldiers

The Fifth Estate 6 Nov 2022


In Ukrainian villages where Russian soldiers have retreated, war crimes investigators have moved in. The Fifth Estate shows you some of what’s been discovered and reveals what happened when some Russian soldiers were tracked down by journalists — including a surprising confession.


Warning: This video contains graphic content and details of abuse.


Ladybbird 17-11-22 09:23

re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Putins’ Propagandists Talks of Being Tried in Hague & Losing WAR
 
MH17: Ukraine Plane Crash MURDER Trial Draws to a Close

In 2014 a Passenger Jet Was Shot Down by Russia Over Eastern Ukraine, Killing All 298 People on Board.


BBC 17 NOV 2022.


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Eight years later, judges at a Dutch high security court near Schiphol Airport will deliver a verdict on three Russians and one Ukrainian accused of mass murder.



The missile attack was one of the most notorious war crimes in Ukraine before allegations of atrocities there became an almost daily reality.

Many of the victims' relatives believe if the world had reacted differently, and taken a tougher stance against Russia eight years ago, the invasion of Ukraine and the geopolitical instability that has followed could have been avoided.

On 17 July 2014, 298 people, including 80 children and 15 crew, boarded Malaysia Airlines flight 17 to Kuala Lumpur at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

The plane was cruising at 33,000 feet over Ukraine. It was the early days of Russia's efforts to control parts of the country.

At the time this was a relatively low-level conflict zone, but fighting had recently expanded into the air. In the preceding months a number of military planes had been shot down.

In response, Ukraine closed the airspace at lower altitudes - up to 32,000 feet. But planes were still crossing the country.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was flying 1,000 feet above this restricted airspace.

At 13:20 GMT, it lost contact with air traffic control.




App version of map showing last flight of MH17


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Most people on board came from the Netherlands, followed by Malaysia and Australia. They had packed for dream holidays, an Aids conference, family reunions and more. In a flash, all plans for the future were obliterated.



"I still miss them," says Silene Fredriksz, her walls adorned with snapshots of son Bryce and his girlfriend Daisy. The young lovers were heading to Bali, a treat after a difficult year.

Forward to 2022 and Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February opened up barely healed wounds.

"It was heartbreaking for us," Silene says. She is convinced the current conflict could have been avoided had the world taken a harder line in 2014.

"Putin has never been stopped, and still has not been stopped. And he will not stop until he is stopped," Silene said. I hope the world wakes up now, because we knew it already eight years ago."

Daisy and Bryce were sitting in row 17 when the plane was shot down

Russia has always denied any involvement and instead pumped out a range of alternative theories - suggesting a Ukrainian fighter jet fired the missile, or that Ukrainian government forces were responsible, and in some cases fabricated evidence to support their claims. These have in turn been diligently debunked with material gathered by a team of international investigators.

The team found the disintegration of the plane in mid-air was caused by the detonation of a Russian-made 9N314M-type warhead carried on the 9M38M1 missile, launched from the eastern part of Ukraine using a Buk missile system.

Eliot Higgins, founder of the investigative platform Bellingcat, delved into the open source evidence. His team identified links with Russia's 53rd Anti Aircraft Missile Brigade, and trawled through 200 soldiers' social media posts to confirm the identity and role of many members of the unit based at a Russian military barracks in Kurst. Bellingcat shared their findings with Dutch prosecutors. He believes the trial has laid bare indisputable proof of Russia's involvement.

"I think at this point, and especially with a guilty verdict," Eliot told us, "anyone who would claim that Russia wasn't involved with this shoot down is really a ridiculous person".

Based on his findings, Eliot Higgins believes the events of 2014 and 2022 are inextricably linked.



"People were just turning a blind eye to it, policymakers just weren't comfortable with calling out Russia in a way they really should have done. And they didn't react in the way that could have prevented the invasion in 2022.

I think there should have been more military support for Ukraine, there should have been more sanctions, there should have been a stronger response than we saw at the time. There could have been preventative measures that would have saved a lot of lives."


The trial has been an opportunity to cut through Russian disinformation.

"There was the disaster itself. But the next disaster, I would say, was that Russia never cooperated. And that gave extra pain for all of us. And why was that necessary? Just say sorry," Hans de Borst tells us, as he shows us holiday photos of his 17-year-old daughter Elsemiek.

Hans de Borst's only child Elsemiek was on board flight MH17

He holds tight to the memories, as well as Elsemiek's passport and boarding pass, recovered intact from the wreckage.

Families at the epicentre of the MH17 disaster invested their faith in the investigation led by the Netherlands.

"It is extremely important to me," he says stoically, "because it's that feeling of justice needing to be done in a world that kills people who just go on holiday. If justice is not being done then your whole feeling of a good world doesn't exist anymore. So getting justice brought to you by so many people gives a good feeling and I hope, will give some peace about this subject."

Piecing together clues including intercepted telephone calls, eyewitness accounts and even metal fragments found in the bodies of the crew, investigators were able to establish the type of weapon, track its route - from a military barracks in Russia, across the border to the launch site in pro-Russian separatist controlled eastern Ukraine - and identify key suspects.

They are three Russians and one Ukrainian. The most prominent of them is Igor Girkin, who prosecutors say is a former colonel in Russia's intelligence service the FSB.

The Kremlin has dismissed the legal proceedings and all suspects refused to appear in court. They were tried in absentia. Only one, Oleg Pulatov, employed a team of Dutch lawyers to defend him in court.

The judgment is unlikely to result in anyone serving time in jail for this mass murder, but the investigation has created an incontestable historical record and delivered the families some peace of mind.

"We will never get our children back," Silene Fredriksz accepts, "but… we need the truth. And we need justice. This is a small part of our justice."


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Hans de Borst standing by the sea

"If justice is not being done then your whole feeling of a good world doesn't exist anymore," Hans de Borst

Ladybbird 18-11-22 06:15

re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Putins’ Propagandists Talks of Being Tried in Hague & Losing WAR
 
MH17: Three Guilty as Court Finds Russia-Controlled Group Downed Airliner

A Dutch court has found three men guilty of murder for shooting down a passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing 298 people.

BBC News 18 NOV 2022.



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The court found that a Russian-made missile supplied from Russia and fired by an armed group under Russian control brought down flight MH17.

The men - two Russians and one Ukrainian - were found guilty in absentia and sentenced to life in jail. A third Russian was acquitted.

The missile attack was one of the most notorious war crimes in Ukraine before allegations of atrocities there became an almost daily reality.




Many of the victims' relatives believe if the world had reacted differently, and taken a tougher stance against Russia eight years ago, the invasion of Ukraine and the geopolitical instability that has followed could have been avoided.

The judges ruled that it was a deliberate action to bring down a plane, even though the three found guilty had intended to shoot down a military not a civilian aircraft.


Igor Girkin, the military leader of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, was convicted of deploying the missile and seeking Russian help.

Oleg Pulatov was the only one of the four accused to have legal representation at the trial. The judges acquitted him, although they found he knew about the missile.

On 17 July 2014, 298 people, including 80 children and 15 crew, boarded Malaysia Airlines flight 17 to Kuala Lumpur at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

The plane was cruising at 33,000 feet over Ukraine. It was the early days of Russia's efforts to control parts of the country.

At the time this was a relatively low-level conflict zone, but fighting had recently expanded into the air. In the preceding months a number of military planes had been shot down.

In response, Ukraine closed the airspace at lower altitudes - up to 32,000 feet. But planes were still crossing the country.



A map showing the route of flight MH17

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Ladybbird 24-11-22 07:36

re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Putins’ Propagandists Talks of Being Tried in Hague & Losing WAR
 
Russia Strikes Are Crime Against Humanity, Zelenskiy Tells UN, as Power Cut in Ukraine and Moldova

Ukraine WAR: Zelensky Denounces Russian TERROR in UN Address


Ukraine’s president labels Russia’s strikes on energy sites as crimes against humanity, as G7 discussions to cap Russian oil prices reportedly hit a set-back


The Guardian UK 24 NOV 2022.



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A power cut plunged Lviv in western Ukraine into darkness


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President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of "crimes against humanity" after a new missile barrage caused blackouts across Ukraine.

He told the UN Security Council via videolink that the Russian "formula of terror" had forced "millions of people to stay without energy supplies, without heating, without water" in sub-zero cold.

The strikes killed at least seven people, Ukraine said.

Nuclear power plants went off-line.




The three plants still under Ukrainian control were disconnected from the grid and the Zaporizhzhia plant - Europe's largest - was forced again to rely on diesel generators to power its cooling systems and key safety equipment.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has voiced great concern about the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant, which has suffered damage from repeated shelling.

Neighbouring Moldova also experienced massive blackouts on Wednesday, but was not directly hit.

With winter setting in, Moscow has stepped up strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

Officials say Russia's missile strikes on power stations have caused "colossal" damage and left more than half of the country's grid in need of repair.

Late on Wednesday Mr Zelensky said the situation in Kyiv remained "very difficult" and efforts would continue through the night to restore electricity.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least 80% of the capital's residents had no power or running water.

But Mr Zelensky said some other cities hit by Russian missiles had managed to restore power, including Lviv, Odesa and Cherkasy.


'Cowardly and Inhumane'


The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "weaponising winter" to inflict immense suffering.

"Having struggled on the battlefield, Moscow is now adopting a cowardly and inhumane strategy that punishes Ukrainian men, women and children," she said.

In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a newborn baby was killed when a missile hit a maternity unit, emergency services said.

General Valeriy Zaluzhniy - the commander of Ukraine's armed forces - said 67 cruise missiles were launched by Moscow, with air defences successfully intercepting 51.

Russia also deployed attack drones
again, Ukraine's military said.


Most of Ukraine's thermal and hydro-electric power plants were also forced to shut down, the energy ministry said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not comment on the attacks during a visit to the Armenian capital Yerevan, but stated that the "future and success of the special operation" - Moscow's term for its war in Ukraine - "are beyond doubt".

Moscow has said that attacking Ukraine's power grid could weaken Kyiv's ability to fight and drive its leaders to the negotiating table.

Kyiv requested the UN Security Council meeting, and Mr Zelensky urged the UN to do more to help Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that Russia's strikes against civilian infrastructure constituted a war crime, following similar comments from the US.

Earlier the European Parliament designated Russia a "state sponsor of terrorism" over its attack on Ukraine.

Soon after the parliament resolution was passed the Strasbourg assembly's website went down, because of what EU officials described as a denial-of-service attack by "pro-Kremlin" hackers.


Blackouts in Moldova


More than half of Moldova was left without electricity, deputy prime minister Andrei Spinu wrote on Twitter. He said the attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure had caused a "massive blackout".

Within a few hours power was restored in much of the capital, Chisinau, where a third of the Moldovan population lives.

Moldova also experienced widespread power cuts as a result of strikes on Ukraine on 15 November, Mr Spinu said. Mobile networks were also badly affected.

Energy policy analyst Sergiu Tofilat said that as Moldova and Ukraine were connected to the European grid in March, one of the connection points on the power line between Moldova and neighbouring Romania shut down automatically if Ukraine was hit to protect the system: "We reconnect once Ukraine has assessed the damage."

In response to the outages, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said Russia had "left Moldova in the dark".

"Russia's war in Ukraine kills people, destroys residential blocks and energy infrastructure with missiles," she wrote on Facebook. "But the electricity supply can be restored. We will solve the technical problems and we will have light again. All state institutions are working in this direction."



MORE



Ladybbird 28-11-22 05:15

re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Putins’ Propagandists Talks of Being Tried in Hague & Losing WAR
 
Dramatic Arrest of Russian Couple in Sweden Shines Light on Putins’ Web of SPIES

Russian couple arrested in ‘Operation Spear’ in Sweden on suspicion of serious espionage


BBC News 28 NOV 2022



https://cdn.euroweeklynews.com/wp-co...ct_ratio=85:47



An operation by the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) resulted in the arrest of a married Russian couple in their 60s, on suspicion of espionage.

Elite police abseiling from Black Hawk helicopters carried out a lightning-fast dawn raid on the Stockholm home of Sergey Skvortsov and Elena Koulkova earlier this week. A dramatic arrest of a seemingly normal Russian couple living in a wealthy Swedish suburb could shine of light on Putin’s web of spies.

Elite police abseiling from Black Hawk helicopters carried out a raid....


A married couple was arrested during ‘Operation Spear’ by the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) in the early hours of Tuesday, November 22. They were apprehended on suspicion of alleged espionage. The couple were both aged in their 60s and Russian nationals, according to omni.se.

In a statement from the security police, they confirmed the operation, pointing out that the couple were not present when the raid took place so they were arrested in their absence. A third person was taken in for questioning they added.

Swedish intelligence analyst Tony Ingesson @tonyingesson, reported that one of the detainees faces charges of gross illicit intelligence collection. They are believed to have gathered information on Sweden and another third unnamed foreign power for at least 10 years. The spouse is suspected of aiding and abetting the other.


Ladybbird 28-11-22 12:09

re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Putins’ Propagandists Talks of Being Tried in Hague & Losing WAR
 
UPDATE


Sun's Defence Editor Jerome Starkey Discovers Russian Soldiers Stole Human Remains in Ukraine

The Sun 28 Nov 2022



THE Sun's Defence Editor Jerome Starkey discovers Russian soldiers 'stole human remains' from a sacred crypt in southern Ukraine.





Ladybbird 04-12-22 08:25

Re: Russian WAR CRIMES: Putins’ Propagandists Talks of Being Tried in Hague & Losing
 
Putins’ Top Propagandists Openly Talks of Russia Losing to Ukraine and Being Tried in Hague

BBC 4 DEC 2022


https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/21274...763cbcbe1c7875

Russian TV Hosts Urge Return to 'Freedom,' Throw Top Brass Under the Bus....:clapper::clapper::clapper:





Russian propagandists openly discuss fears within the Kremlin over the outcome of Russia losing the war in Ukraine.

Russian TV hosts Margarita Simonyan and Vladimir Solovyov openly speculated on the aftermath of a defeat of Russia in Ukraine for Vladimir Putin's inner circle.

Simonyan's chilling monologue referenced the war crimes trials at the Hague for the Russian leader...

Ladybbird 18-12-22 08:33

re: WAR CRIMES: Abducted Ukrainian Children Rescued From Cockroaches & Rats in Russia
 
UK Training Ukrainian Judges For Future War Crimes Trials

UK to train Ukrainian judges to carry out war crimes trials for Russian soldiers


BBC News 18 DEC 2022.




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Sky News has learned that the UK is providing training to 90 Ukrainian judges to help them run war crimes trials in future over the conflict with Russia.

The first group of judges attended sessions at a secret location in the region last week, and more will follow in the coming months, as part of a £2.5m investment.



Ladybbird 29-12-22 06:56

re: WAR CRIMES: Abducted Ukrainian Children Rescued From Cockroaches & Rats in Russia
 
Mysterious Circumstances Surround Deaths of These Russian Tycoons

BBC News 29 DEC 2022.


Melissa Bell looks at the deaths of multiple members of the "Russian elite" since the war in Ukraine began.





Ladybbird 12-01-23 11:29

Re: Russian WAR CRIMES:Brit Aid Worker Body 'Found' by Russians-Other Brit Still Miss
 
Body of Missing British Aid Worker Found, Russian Group Claims

A Russian mercenary group fighting in Ukraine has said it has found the body of one of two British aid workers reported missing over the weekend.


BBC News.12 JAN 2023




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Andrew Bagshaw, Pictured left, and Christopher Parry have been reported as missing in Ukraine



The Foreign Office, which has not confirmed the claim, said it was supporting the families of the two men.

Andrew Bagshaw, 48, and Chris Parry, 28, were last seen heading to the town of Soledar on Friday, where fighting has been intense in recent days.

The Wagner group said on Wednesday a body had been found without naming him.

The claim has not been verified by the BBC.

On social media, the group posted photographs of documents that were said to belong to the missing men.

The statement posted on messaging platform Telegram from the press office of the head of the pro-Kremlin Wagner group claimed the body was found in eastern Ukraine.

The Foreign Office said it was aware of recent reports and was in touch with the Ukrainian authorities.


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Mr Parry and Mr Bagshaw had been in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine doing voluntary work, helping to evacuate people from the front line.



Earlier this week, family of Mr Parry, originally from Truro in Cornwall but living in Cheltenham, said they were "very worried" about his health and whereabouts.

He "would not be dissuaded from his work in Ukraine liberating elderly and disabled people, which we are very proud of", they said.

The parents of Mr Bagshaw, who lives in New Zealand, said they "love him dearly" and were immensely proud of all his work helping Ukrainians.

They said he had been delivering food and medicines and helping the elderly.

The Foreign Office is warning against all travel to Ukraine, saying there is "a real risk to life".

British nationals still in Ukraine should leave immediately if it is safe to do so, it adds.

Ladybbird 15-01-23 16:55

re: WAR CRIMES: Abducted Ukrainian Children Rescued From Cockroaches & Rats in Russia
 
Babys' Baptism Turns Violent in Russian Orthodox Church Rite, Priest Punished

BBC 15 JAN 2023



A Russian priest has been banned after video surfaced showing an excessively zealous baptism rite. The violent baptism was caught on camera in a Russian church three days ago, shocking both Orthodox believers and non-religious people alike.




Ladybbird 03-02-23 07:19

re: WAR CRIMES: Abducted Ukrainian Children Rescued From ****roaches & Rats in Russia
 
Russian Army Officer Admits: 'Our Troops Tortured Ukrainians

Allegations of brutal interrogations, where Ukrainian men were shot and threatened with rape, have been made by a former Russian military officer.


BBC 3 FEB 2023


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Konstantin Yefremov, the most senior officer to speak openly, told the BBC in an exclusive interview Russia now sees him as a traitor and defector.

At one site in southern Ukraine, he said "the interrogations, the torture, continued for about a week".

"Every day, at night, sometimes twice a day."

Mr Yefremov tried to resign from the army numerous times - but he ended up being dismissed for refusing to return to Ukraine. He has now fled Russia.



Using photographs and military documents supplied by Mr Yefremov, the BBC has verified he was in Ukraine early in the war - in the Zaporizhzhia region, including the city of Melitopol.

This article contains graphic descriptions of torture.


Konstantin Yefremov's face flickers into view on my computer screen and we start to talk. He is a man with a story to tell. Until recently he was a Russian army officer.

Deployed to Ukraine last year, the former senior lieutenant has agreed to tell me about the crimes he says he witnessed there - including torture and mistreatment of Ukrainian prisoners. He will talk about his comrades looting occupied areas of Ukraine, and describe brutal interrogation sessions, led by a Russian colonel, in which men were shot and threatened with rape.

On 10 February 2022, Mr Yefremov says he arrived in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia nine years ago. He was the head of a de-mining unit of the 42nd Motorised Rifle Division - and was usually based in Chechnya, in Russia's North Caucasus. He and his men were sent to take part in "military exercises", he says.

"At the time no-one believed there would be war. Everyone thought this was only a drill. I'm sure even senior officers didn't know."

'I was scared of quitting'


Mr Yefremov recalls seeing Russian troops taping identification marks on their uniforms and painting the letter "Z" on military equipment and vehicles. Within days, "Z" had become the symbol of what the Kremlin was calling its "special military operation".

Mr Yefremov claims he wanted nothing to do with it.

"I decided to quit. I went to my commander and explained my position. He took me to a senior officer who called me a traitor and a coward.

"I left my gun, got in a taxi and drove off. I wanted to return to my base in Chechnya and resign officially. Then my comrades telephoned me with a warning.

"A colonel had promised to put me in prison for up to 10 years for desertion and he'd alerted the police."



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Konstantin Yefremov showed the BBC his Russian military identification papers


Mr Yefremov says he called a military lawyer, who advised him to turn around.

"I realise now I should have ignored that and driven on," he says. "But I was afraid of being put in jail."

He went back to join his men.

Mr Yefremov insists he is "anti-war". He assures me he did not participate in Russia's annexation of Crimea, or fight in eastern Ukraine when war first erupted in the Donbas nine years ago.

In 2014, Russia was not only accused of orchestrating a separatist uprising there, but of sending in its own troops. Konstantin also tells me he has not taken part in Russia's military operation in Syria.

"For the last three years I had been involved in mine clearance in Chechnya, a place that had experienced two wars. I think the work I've done there has benefited people."


Looting bicycles and lawnmowers


Mr Yefremov was placed in temporary charge of a rifle platoon. On 27 February, three days after the Russian invasion, he says he and his men were ordered to move north from occupied Crimea. They headed for the city of Melitopol.

The next 10 days were spent at an airfield which had already been captured by Russian troops. He describes the looting he witnessed.

"Soldiers and officers grabbed everything they could. They climbed all over the planes and went through all the buildings. One soldier took away a lawnmower. He said proudly, 'I'll take this home and cut the grass next to our barracks.'

"Buckets, axes, bicycles, they bunged it all in their trucks. So much stuff they had to squat down to fit in the vehicles."

Mr Yefremov has sent us photographs he says he took at Melitopol air base. They show transport planes and a building on fire.

They are among a number of pictures and documents he has shared - and which we have verified - to confirm Mr Yefremov's identity, rank and his movements in Ukraine in the spring of 2022.

Online mapping tools confirmed the images of Melitopol air base.
Photo showing Melitopol air base building on fire from 1 March 2022 - and a satellite view of the site from the day before, confirming its location


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For a month and a half, he and eight soldiers under his command guarded a Russian artillery unit there.


"The whole time we slept outside," he recalls. "We were so hungry we started hunting for rabbits and pheasants. One time we came across a mansion. There was a Russian fighter inside. 'We're with the 100th Brigade and we live here now,' the soldier said.

"There was so much food. The fridges were packed. There was enough food to survive a nuclear war. But the soldiers living there were catching the Japanese carp in the pond outside and eating them."

'I saw interrogation and torture'


Konstantin Yefremov's group moved to guard what he describes as a "logistics headquarters" in April - in the town of Bilmak, to the north-east of Melitopol. There, he says he witnessed interrogations and mistreatment of Ukrainian prisoners.

He recalls a day when three prisoners were brought in.

"One of them admitted to being a sniper. On hearing this, the Russian colonel lost his mind. He hit him, he pulled the Ukrainian's trousers down and asked if he was married.

"'Yes,' the prisoner replied. 'Then someone bring me a mop,' said the colonel. 'We'll turn you into a girl and send your wife the video.'"

Another time, says Mr Yefremov, the colonel asked the prisoner to name all the Ukrainian nationalists in his unit.

"The Ukrainian didn't understand the question. He replied that the soldiers were naval infantry of the Ukrainian armed forces. For that answer they knocked out some of his teeth."

The Kremlin wants Russians to believe that, in Ukraine, Russia is fighting fascists, neo-Nazis and ultra-nationalists. This false narrative serves to dehumanise Ukrainians in the eyes of the Russian public and the military.

Mr Yefremov says the Ukrainian prisoner had a blindfold on.

"The colonel put a pistol to the prisoner's forehead and said 'I'm going to count to three and then shoot you in the head.'

"He counted and then fired just to the side of his head, on both sides. The colonel started shouting at him. I said: 'Comrade colonel! He can't hear you, you've deafened him!'"

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Another photo Konstantin Yefremov shared - showing him in front of buildings in Bilmak - where he says prisoner torture took place. Local residents confirmed the location to the BBC



Mr Yefremov describes how the colonel gave orders that the Ukrainians shouldn't be given normal food - only water and crackers. But he says: "We tried to give them hot tea and cigarettes."

So that the prisoners didn't sleep on bare ground, Mr Yefremov also recalls how his men tossed them hay - "at night, so that no-one saw us".

During another interrogation, Mr Yefremov says the colonel shot a prisoner in the arm - and in the right leg under the knee, which hit the bone. Konstantin says his men bandaged the prisoner up and went to the Russian commanders - "not to the Colonel, he was crazy" - and said the prisoner needed to go to hospital, otherwise he would die from blood loss.

"We dressed him up in a Russian uniform and took him to hospital. We told him: 'Don't say you're a Ukrainian prisoner of war, because either the doctors will refuse to treat you, or the injured Russian soldiers will hear and shoot you and we won't be able to stop them."

The UN's Human Rights Office has been documenting cases of mistreatment of prisoners in the war in Ukraine. It has interviewed more than 400 POWs - both Ukrainians and Russians.

"Unfortunately, we've found there is torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war happening on both sides," says Matilda Bogner, head of the UN's Ukraine-based monitoring team.

"If we compare the violations, the torture or ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war tends to happen at almost every stage of confinement. And, for the most part, the conditions of internment are worse in many areas of Russia or occupied Ukraine."

The worst forms of torture or ill treatment for Ukrainian prisoners of war usually occur during interrogation, says Ms Bogner. They can be subjected to electrocution and a whole range of torture methods - she says - including hanging people up and beating them.

"When they arrive at places of internment there are often so-called welcoming beatings. They also often face inadequate food and water," she adds.

Russian prisoners of war, too, have reported beatings and suffering electrocution.

"Any form of torture or ill treatment is prohibited under international law," says Ms Bogner. "It is unacceptable for either side to do this."

The BBC was unable to independently confirm Konstantin Yefremov's specific allegations of torture, but they are consistent with other claims of abuse of Ukrainian prisoners.

Russia's Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


Denounced as a traitor and defector


Mr Yefremov would eventually return to his de-mining unit, but not for long.

"Seven of us had taken the decision [to leave the army]," he tells me.

At the end of May, back in Chechnya, he wrote his letter of resignation. Some senior officers were not happy.

"They started threatening me. Officers who hadn't spent a day in Ukraine were telling me that I was a coward and a traitor. They wouldn't allow me to resign. I was dismissed."

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One of the last photos of Konstantin Yefremov in his army uniform, Chechnya, June 2022


Mr Yefremov shows us letters from the military.

In the first document, he is accused of "shirking his duties" and disregarding an order to return to Ukraine. It is described as "a serious breach of discipline".

The second letter refers to Mr Yefremov's "early dismissal from military service… for breaking his contract".

"After 10 years of service I was denounced as a traitor, a defector, just because I didn't want to kill people," he says. "But I was glad that I was now a free person, that I wouldn't have to kill or be killed."

One of Konstantin Yefremov's military documents explaining his dismissal from the Russian army - it says he "committed a gross disciplinary offence"


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Mr Yefremov was out of the army. But not out of danger of being sent back to the war.

In September 2022, President Putin declared what he called "partial mobilisation". Hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens would be drafted into the military and sent to Ukraine.

Mr Yefremov says he knew - because he had already served with the military in Ukraine - he would not be left alone. He came up with an escape plan.

"In the house where I was living I made a hatch in the attic ceiling… in case police and enlistment officers broke in to deliver call-up papers.

"Enlistment officers were driving to my house and waiting for me in their cars. So, I rented a flat and hid there.

"I hid from the neighbours, too, because I'd heard of cases when neighbours told police about young men who'd been drafted and were hiding. I found this situation humiliating and unacceptable."

Mr Yefremov contacted Russian human rights group Gulagu.net, which helped him leave Russia.

What does Mr Yefremov think about those Russians - and there are many - who express support for Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine?

"I don't know what's going on in their heads," he says. "How could they allow themselves to be fooled? When they go to market, they know they could be short-changed. They don't trust their wives, their husbands.

"But the man who has been deceiving them for 20 years, he only has to give the word and these people are ready to go and kill and die. I can't understand it."

As we end our chat, Mr Yefremov says sorry to the people of Ukraine.

"I apologise to the entire Ukrainian nation for coming to their home as an uninvited guest with a weapon in my hands.

"Thank God I didn't hurt anyone. I didn't kill anyone. Thank God I wasn't killed.

"I don't even have the moral right to ask for forgiveness from the Ukrainians. I can't forgive myself, so I can't expect them to forgive me."



Ladybbird 26-02-23 03:04

re: WAR CRIMES: Abducted Ukrainian Children Rescued From Cockroaches & Rats in Russia
 
Face-to-Face With Vlad's Killers Who Say: 'We are at War With The West - Including UK'

The Mirror's Defence Editor Chris Hughes meets two of Vladimir Putins' feared Wagner Group mercenary fighters held in Ukraine in a World-first exclusive interview


BBC 26 FEB 2023


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Daily Mirror defence editor Chris Hughes interviewed the captives at a secret location in Ukraine




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Two captured Russian mercenaries have told the Mirror how they signed up for the Ukraine frontline after being told they were at war with the West - including the UK.

Both hardened Wagner Group fighters - a convicted killer and a thug jailed for brawling - were recruited whilst behind bars by one of Russian President Putin’s top aides.

They signed up after Yevgeny Prigozhin - dubbed “Putin’s chef” - flew to their jails by helicopter and promised them “a clean sheet” and 200,000 rubles a month.



And today they told how they were thrown into the horrors of war, seeing comrades slaughtered as worthless cannon fodder ahead of the Russian Army.

One even admitted he had killed Ukrainian soldiers but did not know how many and claimed notorious Wagner Group fighters were at the front of every battle.

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Anatoliy fought with the Wagner Russian paramilitary group before being captured by Ukrainian forces


Their chilling accounts, revealed in an exclusive interview to the Daily Mirror, were secured after negotiations with Ukraine’s authorities ahead of Friday’s one-year invasion anniversary.

It is believed to be the first time a British newspaper has interviewed captured Wagner Group prisoners.

Both men were clad in balaclavas for their own safety as their Ukrainian captors agreed to protect their anonymity in case they are killed if they are ever released.

Convicted murderer Viktor, a married father-of-two from Stavropolsky region in Kavkaz, southeast Russia, was jailed for stabbing a Chechen to death in a club brawl.

Already in his ninth year of a 20-year sentence he joined Wagner Group after the organisation’s founder, Bond-style villain Prigozhin helicoptered into his penal colony prison to recruit fighters.

The cold-eyed 32-year-old told the Daily Mirror: “We were told other countries were involved in the war in Ukraine, including Britain and that we were defending Russia against foreign terrorists.

“We were told we would not be fighting civilians, but fascists and soldiers from other countries.

“I had killed a man and was in the ninth year of my sentence. He was in a group of Muslims, Chechens in a club and a fight with knives started. I killed him.

“I met Yevgeny Prizoghin and in total 200 of us agreed to join Wagner Group in exchange for a fresh start, money and I would be able to get a job after leaving Ukraine.

“With a criminal record I would not get a job and I felt I had no choice, even though it took a week for me to decide to join Wagner.”

Viktor, an ex-builder, gripped his hands and stared back coldly, sometimes menacingly throughout our hour-long interview, mentioning his murdering a man with a shrug.

It was “regrettable” but he mentioned it like it was an inconvenience, a glitch in his life that was perhaps unavoidable.

Joining Wagner Group - Russia’s most notorious mercenary organisation - earned him a promised £2,200 a month and his criminal record would be wiped off.

After signing up in September last year he was taken by bus to Rostov, close to Ukraine and then to Luhansk, in Donbas, inside Ukraine, with 200 others from his prison.


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Evgeny Prigozhin is close to Putin


Out of 5,000 Wagner Group fighters initially signed up for Ukraine around 1,000 died within weeks. Eventually, it is suspected as many as 50,000 were sent.

They underwent six weeks “very tough training” with assault rifles, machine guns, mines, rocket-propelled grenades and some with sniper rifles.

After training they were sent into battle in assault squads, quickly realising they were being lied to. He recalled: “I was nervous, yes. I did not know where I would be sent to and even now my family do not know I joined the Wagner Group.

“We’d be sent in groups of 15 against what they said were just ten Ukrainian soldiers, then we’d discover there were up to 40 Ukrainians.

“In the first battle a sniper was shooting, injuring our men, then he killed two. It was my first time and I saw someone lose a leg.”

Even Viktor’s experience in one of Russia’s “strict regime penal colonies” with its daily knife fights, beating and even murders did not prepare him for war.

He said: “It was very frightening. I saw arms and legs being shot off in battles. It was horrible and shocking. More than 1,000 of us were killed.”

Viktor fought with the Wagner Russian paramilitary group before being captured by Ukrainian forces




Ladybbird 17-03-23 17:53

Re: Russian WAR CRIMES: INT. Criminal Court Issue Arrest Warrant For Putin For WAR Cr
 
International Criminal Court in the Hague Issue Arrest Warrant For Putin For WAR Crimes


Atrocities committed must be investigated - UK

Wheels of justice are turning, says Ukraine's foreign minister


BBC 17 MAR 2023




Vladimir Putin Is Officially A Wanted Man

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Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, in a meeting last month outside Moscow.





An arrest warrant is issued against Russian President Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court in the Hague

It accuses him of being responsible for war crimes in Ukraine, including the unlawful deportation of children


Arrest warrants for Russia's President Vladimir Putin, and children’s commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, have been issued by the International Criminal Court
The ICC says they are responsible for war crimes during the Ukraine war, which includes the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia
The Russian foreign ministry has denied atrocities and dismissed the warrant as having "no significance whatsoever".
Russia is not a signatory to the ICC's Rome Statute, so Putin and Lvova-Belova will not be extradited
Ukraine's prosecutor general has called the ICC's announcement a "historic" decision



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Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has also reacted, tweeting in English.

"Wheels of Justice are turning: I applaud the ICC decision to issue arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova over forcible transfer of Ukrainian children," he says.

"International criminals will be held accountable for stealing children and other international crimes."


Kuleba has recently given an interview to the BBC, saying countries that "mistreated Ukraine" will be held to account after the war ends.


Russia has repeatedly denied that its forces have committed atrocities in Ukraine

A warrant has also been issued for Russia's commissioner for children's rights

Putin’s spokesman says Russia does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC and describes its decision as "outrageous and unacceptable"

Russia earlier threatened to destroy any fighter jets given to Ukraine by its allies after two countries promised planes


Ladybbird 10-04-23 08:01

re: WAR CRIMES: Abducted Ukrainian Children Rescued From Roaches & Rats in Russia
 
Abducted Ukrainian Children Rescued From Roaches and Rats in Russia....:clapper::clapper::clapper:

More than 30 Ukrainian children abducted by Russian officials during the war have been reunited with their families, after suffering terrible conditions during captivity including “living with rats and roaches”.

Russia abducted over 19,500 Ukrainian children from occupied territories, Reintegration Ministry says


BBC 10 APR 2023



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Dasha Rakk, 13, and her twin sister were among them. Last year they were sent from their home in Kherson, then occupied by Russia, to a summer camp in Crimea, which was seized from Ukraine in 2014.

She clutched her mother as she described the despair they felt when they were told that they would not be going home any time soon.

“When they first told us we will stay longer we all started crying,” she said. “They said we will be adopted, that we will get guardians.”



Dasha was among 31 children reunited with their parents after travelling to Kyiv via Belarus on Friday at the end of a complex rescue mission coordinated by the Save Ukraine charity.

Mothers carrying flowers were waiting on the pavement for the non-descript bus to arrive. Many wept as the doors opened and children piled out. They hugged their young sons and daughters and stroked their hair, seemingly not daring to relax their grip.

The rescue operation crossed four international borders and involved multiple meetings with obstructive Russian officials.




Dasha’s mother, Natalia, said that she had travelled via Poland, Belarus and Moscow to reach her children in occupied Crimea where she signed various documents which secured their places on the rescue mission’s bus back to Ukraine.

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She described the joy of rescuing her daughters but also the distress of not being able to bring every abducted child back home to Ukraine.

Ladybbird 13-04-23 09:28

re: WAR CRIMES: Ukrainian Prisoners Electrocuted & Tortured in Russian Jail
 
Ukraine War: ISIS Style Video Appears to Show Russians Beheading Ukrainians

Graphic video appearing to show Russians beheading Ukrainian soldiers surfaces online


BBC 13 APR 2023


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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on world leaders to react after a video emerged online allegedly showing Russian soldiers beheading a Ukrainian captive with a knife.




Warning this story contains graphic depictions that may disturb some readers.


Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity or provenance of the video on social media, which appeared to show a man in green fatigues wearing a yellow armband, typically donned by Ukrainian fighters.

He is heard screeching before another man in camouflage uses a knife to decapitate him.

A third man holds up a flak jacket apparently belonging to the man being beheaded.

All three men speak in Russian.

Ukraine compared the actions of Russian soldiers to those of Islamic State terrorists and called on the International Criminal Court to investigate.


How are War Crimes Being Investigated?

More than 74,500 war crimes have been alleged in Ukraine since Russia invaded. But bringing those to trial is no simple task.

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Volunteers lower a coffin into a grave in Bucha, in the Kyiv region


"There is something that no one in the world can ignore: how easily these beasts kill," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message.

"There will be legal responsibility for everything. The defeat of terror is necessary."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba tweeted: "A horrific video of Russian troops decapitating a Ukrainian prisoner of war is circulating online."

"It's absurd that Russia, which is worse than ISIS, is presiding over the UNSC," he said, referring to the UN Security Council, where Russia took up the rotating presidency this month.

"Russian terrorists must be kicked out of Ukraine and the UN and be held accountable for their crimes."

Militants from Islamic State in Iraq and Syria were notorious for releasing videos of beheadings of captives when they controlled swathes of those countries from 2014-2017.

Ukraine's foreign ministry called on the International Criminal Court to "immediately investigate yet another atrocity of the Russian military".


Since Russia's forces invaded Ukraine more than a year ago, they have committed widespread abuses and alleged war crimes, according to the United Nations, and rights groups.

The International Criminal Court has also issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes.

Ladybbird 21-05-23 10:39

re: WAR CRIMES: Ukrainian Prisoners Electrocuted & Tortured in Russian Jail
 
Russia Issues Arrest Order For British ICC Prosecutor After Putin Warrant

Russia Puts International Criminal Court Prosecutor on Wanted List RE Ukraine Children

Interior ministry seeks to detain Karim Khan in wake of allegations against president over abducted Ukrainian children


BBC 21 MAY 2023


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Karim Khan visited Ukraine four times in the year before the accusations against the Russian president were made public.

Interior ministry seeks to detain Karim Khan in wake of allegations against president over abducted Ukrainian children



The Russian government has put the British prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) on a wanted list in an act of retribution after the Hague-based court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for allegedly overseeing the abduction of Ukrainian children.

The arrest order said Russia’s interior ministry was seeking to detain Karim Khan, who has served as the ICC prosecutor since 2021.


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Carla del Ponte called for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue a warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.


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In March, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, on allegations they facilitated the forced deportation of thousands of children from Ukraine to Russia, where many have been placed with Russian families.


Neither have denied that Ukrainian children have been sent to Russian families. Lvova-Belova in February said she had “adopted” a 15-year-old child from Mariupol, telling Putin: “I know what it means to be a mother of a child from Donbas.”

As the court’s prosecutor, Khan played an intimate role in the arrest warrant against Putin. He visited Ukraine four times in the year before the accusations were made public, leading to a ruling that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility” for the child abductions.

Kyiv has accused Russia of abducting more than 16,000 children from the country since the full-scale invasion began in February last year.

Khan was previously named in a criminal case opened by the Russian investigative committee, which also accused three judges of the court of making false accusations of guilt and of preparing an attack on a representative of a foreign state.

Khan’s addition to the wanted list is the latest step in the growing confrontation between Russia and Ukraine’s western allies, which the Kremlin is now seeking to portray as an existential conflict.

The arrest warrant for Putin has provoked a strong reaction from the Kremlin and Putin’s allies. The former president Dmitry Medvedev called for a missile strike on the ICC in response to the arrest warrant. The state Duma chair, Vyacheslav Volodin, said the warrant was equivalent to an act of aggression against Russia.

“Washington and Brussels understand: Putin is Russia,” he said.


Ladybbird 01-06-23 10:14

re: WAR CRIMES: Russians Raped & Electrocuted Prisoners Genitals in 35 Torture Chambers
 
Ukrainian Prisoners are Electrocuted and Pray For Death in Russian Torture Jail


The harsh reality of the life for Ukranian civilians held inside a brutal Russian torture prison has been exposed.

BBC 1 JUNE 2023


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It has been thought that several thousands of Ukranians have been captured and sent to

Simferopol Detention Centre since the beginning of Russias invasion of Ukraine. Simferopol, known as one of the world’s most feared detention centres, has been horrific...






Ladybbird 15-06-23 04:45

re: WAR CRIMES: Russians Raped & Electrocuted Prisoners Genitals in 35 Torture Chambers
 
Notorious Russian Wagner Chief Meets With Notorious Merchant of Death Arms Dealer


Viktor Bout is one of the world's most infamous arms dealers who in the early 2000s earned the nickname "Merchant of Death".

BBC 15 JUNE 2023


MEETING OF THE SADISTS


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Yevgeny Prigozhin is the chief of the Wagner Group



A Russian arms dealer known as the "Merchant of Death" has been photographed with the leader of the notorious Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The head of the paramilitary group and the arms seller, Viktor Bout, posed together for a picture as they were said to have travelled to the Russian city of Ulyanovsk.


In the Russian city, Prigozhin reportedly visited a recruitment centre for his private army and met with fighters injured and undergoing rehabilitation.

Shared on messaging app Telegram, the picture showed the two men standing next to each other.

In an audio message also shared on the platform, Prigozhin described the meeting as a "joint trip" and praised Bout as the "smartest, most educated person".

Carrying on with his flattering comments for Bout, the Wagner Group leader and Russian caterer added Bout was "engaged in self-education, learned many languages, including Farsi" while behind bars in the US.


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Russian businessman Viktor Bout sends inviting letter to Former U.S. President Trump. Viktor Bout was released from US custody in late 2022


He added: "As for the Americans who released him from prison, of course, they made a BIG mistake, because he has such a sober attitude towards the existing situation in the Russian Federation that if he reveals his capabilities and implements his plans, then, of course, Russia will become much stronger, firmer, than there is today.
"Therefore, I believe that this person can do a tremendous job for the future of Russia."



This isn't the first time the Wagner Group head praises Bout.

In December, the leader of the paramilitary group said Bout was an "example of firmness" after he decided to join the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party.


Ladybbird 19-06-23 13:29

re: WAR CRIMES: Russians Raped & Electrocuted Prisoners Genitals in 35 Torture Chambers
 
Ukrainian Prisoners of War Return Having Been Castrated by Drunken Russian Soldiers

Two soldiers, aged 25 and 28, have spoken about their experiences after spending one and three months respectively in the company of Vladimir Putin's sick troops


BBC 19 JUNE 2023


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Ukrainian prisoners of war have detailed their gruesome encounters in Russian torture camps which they say has seen them castrated with pocket knives.

Two soldiers, aged 25 and 28, have spoken about their experiences after spending one and three months respectively in the company of Vladimir Putin's sick troops.

UN experts have warned about the reported use of electric shocks, hoodings and mock executions of Ukrainian



They were both part of a prison swap and returned to Ukraine before being referred to psychologist Anzhelika Yatsenko, 41, who already 'knew' they had been tortured due to their suicidal thoughts. One soldier admitted he had tried to kill himself.

Both men said they were unable to trace what occurred to them during the first month of their stay in prison. They said: "If there's hell somewhere, it’s worse than that."


Vladimir Putin says nuclear weapons moved to Belarus as he tells West 'go to hell'


The two soldiers were regularly beaten before drunk Russian troops castrated them with a pocket knife


As reported by The Sunday Times, the two Ukrainian soldiers say they were regularly beaten before drunk Russian troops castrated them with a pocket knife.

One said there was "so much blood" that they are unsure how they survived. It is believed that the Russians told them they did the monstrosity so that they could not father children. The older of the two men has returned to duty in the Ukrainian army.

Ms Yatsenko admitted that she "cried and cried" in the bathroom after hearing the two soldiers experiences and declared they were the most horrible thing she had ever heard.

UN experts have warned about the reported use of electric shocks, hoodings and mock executions of Ukrainian soldiers.

It is thought that the UN experts had written to Moscow about their concerns of the techniques to extract intelligence, force confessions or in response to alleged support for Ukraine's forces.

It had resulted in damage to internal organs, cracked bones and fractures, strokes and psychological traumas, they said.

Earlier this month, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Russia the alliance would boost defences in member states if the Kremlin threatened their security.

The military coalition’s Secretary-General again hit out at Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine - and vowed solidarity would be maintained among NATO’s 31 countries.


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Streets are flooded in Kherson after the Kakhovka dam was blown up


He said: "NATO is there to protect all allies against any threats and if we see a danger, if we see a threat, then NATO will be there - as we have been protecting the airspace and NATO territory for decades.

"We have the ability to quickly reinforce if needed."

He warned Moscow: "The whole idea of NATO is that we are ‘one for all, all for one’ - and we do what is needed to protect all allies."

Former Norwegian Prime Minister Mr Stoltenberg was speaking at the end of a summit of the “Bucharest Nine” nations - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia - in Slovak capital Bratislava.

The NATO grouping, formed in the Romanian capital in 2015 following Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine a year earlier, comprises nations which were either part of the Soviet Union or the NATO rival, the Warsaw Pact.


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RAF typhoons intercept Russian Air Force jets flying close to NATO border


Ladybbird 12-07-23 04:12

re: WAR CRIMES: Russians Raped & Electrocuted Prisoners Genitals in 35 Torture Chambers
 
Russians Come Face to Face With Putins' Horrific Ukraine War Crimes in Lithuania

Russians heading to Kaliningrad through Lithuania are being faced with the truth about Putin's invasion.

BBC NEWS 12 JUL 2023



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At a train station in Vilnius Russian passengers who stop for 15 minutes are met with graphic images of the war in Ukraine.


Jonas Staselis the President of the Lithuanian Press Photographers Club in Lithuania has placed images from the frontline of the invasion on the station platforms to show Russian citizens the real impact of Putin's war.

Jonas hopes to show Russian citizens the truth of the human cost of the invasion that is being hidden by Russian propaganda.

Ladybbird 03-08-23 12:08

Re: WAR CRIMES: Russians Raped & Electrocuted Prisoners Genitals in 35 Torture Chambe
 
Russians Raped Prisoners and Electrocuted Their Genitals in Torture Chambers

More Than 35 Torture Chambers Were Discovered in Kherson, Southern Ukraine


BBC 3 AUG 2023


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A view from a preliminary detention centre which, as Ukrainians say, was used by Russian service members to jail and torture people, before they retreated from Kherson, Ukraine November 16, 2022.

Rape, suffocation, waterboarding and beatings are just some of the brutal methods Russian soldiers used on detainees in southern Ukraine, it has emerged.

Evidence collected from more than 35 ‘torture chambers’ in Kherson lays bare the horrific sexual crimes committed by Putin’s troops.



Genital electrocutions and rape with a foreign object were among their sickening tactics, law firm Global Rights Compliance revealed in a shocking new report.

Anna Mykytenko, a senior legal adviser at the firm, told Metro.co.uk this evidence reveals a ‘systematic plan to not only degrade and humiliate prisoners but also to eradicate Ukrainian identity’.


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A room believed to have been used by Russian troops to jail and torture people in Kherson, Ukraine, December 10, 2022. Plastic ties and a broken chair are seen inside a basement of an office building

‘Sexual violence has been – and continues to be – used against Ukrainian people from all sections of society,’ she stressed.


‘This and other crimes indicate a total disregard for international law by Russian forces operating on Ukrainian soil.

‘There is no doubt that survivors of these atrocities will bear the long term mental scars following their experiences in the detention centres.’

Finding justice for survivors may be difficult, but she added the identification of perpetrators is ‘well underway’.

Hallway of a building which Ukrainian civilians said had been used as a torture center by Russian forces in Kherson, Ukraine, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022.

Civilians said they were detained and tortured at the site when the area was occupied, and many described being tortured while being strapped to office chairs.


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One of the locations where civilians said they were detained and tortured


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A garage adjacent to a courthouse in the village of Bilozerka, in Ukraines southern Kherson region, December 2, 2022 where Ukrainian authorities say Russian forces were stationed and unlawfully detained civilians.


Lying visible are an upturned chair, plastic ties and a gas mask attached to a tube, which prosecutors said resembles improvised torture devices used by occupying Russians to create a sensation of drowning by filling with liquid.

‘What we are witnessing in Kherson is just the tip of the iceberg in Putin’s barbaric plan to obliterate an entire population,’ Ms Mykytenko said.

‘Justice will be served for Ukrainians as we continue our mission to identify and hold perpetrators accountable. Impunity is not an option.’

Formed of prosecutors, lawyers and analysts, the Mobile Justice Team was set up by Global Rights Compliance in April 2022 to investigate and prosecute war crimes in Ukraine.

Since the liberation of a large part of the Kherson Oblast in October, they have been working on some 320 detention cases.

Half of Ukrainian detainees subjected to torture by Russians in Kherson


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It was previously revealed detainees were forced to learn and recite pro-Russian slogans, poems and songs.


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Russia’s pro-war ‘Z’ symbol on a wall in such a centre



Of those victims, at least 43% cited sexual violence as a common tactic used by Russian guards.

Some 36 people said their genitals were electrocuted during their interrogations, while others were threatened with genital mutilation.

It was previously revealed detainees were forced to learn and recite pro-Russian slogans, poems and songs.

Pictures shared in November last year showed wall markings with tallies showing Ukrainians counting the number of days they were held captive.

Teachers, members of the military, police officers and activists were among the detainees


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Half of Ukrainian detainees subjected to torture by Russians in Kherson.

Both male and female members of the military, volunteers, activists, community leaders, police, medical workers, and teachers were locked up in the centres.

According to the preliminary analysis by the specialist unit, Ukrainian troops were most likely to be tortured.



Ladybbird 26-09-23 06:10

re: WAR CRIMES: Putins’ EX CON Soldiers-Rapists & Killers Going on Rampage
 
War Crimes Dossier to Accuse Russia of Deliberately Causing Starvation in Ukraine

Human rights lawyers are working with Ukraine’s public prosecutor to prepare dossier to submit to the international criminal court


BBC 26 SEP 2023


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Human rights lawyers working with Ukraines’ public prosecutor are preparing a war crimes dossier to submit to the international criminal court (ICC) accusing Russia of deliberately causing starvation during the 18-month-long conflict.




The aim is to document instances where the Russian invaders used hunger as a weapon of war, providing evidence for the ICC to launch the first prosecution of its kind that could indict the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

Yousuf Khan, a senior lawyer with law firm Global Rights Compliance, said “the weaponisation of food has taken place in three phases,” starting with the initial invasion where Ukrainian cities were besieged and food supplies cut.

Among the incidents documented was when 20 civilians were killed in Chernihiv in the early morning of 16 March 2022, when Russian fragmentation bombs exploded outside a supermarket in the city where Ukrainians were queueing for bread and food.

Investigators are also focusing on the siege of Mariupol, Khan added. Food supplies were cut to the city and humanitarian relief corridors blocked or bombed, making it very difficult or impossible for desperate, starving civilians to escape.

The second phase includes the destruction of food and water supplies as well as energy sources across Ukraine during the fighting, which the lawyer described as “objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population”.

Such attacks, Khan argued, were “not crimes of result but crimes of intent” because “if you are taking out objects that civilians need, like energy infrastructure in the dead of winter, there is a foreseeability to your actions”.

Cities such as Mykolaiv in the south were left without drinking water from early in the conflict after Russian forces captured the pumping station that supplied it. The remaining residents were forced to rely on water being driven in daily to ensure they could drink and wash safely.

The third element is Russian attempts to prevent or restrict exports of Ukrainian food. “Then we’ve seen Russia attack grain facilities on the Danube and engage in muscle flexing on the Black Sea,” Khan said, citing reports from Ukrainian officials that 270,000 tonnes of the foodstuff were destroyed in late July and early August.

Fresh accusations that Russia sought to starve Ukrainians are particularly emotive in the light of the two countries’ history: in 1932-33, millions died of hunger in the Holodomor, an enforced famine engineered by Joseph Stalin’s Soviet government.



But they have been given a renewed emphasis after the passage of a UN security council resolution in 2018 which condemned the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and revisions to the ICC’s governing Rome statute in 2019, to expand the type of cases that can be brought.

GRC is working with Ukrainian prosecutors until the end of next year to compile the dossier. The intention is to make a filing under article 15 of the Rome statute, allowing third parties to send information on alleged war crimes to the ICC’s prosecutor. It would be up to the prosecutor, based in The Hague, to decide whether to proceed.

Part of the lawyers’ effort will be to identify perpetrators, including whether to call for the indictment of Putin as happened in March when the ICC issued an arrest warrant for the president for overseeing the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children to Russia from territories occupied during the war.



Similar could be argued for starvation crimes, Khan said. “Putin could bear responsibility for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others,” he argued, and for a failure to exercise proper control over Russian military or others accused of specific criminal acts.

The lawyers work with open source intelligence specialists to detail examples of war crimes and engage in damage mapping analysis; collate relevant data, such as a count of aid convoys being rejected; and study statements made by Putin and other leaders, down to a local level, as they seek to build up their dossier.

Denying civilians access to food has taken place repeatedly in conflict. Recent examples include Syria, where the Bashar Assad government was accused of pursuing a “kneel or starve” strategy to force opposition areas into submission during the country’s civil war – and in Tigray, Ethiopia where 2 million people were estimated to be suffering from a shortage of food from 2020, stemming from a government blockade of the rebel province.




Ladybbird 16-10-23 05:13

re: WAR CRIMES: Putins’ EX CON Soldiers-Rapists & Killers Going on Rampage
 
Russian Journalist Poisoned After Denouncing Putins' War on Ukraine Live on Air

Prosecutors have not so far directly implicated Russia - but the apparent attack bears striking similarities to other assassinations blamed on his operatives

BBC 16 OCT 2023


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A Russian journalist who famously condemned Vladimir Putins’ war live on air has been hospitalised in France, with investigators believing she may have been poisoned.



Marina Ovsyannikova called emergency services after suddenly falling ill as she left her Paris apartment and said she suspected she was poisoned, the Paris prosecutors’ office said.

Police were examining her apartment and an investigation was underway, the prosecutors office said.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, which helped Ms Ovsyannikova escape Russia and settle in France, said its team has been ‘’at her side’’ since she sought medical attention.

The group, known also by its French acronym RSF, did not have additional information related to what happened.




Ladybbird 27-10-23 05:30

re: WAR CRIMES: Putins’ EX CON Soldiers-Rapists & Killers Going on Rampage
 
Russian Military Defector Exposes Sick Torture Pits at Putins' Army Bases

A Russian Soldier Has Claimed That One of His Comrades Died After Being Thrown Into The Torture Pits.

BBC 27 OCT 2023



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The Russian military has been torturing its own soldiers at bases as they prepared to fight in Ukraine, it has been claimed.




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Dmitry Medvedev, Russian Security Council deputy chairman and former Russian President, visited two training grounds in Prudboy, Volgograd Oblast and Totsky, Orenburg Oblast earlier this year.





Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was also present for the visit at Prudboy, one of Russia's best training grounds.

Soldiers at these bases told Russian outlet Vazhnyye Istorii and Conflict Intelligence Team that there are torture pits at the grounds.

One soldier, named Sergei, claimed that personnel there had their phones taken away from them. Anyone who protested this was thrown into a torture pit, he added.

He described being threatened with physical violence and told he would be thrown into the pit when he tried to file reports about what was happening.

The reports also say that Russian soldiers were caught drinking and subjected to the same treatment.

These men were later taken to the pits and beaten - and were kept there for several days, he added.




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Satellite imagery was also used to corroborate their claims.







Ladybbird 05-11-23 04:52

re: WAR CRIMES: PUTINS' Top Secret EVIL Weapon JAMS Airlines/Ships Signals
 
Vladimir Putins’ EX CON Soldiers - Rapists and Killers Going on Rampage After Returning to Russia

Emily Ferris said Russia was not undertaking any psychiatric evaluations to establish whether the former prisoners were fit to be released back into society.

BBC 5 NOV 2023


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Murderers and rapists freed by Vladimir Putin in exchange for serving in Ukraine are now wreaking havoc as they return to Russia, Emily Ferris, a Research Fellow in International Security has said.





Ladybbird 07-12-23 18:52

re: WAR CRIMES: PUTINS' Top Secret EVIL Weapon JAMS Airlines/Ships Signals
 
US Charges Russian Soldiers With WAR Crimes in Ukraine

4 Russian Soldiers Were Charged With War Crimes For Allegedly Torturing and Mock Executing a US Civilian in Ukraine


BBC 7 DEC 2023




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US Attorney General Merrick Garland speaking during a press conference at the US Department of Justice on December 6, 2023, in Washington, DC.

Justice Department prosecutors have brought war crime charges against four Russians accused of torturing and performing a mock execution on an American civilian in occupied Ukraine.



Suren Mkrtchyan and Dmitry Budnik, two commanding officers of Russian military units, and two lower-ranking soldiers, identified by their first names Valerii and Nazar, were charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes, unlawful confinement of a protected person, torture, and inhuman treatment, per court records.

The nine-page indictment, issued by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia, accused the soldiers of breaking Article 147 of the Geneva Convention and US war crime laws during the abduction of the unnamed American on April 2, 2022.

Mkrtchyan, Valerii, and Nazar threw the victim "face down to the ground while he was naked" and "tied his hands behind his back," before "pointing a gun at his head" and "beating him with their feet, their fists, and the stocks of their guns," it said.

They proceeded to "forcibly" transport him to buildings that were being used as a military compound, where the man was severely beaten on his legs, back, stomach, and head, according to the indictment.

The victim was subjected to at least two interrogations, in which Mkrtchyan, Valerii, and Nazar inflicted "severe and serious physical and mental pain and sufferings" on him, the indictment read.

Budnik also asked the man for his last words, per court records. Nazar and others then conducted a "mock execution," forcing him to the ground, "putting a gun to his back, moving the position of the gun, and pulling the trigger, causing the bullet to go past the victim's head and causing him to believe he was about to die," the indictment said.

Per the indictment, the man was also forced to perform manual labor like digging trenches for 10 days while detained.

The charges are the first of their kind to be brought by the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.

"The Justice Department will work for as long as it takes to pursue accountability and justice for Russia's war of aggression," he added.

According to Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, Russia has committed more than 100,000 alleged war crimes since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022.




In March, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Russia's commissioner for children's rights, for their alleged involvement in the deportation of children from occupied areas of Ukraine.






Ladybbird 31-12-23 05:57

re: WAR CRIMES: PUTINS' Top Secret EVIL Weapon JAMS Airlines/Ships Signals
 
South Africa Files ICJ Case In The Hague Accusing Israel of Genocidal Acts in Gaza....:clapper::clapper::clapper:

South Africa launched a case on Friday at The Hague International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel for what it said were "genocidal" acts in Gaza, with Israel rejecting the case "with disgust."

MailOnline News 31 DEC 2023



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Buildings hit during Israel's bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 29, 2023


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DEAD CHILDREN in Gaza




South Africa launched a case on Friday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel for what it said were "genocidal" acts in Gaza, with Israel rejecting the case "with disgust."

According to a statement, the ICJ application related to alleged violations by Israel of its obligations under the Genocide Convention, and said that "Israel has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza."




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In The Hague application, South Africa also says that Israel has been acting "with the requisite specific intent... to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group."




https://tse3.explicit.bing.net/th?id...=Api&P=0&h=180


Another of Netanyahus' WAR Aims is to CONTROL Gaza-Egypt border




WHY has the US reported WAR CRIMES IN RUSSIA and NONE by ISRAEL in GAZA? = $$$$$







Ladybbird 11-01-24 09:33

re: WAR CRIMES: PUTINS' Top Secret EVIL Weapon JAMS Airlines/Ships Signals
 
Hearings Begin at The Hague TODAY in Case Claiming Israels’ Gaza WAR is GENOCIDE

International Court of Justice will hear complaint brought by South Africa, which is asking for urgent ‘provisional measures’

The Guardian 11 JAN 2024


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The International Court of Justice building in The Hague.

A legal hearing into the war in Gaza opens in The Hague as the international court of justice (ICJ) hears arguments alleging that Israel is committing genocide in the territory.

South Africa, which has brought the case, is asking the UN court to act urgently “to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the genocide convention, which continues to be violated with impunity”.



It comes as the assault on Gaza – launched in response to the 7 October attacks on Israel by Hamas in which militants killed 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and took 240 people hostage – continues to wreak a devastating toll.

Since the 7 October attacks, Israel has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s health ministry, about 70% of whom are believed to be women or children. The UN’s Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA, has estimated that 1.9 million people have been internally displaced by the war in Gaza – nearly 85% of the population – while tens of thousands of buildings have been destroyed.

In its 84-page written application to the ICJ to open proceedings, South Africa said: “The acts and omissions by Israel complained of by South Africa are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.”

Genocide cases, which are notoriously hard to prove, can take years to resolve, but South Africa is asking the court to speedily implement “provisional measures” and “order Israel to cease killing and causing serious mental and bodily harm to Palestinian people in Gaza”.

The filing also says Israel should cease deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians as a group, be ordered to prevent and punish incitement to genocide, and halt restrictions on aid as well as evacuation directives.

Israel reacted furiously when the application was made, calling it “baseless” and a “blood libel”. It says it is acting in self-defence, to protect Israelis by destroying Hamas. The country’s biggest supporter, the US, has dismissed the case as “meritless”.

Ahead of the case, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video clip saying Israel was fighting Hamas, not the Palestinian population, and was acting in full compliance with international law. “Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population,” he said.

Outside the court, both sides will also attempt to win the battle of public opinion. Israel is holding a series of events in The Hague, including a peace march on Thursday morning as South Africa prepares to state its case, exhibitions about the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas, and interviews with the relatives of hostages.

South Africa said on Wednesday that its delegation will include the former UK Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is a longtime supporter of the Palestinian cause but whose time as opposition leader was marred by antisemitism allegations.

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) party has a long history of comparing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians with that of black South Africans under apartheid
.


The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which has 57 member states, has welcomed South Africa bringing the case, while individual countries have also expressed support. Belgium’s deputy prime minister, Petra De Sutter, tweeted that she wanted her country “to take action at the International Court of Justice, following the lead of South Africa”.

Both sides’ legal teams will have the same time to make their case – approximately three hours – with South Africa going first on Thursday and then Israel responding on Friday. Judgment will be reserved until a later date, but could come within weeks.


The genocide convention, drawn up in 1948 after the second world war and the murder of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust, describes the crime as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole, or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. The acts include killing members of the group or causing them serious bodily or mental harm




The Hague cannot enforce its decisions and it is possible that Israel could ignore an adverse judgment, but that would only fuel further international condemnation of its military campaign.





Ladybbird 28-01-24 04:24

re: WAR CRIMES: PUTINS' Top Secret EVIL Weapon JAMS Airlines/Ships Signals
 
It’s a WAR Crime: ITV News' Gaza Clip Sparks Outrage From Charities, US and Westminster

Shocking Videos of People, Part of Groups Waving White Flag Being Shot Dead in Gaza, Has Sparked Accusations of a WAR Crime.

International Court of Justice DEMANDS Israel Display Efforts of Avoiding Genocide


MailOnline 28 JAN 2024



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A group of Palestinian men waving a white flag is shot at, killing 1



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A family photo of Hala with her grandson, Tayem.


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They were holding hands when she was shot while waving a white flag.





International Court in The Hague tells Israel it must ‘take all measures within its power to prevent civilian deaths in Gaza’

Israel is under renewed pressure to avoid civilian deaths in Gaza and enable the delivery of humanitarian aid after the international court of justice (ICJ) ordered it to prevent its forces from carrying out genocide against Palestinians.


In a historic interim judgment, the UN court in The Hague told Israel it must “take all measures within its power” to desist from killing Palestinians in contravention of the genocide convention, and to prevent and punish the incitement of genocide and facilitate the provision of “urgent basic services”. But the ruling stopped short of ordering a ceasefire to the war in Gaza.

After Friday’s ruling, attention turned to whether Israel would comply with the order – given that the court has no enforcement powers – and what pressure its diplomatic and military backers would bring to bear on it to do so.

In a televised address, South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, said: “Today, Israel stands before the international community, its crimes against the Palestinians laid bare … We expect Israel as a self-proclaimed democracy and a state that respects the rule of law to abide by the measures handed down.”

He criticised those who “told us we should mind our own business and not get involved in the affairs of other countries”.
South Africa and Israel respond to ICJ ruling on war in Gaza – video

Germany, which backed Israel, and the EU and Turkey also called for Israel to comply with the ruling.

There was disappointment among Palestinian supporters that the court did not go further and order Israel to stop its assault on Gaza, as South Africa had demanded. The ICJ previously ordered Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine, although it was ignored by Vladimir Putin.



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Smiling Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu, who previously vowed that “no one will stop us, not The Hague”, did not indicate whether the ruling would lead to any changes in its military campaign but expressed satisfaction that the court had not ordered a ceasefire.



“Israel’s commitment to international law is unwavering. Equally unwavering is our sacred commitment to continue to defend our country and defend our people. Like every country, Israel has an inherent right to defend itself,” he said. “The vile attempt to deny Israel this fundamental right is blatant discrimination against the Jewish state, and it was justly rejected.”


Israel’s biggest ally, the US, which had described the case as “meritless”, said it continued to believe that allegations of genocide were unfounded and noted the court did not make a finding about genocide or call for a ceasefire in its ruling....> ALL ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF $$ The US Govt Receives from Israeli DONORS

GREED is More Important than peoples' lives...



The Judge Joan Donoghue, who read out the order, said Israel’s response had left the civilian population of Gaza “extremely vulnerable”, resulting “in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries and the destruction of homes, schools, medical facilities and other vital infrastructure, as well as displacement on a massive scale”.

“The court notes that the operation is ongoing, and that the prime minister of Israel announced on 18 January 2024 that the war, I quote, ‘will take many more long months’.”

More than 1% of Gaza’s population – 25,700 people – have been killed according to authorities in the strip, and most of its 2.3 million population displaced by Israel’s bombing, which began after the 7 October attacks by Hamas in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 240 hostage.

Many Palestinians are living in makeshift accommodation, including tents, UN-run shelters in schools or on the floors of hospitals, or outside in freezing, unsanitary conditions. There is a shortage of food, water and medical supplies.

The measures, all backed by at least 15 judges, also required Israel to ensure the preservation of evidence of alleged genocide and report to the court within a month.

Donoghue said the court was “gravely concerned” about the fate of the hostages abducted from Israel on 7 October “and calls for their immediate and unconditional release”.

The ruling is not the final word from the court on whether Israel’s actions amount to genocide, but it provides a strong indication that the judges believe there is a credible risk to Palestinians under the 1948 genocide convention, enacted after the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust.

Granting South Africa’s application for special measures, the court did not have to find whether Israel had committed genocide, which will be determined at a later date, but only that its acts were capable of falling within the convention, which defines the war crime as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.



'It’s a WAR Crime'


International Court of Justice DEMANDS Israel Show Efforts of Avoiding Genocide




ICJ's Emergency Genocide Measures Against Israel




UN Court Rules Israel Must Prevent Genocidal Acts in Gaza





Video shows Palestinian detainees blindfolded and barefoot near Gaza border



Palestinians are being shot while waving white flags


Ladybbird 05-02-24 06:04

re: WAR CRIMES: PUTINS' Top Secret EVIL Weapon JAMS Airlines/Ships Signals
 
‘They Told Me We’re All Russians’: Fears Grow Over Re-Education of Ukrainian Children

Russia, which boasts of taking in 700,000 children, stands accused of trying to erase their Ukrainian identity


The Guardian 5 FEB 2024


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A deserted childrens’ playground in Kherson, southern Ukraine.


During the 14 months for which Veronika Vlasenko attended school in Russia, she was regularly told by teachers and fellow students that she would never be able to go home to Ukraine.


“Every day they said to me that I would be staying here for ever and would never leave Russia,” she said. “They told me that Ukraine doesn’t exist, that it never existed, that we’re all Russians … At times the other kids would beat me for being pro-Ukrainian.”

Veronika was one of nearly 20,000 children documented by Ukrainian authorities as having been taken from Ukraine to Russia over the past two years. The authorities believe the real number is probably 10 times that, while Russian officials have even boasted of moving 700,000 Ukrainian children to Russia.

Nearly two years into the war, there are growing fears that if no way is found to bring the children home soon, Russia’s systemic programme to “re-educate” Ukrainian children could prove devastatingly effective. Ukrainian officials are calling on international organisations and neutral countries who may still hold some sway in Moscow to put pressure on Russia.

Of the 19,500 cases for which Ukrainian authorities have names and data, only about 400, including Veronika, have managed to return to Ukraine so far.

“Russia is actively erasing their Ukrainian identity and inflicting unbelievable emotional and psychological damage,” said Latvia’s president, Edgars Rinkēvičs, at a conference devoted to raising awareness of the issue in Riga on Thursday. “What makes it even worse is that Russia proudly exhibits its actions,” he said.

Russia’s claims about the resettlement of children are one of the reasons why the issue formed the basis of the arrest warrant issued by the international criminal court last year for Vladimir Putin and for the Russian children’s commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova. The warrant says Russia acted with the “intention to permanently remove” children from Ukraine, a war crime.

Andriy Kostin, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, said Russia’s actions were the largest-scale deportation of children in Europe since the second world war. “Russia is trying to destroy the Ukrainian nation, not only physically, but by severing familial bonds and erasing the Ukrainian identity of the deported children,” he said in Riga.

Russia has used different methods to bring Ukrainian children to Russia or Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, often citing security concerns and a need to remove children from dangerous areas of conflict. In some cases, Russian authorities moved entire orphanages or children’s homes to Russian-controlled areas. In other cases, children were separated from their parents, taken to Russia and given new names.


In November a BBC investigation uncovered that an infant girl stolen from a children’s home in occupied Kherson had been transferred to Moscow, issued with new documents with a changed name claiming she was born in Russia, then adopted by a Russian political leader and Putin ally, Sergei Mironov.

Not all of the children were taken forcibly to Russia. Veronika, who grew up in a village in the Kharkiv region less than a mile from the border, travelled across the border with her aunt two weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, to avoid the military clashes that were tearing through her village as the Russian army advanced.

She and her aunt stayed in a series of camps for refugees. Veronika, then 12, was initially pleased to be in Russia, the first time she had set foot in the country. It was the first time for two weeks that she could wash and have hot food and a comfortable place to sleep without the sound of explosions.

Veronika was eventually separated from her aunt and placed in a children’s home in the city of Lipetsk. Her mother, who formerly served in the Ukrainian army, was unable to travel to Russia to search for Veronika for fear of arrest.

“It was so hard to be alone in this environment, with everyone telling me terrible things about Ukraine,” Veronika said. After a while she was so traumatised that she lost a lot of weight and her hair started falling out.

Veronika’s grandmother travelled thousands of miles on a circuitous route from Kharkiv to Lipetsk via Poland and the Baltic states to rescue her granddaughter and bring her back to Ukraine, where she has been reunited with her mother.

“Now I just want to help other Ukrainian children to come home too,” Veronika said.

Russian authorities have claimed that Ukrainian children whose parents or guardians travel to Russia are able to take them home, and in some cases, such as Veronika’s, this has eventually worked.

But not every child has a relative who is able to make the long and risky journey, not every child is able to contact their families, and there are many cases of younger children having their names changed before adoption by Russian families.

“Russia is telling them they are not wanted, that nobody is looking for them, changing their names and trying to issue them Russian passports,” said Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukraine’s president, who was in Riga last week to speak on the issue.


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Olena Zelenska, Ukraines’ first lady, said of the missing children: ‘Russia is telling them they are not wanted, that nobody is looking for them








Ladybbird 06-02-24 14:17

Re: WAR CRIMES: PUTINS' Top Secret EVIL Weapon JAMS Airlines/Ships Signals
 
PUTINS' Top Secret Weapon Threatens Airlines & Ships by Jamming GPS Signals


PUTINS' Threat to Civilian Airlines: Top secret Russian electronic weapon 'based in Kaliningrad' is jamming GPS technology on flights and ships across eastern flank of NATO, Western intelligence fears

Already some disruption of air and sea traffic in Finland, Baltic states and Poland

MailOnline 6 FEB 2024


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A top secret Russian electronic weapon allegedly based in Kaliningrad has been jamming GPS technology on flights and ships across the eastern flank of NATO, Western intelligence services fear.



There has been disruption to the GPS guidance of air and sea traffic in Finland, the Baltic states and Poland, according to Estonia's military chief.

'What we have seen is a malfunctioning of GPS for ships and air traffic,' General Martin Harem, commander of the Estonian Defence Forces, told the Telegraph.

'And we really do not know if they [Russia] want to achieve something or just practise and test their equipment.'

The suspected electronic weapon causing these disruptions is likely based in Russia's military site in Kaliningrad, sitting between Lithuania and Poland, according to Western intelligence findings.

The suspected electronic weapon causing these disruptions is likely based in Russia's military site in Kaliningrad sitting between Lithuania and Poland, according to Western intelligence findings

The fixed jamming system is called Tobol and it is said to be one of less than ten weapons in use across Russia. It reportedly looks like a large satellite dish, but the images circulating on social media claiming to show the device could not be verified

The fixed jamming system is called Tobol and it is said to be one of less than ten weapons in use across Russia.

It reportedly looks like a large satellite dish, but the images circulating on social media claiming to show the device could not be verified.

An expert in electronic warfare said the satellite dish could be used to disrupt GPS technology in several directions, which could protect Kaliningrad from potential incoming missiles.

Causing a GPS disruption in these usually highly accurate missiles could result in them missing their target.

However, if the weapon is used against civilian rather than military targets, it can wreak havoc for commercial airliners.

Recently there have been reports of planes suddenly dropping off tracking sites - likely due to their GPS being disrupted.

Experts warned that if the same happens to ships, they could collide due to not being able to see each other on navigation systems.

While vessels have other means of navigation available, it would be a cause of concern if these systems are down, Dr Withington explained.

Any long-lasting GPS disruption could cause chaos in logistics as delivery drivers rely on them to reach their destinations.

Gen Harem said: 'Whatever they [Russia] do here, one aim is to degrade our stability, self-confidence, our trust to the West, unity and cohesion.'


He added that he doesn't think the GPS-targeting weapons are part of Russia's 'immediate preparations' for a potential NATO clash with Russia in the next decade or two.

This comes as a shelling attack has today killed at least 28 people at a bakery in the Russian-occupied city of Lysychansk, Moscow-installed officials have said.






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