Russian media report that parliamentarians in the Russian parliament, the State Duma, are seeking support for a law change that would exclude the ‘Ukrainian Nazis’ from future exchanges with Russian prisoners of war.
Russia’s defense ministry reported last night that 265 Ukrainian fighters had surrendered at the Azovstal steel plant, including 51 seriously injured and expected to be treated in Novoazovsk in the Russian-backed breakaway region of Donetsk.
More and more voices in Moscow are calling for trial and even the death penalty for the fighters from Mariupol. “They are war criminals and we must do everything we can to bring them to justice,” parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said. In particular, members of the far-right Azov battalion – which held out in the steel factory – deserve punishment, according to commentators on Russian state television. According to the Russian story, that can hardly be otherwise, because after all, it was these ‘Nazis’ who allegedly threatened Russia and were an important reason for the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine.
Russian war crimes
Not separately from this, the US government last night set up a new unit that will exclusively investigate Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Many reports have already been received about this, the lowest point being the massacres in Butcha, north of Kiev. Today, a captured Russian soldier will appear in court in Kiev on charges of murdering a Ukrainian citizen.
By the way, several hundred Ukrainian soldiers in the steel factory still have not surrendered. It is unclear whether they will capitulate today. According to the authoritative British military expert Robert Lee, the persistence (82 days) of the defenders of Azovstal was ‘one of the most important stories of this war’.
Civilians killed
Russian attacks in the Donetsk region killed seven civilians yesterday, the governor of the area said on his Telegram channel. According to regional emergency services, eight people have been killed and 12 injured in a Russian airstrike on the village of Desna in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region. A Russian village in the western province of Kursk, bordering Ukraine, came under Ukrainian fire, the regional governor said. No injuries were reported.
74 of the 90 M777 howitzers promised by the United States to Ukraine are already being deployed at the front, reports the authoritative American magazine Foreign Policy. Despite the continued artillery shelling from both sides, Russian troops are said to have made little territorial gains in the Donbas region in recent days. British and American services are monitoring this with satellite images. There is, however, mention of special Russian units, including commandos, that would increasingly be used for nighttime ground attacks. Ukraine is said to have urgently asked the West for drones with night vision goggles to counter the attacks.
Cannes
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky addressed the visitors of the Cannes Film Festival last night. In a video message shown on opening night, Zelensky called on the cinema world not to hold back as his country faces an invasion from Russia. “We keep fighting. We have no choice but to keep fighting for our freedom,” Zelenski said. He also said that movies have always played a vital role in uniting people against authoritarianism and cruelty. He referred several times in his speech to the 1940 film The Great Dictator, a Charlie Chaplin film that ridiculed Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime. “The world needs a new Chaplin to show us that cinema is not silent,” Zelenski said.
Russia’s war on Ukraine has reached a turning point, thinks EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell. He sees the Ukrainians counterattack and achieve ‘extraordinary success’. That is why it is all the more important to continue to provide the country with weapons and so will the EU, he assures.
Peace talks between Ukraine and Russia have been halted for the time being.
Diplomatic front
Sweden and Finland – which have a 1,300-kilometer border with Russia – will formally apply for NATO membership today. US President Joe Biden will meet the Swedish and Finnish heads of government in the White House tomorrow to discuss their NATO applications. The Americans are confident that the alliance can reach a consensus to admit them, despite the objections of NATO member Turkey.
Russia, meanwhile, is considering canceling membership of two major organizations: the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Health Organization. (WHO) in protest against international sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner is considering seizing Russian state assets in Germany to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.
#Heres #happened #night #Mariupol #defenders #face #Russian #judge #war #crimes