(CNN) — Human Rights Watch claims to have documented a long list of alleged crimes once morest civilians in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions of northern Ukraine.
An HRW team that visited the area in April and May said they had “investigated 22 apparent summary executions, nine other unlawful killings, six possible enforced disappearances and seven cases of torture,” according to a report released Wednesday.
The alleged crimes are believed to have been carried out in February and March by Russian troops while they controlled much of the area.
HRW said it had interviewed 65 people between April 10 and May 10, including families of victims and people who said they were detained and tortured by Russian troops.
The group said it has collected physical evidence further implicating Russian troops in “numerous violations of the laws of war that may amount to war crimes and crimes once morest humanity.”
Among the testimonies collected by HRW is that of Anastasia Andriivna, 66, from the Kyiv region, who said she found the body of her adult son in a barn following apparently being executed.
“He was lying in a fetal position, with his hands tucked under his head and his jacket over his shoulders,” Andriivna told HRW.
The organization also reported testimonies from villagers who said they were among 350 people held for 28 days in a cramped, squalid cellar in Yahidne, near Chernihiv. Other villagers were killed by Russian troops, according to HRW.
HRW’s director for Europe and Central Asia, Giorgi Gogia, called the alleged Russian atrocities “abhorrent, illegal and cruel”.
These abuses once morest the civilian population are clear war crimes that must be promptly and impartially investigated and properly prosecuted,” Gogia said.
Finland and Sweden formalize their intentions to join NATO
Finland’s ambassador to NATO, Klaus Korhonen, left; NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, center, and Sweden’s Ambassador to NATO Axel Wernhoff, right, attend a ceremony to mark Sweden and Finland’s NATO application in Brussels, Belgium, May 18. (Photo: Johanna Geron/Archyde.com)
Finland and Sweden presented their applications to join NATOas stated on Wednesday by the general secretary of the military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg.
“The requests you have submitted today are a historic step. The allies will now consider the next steps on their way to NATO,” Stoltenberg said following receiving the requests from the Finnish and Swedish ambassadors at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
“The security interests of all allies must be taken into account and we are determined to work on all issues and reach quick conclusions.”
Stoltenberg made the remarks alongside Klaus Korhonen, Finland’s ambassador to NATO, and Axel Wernhoff, Sweden’s ambassador to NATO.
Russia says nearly 1,000 Ukrainians have surrendered at Azovstal steel plant
The Russian Defense Ministry says nearly 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol since Monday.
Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said on Wednesday that a total of 959 Ukrainian soldiers, including 80 wounded, had laid down their arms and surrendered since May 16.
He reaffirmed that 51 wounded were sent to the Novoazovsk hospital, which is located in the self-declared region of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
Konashenkov said that in the last day alone 694 Ukrainian “militants” had surrendered in Azovstal.
The DPR gave similar figures, saying that a total of 962 Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered since May 16. CNN cannot confirm the Russian count.
The Ukrainian side has not provided updated information on the number of soldiers who have left Azovstal or on the status of negotiations for their exchange for Russian prisoners.
Most of the Azovstal soldiers appear to have been taken to Olenivka, a town close to the front lines but in DPR-controlled territory.
some background: The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Tuesday that the negotiation process on the evacuation of the last soldiers from the Azovstal steel plant continues with Russia.
It comes following the end of the Ukrainian forces’ “combat mission” at the compound, which for weeks was the last major holdout in a city otherwise occupied by Russian troops.
Ukraine said it hopes to carry out an exchange of Russian prisoners of war for seriously wounded soldiers.
Russian gymnast suspended for one year for wearing a pro-war symbol on the podium
Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak, who has drawn criticism outside Russia for wearing a pro-war symbol on a podium alongside a Ukrainian athlete, has received a one-year suspension for his actions.
The 20-year-old wore a “Z” symbol taped to his leotard while standing alongside Ukrainian gymnast Illia Kovtun on a podium in March. Kovtun won gold and Kuliak bronze on the uneven bars at the Gymnastics World Cup in Doha, Qatar.
The “Z” insignia has been displayed on tanks and vehicles used by the Russian military and has become a symbol of support for the invasion of Ukraine.
The International Gymnastics Federation criticized Kuliak for his “outrageous behaviour” and now the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation has handed him a 12-month ban and told him he must return his medal.
War in Ukraine is ‘a wake-up call’ to fix global energy system, says UN chief
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has announced a plan to accelerate the world’s shift to renewable energy, saying the Ukraine war was a wake-up call for the world to ditch fossil fuels.
Speaking at the launch of the World Meteorological Organization’s 2021 state of the global climate report, Guterres described the findings as “a dire litany of humanity’s failure to tackle climate disruption.”
“The global energy system is broken, bringing us ever closer to climate catastrophe. Fossil fuels are a dead end, both environmentally and economically,” he said, according to prepared remarks.
“The war in Ukraine and its immediate effects on energy prices is another wake-up call. The only sustainable future is renewable energy. We must end fossil fuel pollution and accelerate the transition to renewable energy, before we incinerate our only home,” he said, adding that “time is running out.”
In his plan, Guterres proposed
1. That renewable energy technologies, such as battery storage, be treated as “essential and open access global public goods.” He called for a global coalition on battery storage to accelerate innovation and deployment, driven by governments and bringing together tech companies, manufacturers and financiers.
2. Secure, expand and diversify the supply of components and critical raw materials for renewable energy technologies.
3. Governments must create frameworks and reform bureaucracies to level the playing field for renewable energy.
4. Governments must move subsidies away from fossil fuels to protect the poor and the most vulnerable people and communities.
5. Private and public investments in renewable energy must triple to at least $4 trillion a year.
A former Russian colonel criticizes the invasion of Ukraine on state television
In a rare public criticism of Russia’s conduct of military operations in Ukraine, a former high-ranking Russian officer has warned on state television that the situation will get worse.
“Let’s not take ‘information tranquilizers’, because sometimes information is spread regarding some moral or psychological breakdown of the Ukrainian armed forces, as if they were close to a morale crisis or a fracture,” retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenok said in the This Monday’s edition of the program 60 minutes of Rossiya One. “None of this comes close to reality.”
Despite the rejection of the host of the program, Khodarenok said that Ukraine might arm a million people.
“Considering that European aid will come into force in full and that a million armed Ukrainian soldiers may join the fight, we have to see this reality of the near future, and we have to consider it in our operational and strategic calculations. The situation for us it will get frankly worse,” he said.
Khodarenok, a regular commentator in the Russian media, also commented on Russia’s broader isolation.
“Let’s look at this situation as a whole from our overall vantage point,” he said. “Let’s not launch missiles in the direction of Finland: this seems ridiculous. The biggest problem with our military and political situation is that we are in total geopolitical isolation. And the whole world is once morest us, even if we don’t want to admit it.”
Khodarenok warned before the invasion began that waging war in Ukraine would be more difficult than many anticipated.
In a February article, he said that “the degree of hatred (which, as is known, is the most effective fuel for the armed struggle) in the neighboring republic towards Moscow is frankly underestimated. No one will receive the Russian army with bread, salt and flowers in Ukraine”.
Experts’ claims that Russian forces will defeat Ukraine in a short time “do not have any serious foundation,” he had said.