More than 730 people have been detained across Russia during recent protests against the country’s mobilization decree, Three days after President Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s first military draft since World War II, a human rights group said. The independent OVD-Info protest monitoring group said it was aware of detentions in 32 cities from St Petersburg to Siberia. Unsanctioned gatherings are illegal under Russian law, which also prohibits any activity deemed defamatory of the armed forces.
Russian troops who refuse to fight, flee, disobey or surrender to their enemies could now face up to 10 years in prison, a new law signed by Putin says, according to Russian media reports. The law was approved by parliament this week.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Dmitry Bulgakov has been removed from his post. Bulgakov, who has been in charge of military logistics since the beginning of the Ukrainian invasion Admiral Mikhail Mizantsev, head of the Defense Management Center, which oversaw Russia’s siege of Mariupol, took over.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addresses the UN General Assembly on Saturday, sees opposition to Russia’s attacks on its neighbors as limited to Washington and countries under its influence. “The official Western fear of Russia is unprecedented. The scope is strange now,” Lavrov told the assembly. He criticized the West for not engaging with Russia, saying: “We never gave up our engagement.”
Ukrainian districts that are voting, Lavrov said at a news conference after his speech at the New York Congress If they were annexed by Russia, including with the use of nuclear weapons, they would be under Moscow’s “full protection”.
The so-called referendum is underway In the provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye, areas of Ukraine occupied by Russian troops, residents were told to vote on proposals to declare independence and then join Russia. The polls will continue until Tuesday.
Chinese foreign minister says he supports all efforts to peacefully resolve Ukraine’s ‘crisis’. According to Reuters, Wang Yi told the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday that the immediate priority is to promote peace talks.
Iran’s foreign ministry said it regretted Ukraine’s decision to downgrade diplomatic ties. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani had “advised” Ukraine “not to be influenced by third parties who seek to undermine relations between the two countries,” according to a statement. Ukraine has previously stripped the Iranian ambassador of his approval of Tehran’s “unfriendly” decision to supply drones to Russian troops.
The queue at the Russian-Georgian border is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) long, where people reportedly waited more than 20 hours to cross the river. Compared to last week, the number of border crossings from Russia into Finland has doubled in recent days.
On Saturday, Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other over the shelling in Ukraine’s Zaporozhye region. Regional Governor Oleksandr Starukh on Telegram Russian forces launched a “massive missile strike” in the area from about 10 aircraft, injuring at least three people. Ukrainian troops shelled a granary and fertilizer warehouse in the area, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing unnamed sources. Reuters was unable to verify either party’s claims.
Two civilians killed in attack in Ukraine’s Donetsk region Three people were injured on Friday, according to Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. Russian troops also shelled settlements near the Russian border. In the Kupyan district, five people were injured by shelling, including two children aged 10 and 17.
Russian authorities in the occupied areas of Zaporozhye and Kherson have allegedly begun distributing draft notices and mobilizing personnel According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, a person of conscription age who “renounces Ukrainian citizenship and acquires a passport of the Russian Federation”.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tells Ukrainians in occupied territories to hide from Russian mobilization, avoid conscription letters and reach Ukrainian-controlled territories. However, Zelensky asked people to save their lives and help liberate Ukraine if they ended up joining the Russian army.
Russian troops may be trying to hit Ukrainian dams to flood Ukrainian military border crossings Amid Russia’s fears of setbacks on the battlefield, the latest British Ministry of Defence briefing said. It said the strike was “unlikely to cause significant disruption to Ukraine’s operations” because of the distance between the damaged dam and the fighting area.