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Africa Horn
Sudan: RSF commit ethnic killings in Darfur, UN says
2024-03-02
[AFRICANEWS] Paramilitary forces and their allied militias fighting for power in Sudan
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
 have carried out large-scale ethnic killings and rapes as they take control of much of West Darfur, which could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, UN experts said in a new report.

The report to the United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
 Security Council, obtained Thursday by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named, paints a terrifying picture of the brutality of the Arab-dominated Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against Africans in Darfur. It also explains how Rapid Support Forces managed to take control of four of Darfur's five states, in part through complex financial networks involving dozens of companies.

Sudan plunged into chaos in April, when long-simmering tensions between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support paramilitary forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, boiled over into street fighting in the capital, Khartoum.

The fighting has spread to other parts of the country, but in Sudan's Darfur region, it has taken a different form: brutal attacks by Rapid Support Forces against African civilians, particularly members of the Masalit ethnic group.

WAR CRIMES
Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by Arab Janjawid militias against populations who identify with Central or East Africa. This appears to be the case again, with International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan saying in late January that there was reason to believe both sides were committing war crimes, crimes against humanity. or genocides in Darfur.

The panel said Darfur was experiencing "its worst violence since 2005". The ongoing conflict has caused a large-scale humanitarian crisis and displaced around 6.8 million people - 5.4 million in Sudan and 1.4 million who have fled to other countries, including around 555,000 to neighboring Chad, said the experts.

Both the RSF and rival Sudanese government forces have used heavy artillery and shelling in highly populated areas, leading to the mass destruction of critical water, sanitation, and sanitation facilities. , education, and health care.

In their 47-page report, the experts indicate that the RSF and its militias targeted sites in Darfur where displaced people had found refuge, civilian neighborhoods, and medical facilities.

According to intelligence sources, the panel said that in one town alone — Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state near the Chad border — between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed.

SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Experts said sexual violence by the RSF and its allied militias was widespread.

According to Geneina's reliable sources, women and girls as young as 14 years old were raped by RSF elements in a United Nations World Food Program warehouse controlled by the paramilitary force, in their homes or when they returned home to collect their personal belongings after being displaced by violence. In addition, 16 girls were reportedly kidnapped by RSF soldiers and raped.

"Racial slurs against the Masalit and the non-Arab community were part of the attacks," the panel said. "Neighborhoods and homes were continually attacked, looted, burned and destroyed, particularly those where Masalit and other African communities lived, and their residents were harassed, assaulted, sexually abused and sometimes executed."

Experts said prominent members of the Masalit community were targeted by the FSR, which had a list, and the group's leaders were harassed and some executed. At least two lawyers, three doctors, and seven staff members, as well as human rights
...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you...
 activists who were monitoring and reporting on the events, were also killed.

The RSF and its allied militias looted and destroyed all hospitals and medical storage facilities, leading to the collapse of health services and the deaths of 37 women suffering from childbirth complications and 200 patients requiring treatment. kidney dialysis, according to the expert panel.

TORTURE
According to the report, after the liquidation of the West Darfur governor in June, the Masalit and African communities decided to seek protection in Ardamata, just outside Geneina. A convoy of thousands left at midnight, but as it reached a bridge, FSR and allied militias opened fire indiscriminately, and survivors reported that around 1,000 people had been killed.

The panel stressed that disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians — including torture, rape and murder, as well as the destruction of essential civilian infrastructure — constitute war crimes under the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

The RSF was created from Janjawid fighters by Sudan's former president, Omar al-Bashir
...Former President-for-Life of Sudan He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself head cheese. He fell out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Hee was overthrown by popular consent in 2019. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it...
, who ruled the country for three decades, was tossed in a popular uprising in 2019, and is wanted by the Criminal Court internationally for accusations of genocide and other crimes during the conflict in Darfur in the 2000s.

According to the group of experts, "the RSF's takeover of Darfur relied on three lines of support: allied Arab communities, dynamic and complex financial networks, and new military supply lines through Chad, Libya, and South Sudan."

While the Sudanese army and the RSF have engaged in extensive recruitment drives across Darfur starting in late 2022, the RSF have been more successful, experts say. They also "invested large sums from their pre-war gold trade in several sectors of activity, thus creating a network of 50 companies".

FINANCIAL NETWORKS
The RSF's complex financial networks "made it possible to acquire weapons, pay salaries, finance media campaigns, lobby and buy support from other political and gangs", the experts said.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who visited Chad in September, called the report's findings " horrible" and said she was "deeply disappointed" that the Council UN Security Council and the international community have paid so little attention to these allegations. "The Sudanese people feel like they have been forgotten," she said.

Given the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan and the wider region, Thomas-Greenfield called on the Sudanese army to lift the ban on cross-border aid from Chad and to facilitate cross-border aid in coming from the east of the country. She also demanded, in a statement on Wednesday, that the RSF end the looting of humanitarian warehouses and that both sides stop harassing aid workers.

"The Council must act urgently to alleviate human suffering, hold those responsible to account, and end the conflict in Sudan," the US ambassador said. "Hurry up."
Related:
West Darfur: 2024-01-22 Ethnic Killings in One Sudan City Left Up To 15,000 Dead, UN Report Says
West Darfur: 2024-01-07 Sudan's army chief rejects negotiations with rival RSF
West Darfur: 2023-12-07 U.S. says war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing committed in Sudan
Related:
Janjawid militias: 2006-12-16 Immediate Janjawid disarming urged
Janjawid militias: 2005-03-29 Sudan detains 14 for Darfur abuse
Janjawid militias: 2004-05-02 Sudan violates Darfur cease-fire. Again.
Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: February 20, 2024
2024-02-21
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title
[Korrespondent] 22:45 Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that in 2023, almost 540 thousand people allegedly entered contract service in the Russian armed forces, and since the beginning of 2024, 50 thousand people have been recruited.

22:16 In Ukraine, 18 criminal proceedings are being investigated regarding the murder of 38 prisoners of war by Russians, said Prosecutor General Andrei Kostin.

22:04 Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that together with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky, he had a telephone conversation with Pentagon head Lloyd Austin. They discussed a “general understanding of the situation and an action plan,” as well as issues of ammunition supplies, the urgent needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and long-term planning in the Ramstein format.

22:00 Zelensky will take part in the online summit of the G7 countries, which will take place on February 24 and will be dedicated to the second anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion, the G7 press service reported. The video conference will be chaired by Italian Prime Minister George Maloney. Based on the results of the summit, it is planned to adopt a general declaration.

21:49 A Russian kamikaze drone hit a civilian car in the village of Petropavlovka, Kupyansky district, Kharkov region - two people were killed, one was injured, said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA. All three are local farm workers.

21:45 The Russians struck Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region - they hit an industrial zone and residential buildings, three wounded and numerous damaged high-rise buildings are known, said the head of the OVA Vadim Filashkin.

21:31 The death of Navalny and the departure of the Ukrainian army from Avdiivka, which lacked American ammunition due to the inaction of Congress, cast a dark shadow over the leaders of the Munich Security Conference. Trump's possible rise to power in the United States is causing even greater fear in Europe. As a result, European leaders began to consider options for the existence of the Alliance without the participation of the United States, but it turns out that there are a number of problems here. Read more in the article Will Europe be able to cope with Russia ?

21:10 Russian public pages write about the Ukrainian attack on the Russian military training ground in the occupied Trudovsky Donetsk region. According to them, allegedly as a result of three HIMARS strikes, 65 people were killed, the number of wounded is being clarified.

20:46 Ukraine held regular rounds of negotiations on concluding a bilateral security agreement with Canada and Italy, the Presidential Office reported.

20:28 Some units at the front are already testing pilot projects of drones with artificial intelligence, said Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vadim Sukharevsky. At the same time, he added that “this is a very complex process in terms of organizing and implementing the use of these drones at the front; there are nuances.”

20:07 The mobilization bill was adopted in the first reading on February 7, but its consideration in the second reading has been postponed. More than 1,300 amendments have already been submitted to the document, and this number may increase further. About when they will vote for a high-profile bill, see the article Boom of Edits .

19:29 Ukraine is close to signing agreements on security guarantees with the Netherlands and Denmark, said the head of the OP Andriy Ermak.

19:25 The bilateral security agreement between Ukraine and the United States should give Kiev confidence until the country joins NATO, said American Ambassador Bridget Brink: “This will be a document that will provide you with assurances that the United States will give you defense support in "This interim period. The United States will support Ukraine if it is attacked or if the war stops and then starts again."

19:01 If Ukraine does not receive an invitation to join the Alliance at the NATO summit in Washington, this will lead to an escalation of the war, said the head of the Presidential Office Andrei Yermak: “We always ask the question - what additional escalation is implied. We believe, on the contrary, that failure to provide "An invitation to Ukraine in Washington will be a new escalation. Russia will use this signal that it has the right of veto. This will cause escalation not only on the European continent, but also on other continents. We see that Russia is behind many conflicts and wars today."

18:56 Washington announced a package of sanctions against the Russian Federation due to the death of Navalny. According to White House spokesman John Kirby, the sanctions package will be announced on February 23.

18:22 Putin said that Russia has never been against negotiations - “we are always for negotiations, this also applies to Ukraine.”

18:13 After the Ukrainian military left Avdiivka, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are under pressure at several other points along the entire front line. In particular, the Russian army is trying to advance in the Zaporozhye direction. Read more about the situation in Zaporozhye in the material What the enemy is up to .

18:00 Ukraine returned 11 children aged from two to 16 years from Russia and the occupied territories, the Presidential Office reported. The return took place with the assistance of Qatar.

17:51 Russian spies have returned to Europe and become “more dangerous than ever,” writes The Economist. According to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Russian intelligence services have learned the lessons of the last two years, when they were massively exposed in the European Union and many special operations failed, and are now “entering a new phase of political war against the West.”

Russian agents create armies of bots on social networks, fake websites, carry out cyber attacks, conduct information campaigns against European authorities, establish channels for supplying equipment to Russian arms manufacturers, introduce their agents into a variety of institutions, undermine European support for Ukraine and destroy NATO from the inside, the publication writes. Europeans fear that many Russians who escaped mobilization may be agents. Some of them may be recruited through threats against their relatives in the Russian Federation.

17:25 The Russians in the Avdeevsky direction have enough forces and means to advance further, said deputy commander of the 3rd Special Brigade Maxim Zhorin. According to him, now the Third Assault, together with other units, has occupied certain defense lines around Avdeevka. The intensity of the fighting is high, but not as much as it was in the city. The main direction for the enemy today is Lastochkino.

16:57 The prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into the shooting of three Ukrainian defenders by the Russian military near Rabotino, Zaporozhye region.

16:49 The British research organization Conflict Armament Research discovered hundreds of components produced by European and American companies in the North Korean ballistic missile that Russia used to strike Ukraine. The analysts' findings are the first public confirmation that North Korea is relying on foreign technology to develop its missile program, CNN writes.

16:06 The Russians attacked Nikopol and the Krasnogrigoryevsk community of the Dnepropetrovsk region - three people were wounded, said the head of the OVA Sergei Lysak.

15:50 The Russians again shot captured Ukrainian soldiers, this time near Rabotino, Zaporozhye region, DeepState reports. The invaders attacked the village from the south and captured part of a large stronghold, where three soldiers of the 3rd Spartan Brigade remained.

15:34 The European Union has allocated 83 million euros for humanitarian assistance to people affected by the war. Of these, 75 million euros are provided for Ukraine, the European Commission said.

15:12 Japan provided Ukraine with a grant of $100 million as part of the emergency recovery program, the Ministry of Infrastructure reports. The funds will be used, in particular, for energy services, transport links, and equipment for humanitarian demining.

14:07 The “DPR” announced another attack on the center of Donetsk, as a result of which the central library was allegedly damaged. Meanwhile, local public pages write that the building of the “DPR government” is on fire.

14:03 As a result of a night Russian strike on the Novoslobodsk community of the Konotop district of the Sumy region, a family was killed: a mother and her two sons, as well as two distant relatives, OVA reported. A Lancent-type attack UAV hit a residential building.

13:48 Both in the Zaporozhye direction and in the Donetsk region, the Russians resumed the use of toxic substances: a total of four grenades with a tear-suffocating chemical were dropped, Commander Tarnavsky said. In the Avdeevsky direction, the enemy is again trying to advance in small assault groups. The situation remains under control, Ukrainian forces are holding the line, the commander assured.

12:59 The leader of the "DPR" Denis Pushilin announced the shelling of the Kiev region of Donetsk - allegedly one person was killed, five more were injured.

12:16 Lukashenko said that Polish and American intelligence are allegedly preparing a provocation against the civilian population of Poland, for which Russia and Belarus will be blamed.

11:47 In Germany, the ruling coalition has prepared a secret proposal to supply Ukraine with ammunition, vehicles and weapons systems. Among other things, the document proposes to transfer to Kyiv “additional long-range weapons systems and ammunition necessary to enable Ukraine to carry out targeted attacks on strategically important targets far behind the Russian aggressor’s lines,” DPA reports. This description fits Taurus missiles, capable of hitting targets at a distance of more than 500 km. However, their name is not directly indicated in the document. The Bundestag is planning to vote on this aid package this week.

11:42 Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets said that he sent letters to the ICRC and the UN to document a war crime by the Russian Federation during the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Avdiivka. According to him, due to the complete encirclement of the Zenit stronghold, the command decided to contact the coordination center and organizations negotiating with the Russian side. The Russians assured the coordinators that they agreed to evacuate the wounded Ukrainian defenders and provide assistance to them, and then exchange them. However, the Ukrainians were shot.

Lubinets emphasized that this is not the first time Russia has grossly violated the norms of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions by killing prisoners of war.

11:11 After a series of cases of destruction of Russian aircraft by the Defense Forces, there is a significant decrease in the activity of enemy aviation, said Yuri Ignat, spokesman for the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to him, the Russians understand that they can already be caught, and “they no longer behave so brazenly.”

10:45 Sweden announced a new largest package of military assistance for Ukraine worth about 630 million euros. Defense Minister Paul Johnson said the 15th aid package is seen as an important signal to Kyiv on the eve of the anniversary of the start of the war that Swedish support will continue, and also as a signal to Russia that Sweden will not let Ukraine down.

The package will include ten combat boats and 20 group boats, as well as underwater weapons. The package also includes artillery ammunition, the Robot 70 air defense system, anti-tank missiles, Carl Gustaf grenade launchers and soldier equipment.

10:26 Bulgaria is delaying the promised delivery of 100 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine, writes Euroactiv. The decision in parliament was made more than three months ago, and the countries signed a supply agreement. But the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense turned to NATO with a request to cover transport costs, since “this is not an elementary transport operation; quite a lot of trains need to be involved.” The ruling party criticizes the country's Ministry of Defense for its slowness.

09:54 In the Kharkov region over the previous 24 hours, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was injured in Kupyansk, another in the village. Olkhovatka, Kupyansky district. As a result of the shelling in the village. Olkhovatka substation was damaged, there is no power supply in the village. The enemy also fired artillery fire at Volchansk, Chuguevsky district - an enterprise was damaged and two civilian employees were injured, said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA.

09:18 In the Zaporozhye region, as a result of yesterday’s Russian strike on Primorsky and Lesnoy, two people were killed, said the head of the OVA Ivan Fedorov.

09:12 At night, the Russians attacked the Novoslobodsk community of the Konotop district of the Sumy region. As a result of the shelling, a fire occurred in a residential building and the bodies of two dead were discovered. Removal of the rubble and search work continue, the OVA reported.

08:47 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of February 20:

  • personnel - about 404,950 (+1230) people,

  • tanks - 6503 (+5),

  • armored combat vehicles - 12,268 (+36),

  • artillery systems - 9773 (+40),

  • MLRS - 988 (+2),

  • air defense systems - 675 (+1),

  • aircraft - 338 (+2),

  • helicopters - 325 (+0),

  • UAV of operational-tactical level - 7521 (+61),

  • cruise missiles - 1902 (+3),

  • ships/boats - 25 (+0),

  • submarines - 1 (+0),

  • automotive equipment and tank trucks - 12,805 (+38),

  • special equipment - 1551 (+6).

08:25 At night, Russian drones attacked the Poltava region. A fire broke out at an industrial facility in the Kremenchug region; it has already been extinguished. No people were injured, said the head of the OVA, Philip Pronin.

08:19 Over the past 24 hours, 81 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report . In the Avdeevsky direction, the Defense Forces repelled nine enemy attacks near Lastochkino, Severny, Pervomaisky and Nevelsky, Donetsk region. In the Maryinsky direction, 21 attacks were repelled (near Georgievka, Pobeda, Novomikhailovka, Donetsk region), in Bakhmutsky - 14 attacks in the Bogdanovka, Ivanovsky, Kleshcheevka and Andreevka areas of the Donetsk region.

In the Kupyansk direction, the enemy made four unsuccessful attempts to attack in the Sinkovka area of ​​the Kharkov region; in Limansky attacked Ukrainian units six times in the Ternov district of the Donetsk region and Belogorivka of the Lugansk region; on Novopavlovsky, he once tried to advance in the Staromayorsky area of ​​the Donetsk region; and also made five unsuccessful assaults in the Kherson direction. In the Zaporozhye direction, the Defense Forces repelled 11 attacks near Malinovka and Rabotino, Zaporozhye region.

07:48 Air defense at night destroyed all 23 Shahed-type attack drones that Russia attacked from Primorsko-Akhtarsk, the Air Force command reported. In addition, the enemy used two S-300/S-400 missiles (from the Belgorod region) and a Kh-31 guided aircraft missile (Zaporozhye region). The drones were shot down within the Kharkov, Poltava, Kirovograd, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye, Kherson and Nikolaev regions.

01:50 Russia is massively building up its forces in the Zaporozhye region, CNN reports citing Ukrainian and Russian sources. According to some analysts, the Russians have assembled a 50,000-strong army there.

01:21 The Netherlands, which joined the drone coalition last week, has already begun to transfer UAVs to Ukraine, Defense Minister Kaisa Ollongren said. “I can’t give an exact number, but we are already transferring drones to Ukraine. The drone coalition is very important because now we will join forces, which means that we will be able to increase the number of drones in accordance with the needs of Ukraine,” she added.

00:36 On February 20, Sweden will announce the provision of the largest military aid package of all time to Ukraine - worth $700 million, the Swedish publication Dagens Nyheter reported.

00:13 Canada will transfer to Ukraine more than 800 multi-purpose SkyRanger R70 drones worth about $70 million, Defense Minister Bill Blair said.

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas reports three more Israeli captives fatally injured in air raids
2024-02-13
[GEO.TV] Abu Obaida, spokesperson for Hamas's armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, confirms that three captives have succumbed to injuries from Israeli attacks. The same air raids had previously killed two captives and left eight seriously injured. Abu Obaida postpones releasing names until the fate of the remaining wounded captives is determined.
Sure, blame it on the Israelis, when if it were not for Hamas, those people would not be at risk as captives in Gaza. The Geneva Conventions forbid holding civilians as captives for ransom or as human shields.
Related:
Abu Obaida: 2023-12-11 Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida: You will not be able to take your prisoners alive without submitting to the conditions of the Qassam Brigades
Abu Obaida: 2023-11-24 Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Obaida, grimaces, issues blood-curdling threats
Abu Obaida: 2023-11-23 Israeli strike in Lebanon - kills 2 Turks another and Khalil Haraz, deputy commander of Al-Qassam.
Related:
Qassam Brigades: 2024-02-05 Israel army says raided Hamas compound used to train for October 7
Qassam Brigades: 2024-01-30 In response to 'genocide', Hamas says it fired rockets towards Tel Aviv
Qassam Brigades: 2024-01-28 Three more female Zionist ‘soldiers’ confirmed captured by Palestinian forces
Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: November 30th 2023
2023-12-01
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:10 Zelensky said that he had a conversation with Prime Minister of Bulgaria Nikolai Denkov, informed him about the current defense needs of Ukraine, in particular, about strengthening the Air Force and artillery.

21:58 Zaluzhny said that he had a telephone conversation with the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Brown: “We discussed the situation at the front. He spoke about the enemy’s local offensive actions in the Kupyansky, Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Maryinsky directions. At the same time, the Forces security and defense inflict significant losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment, and also deplete him along the entire front line. We agreed with General Brown to continue working together to find technological solutions to gain an advantage over the enemy in the air, fire engagement and mine clearance. Also shared with partners the results of our research into the effectiveness of the use of certain types of weapons."

21:54 The Russian army attacked Toretsk, Donetsk region, for the second time in a day. According to preliminary data, the enemy dropped two air bombs on the city, which hit the private sector. One person died and three were injured, the prosecutor's office said.

21:48 Zelensky, in an interview in Kiev with Nikkei and other foreign media, admitted that “everyone forgot about Ukraine” due to events in the Middle East: “I believe that this is exactly what the Russian Federation tried to achieve, and I am sorry to say that they achieved desired result." The president also once again stated that ceasefire negotiations with Moscow can begin only after the Russian military completely leaves the territory of Ukraine. “We cannot recognize our territories as territories of the Russian Federation,” he emphasized.

21:30 The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Tatyana Moskalkova, stated that simultaneously with the Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets, on the basis of reciprocity, they each visited 119 captured military personnel who are located on the territory of Russia and Ukraine.

Lubinets clarified that Russian representatives visited Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Russian Federation, and Ukrainian representatives visited Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine. “The staff of our Office talked with the Russians and were once again convinced that our country adheres to the Geneva Conventions. Every prisoner of war is well-fed, provided with hygiene products, has the right to work, and has the opportunity to go for walks. As for medical care, it is also provided upon request prisoners of war. Also, everyone was given humanitarian packages with things and food. The Russians, in turn, talked with our defenders. According to them, they also provide medical assistance, and there was an opportunity to make phone calls to relatives. The captured Ukrainian soldiers recorded video messages to their relatives, who soon will be handed over to the recipients," the Ukrainian Ombudsman said.

21:17 Zelensky said that he held two important meetings in Zaporozhye: an operational one - with the military, the second - about fortification "in all main directions, where it is necessary to strengthen, speed up the construction of structures." One of the issues is the construction of shelters in schools, in particular in Zaporozhye and the region, so that children can study at least in a mixed format.

19:51 The delivery of a large batch of long-range bombs (GLSDB) from the United States to Ukraine has been postponed to 2024, Reuters reports. Last fall, Boeing, the main contractor for GLSDB, first approached Washington with a proposal to buy and deliver this small-diameter bomb to Ukraine. The production required materials, the contract was signed in March.

The Pentagon did not buy this missile for itself. Now sources familiar with the current timeline say the company will ship to the US in late December, followed by several months of testing before shipping to Ukraine, Reuters adds.

19:45 All political forces of the Verkhovna Rada signed a memorandum on holding the next elections only after the end of martial law. Both presidential and parliamentary elections must be held no earlier than six months after the end of martial law.

19:16 The Netherlands will provide Ukraine with an additional aid package worth 2.5 billion euros in 2024, said the country’s Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot.

19:03 On December 12, the European Commission will publish the final draft plan for the use of Russian assets frozen in the EU in favor of Ukraine, Bloomberg writes. The European Commission's plan provides for the introduction of a tax on excess income from the use of frozen assets.

18:59 The National Police clarified that as a result of today’s shelling of Berislav, Kherson region, two policemen were wounded.

18:55 Zelensky visited a metro school in Kharkov at the University of the Kharkov metro station, the President’s Office reported. He visited classes and awarded teachers in the region.

At the University station, 831 children study from 40 classes, which are assigned to 11 educational institutions. Premises for teaching children are located at five stations of the Kharkov metro: University, Peremoga, Tractor Plant, Metrostroiteley and Academician Pavlov. 105 classes have been formed, with 2,094 students in grades 1-11 studying. Classrooms are assigned to 26 lyceums, children study in two shifts. Schoolchildren from all over the city are transported free of charge by buses along 12 routes, accompanied by patrol police. There are accompanying persons on buses with children.

18:34 The Russian Army shelled the village. Liptsy, Dergachiv community, Kharkov region, one person was injured, the prosecutor's office reported.

18:17 The Russians are trying to recreate the Ukrainian surface drone SeaBaby in order to use it against Ukraine, sources of the UP in the special services said. According to them, the enemy managed to assemble a “conditionally working” model of a naval drone from the remains of several devices found at the site of the attacks.

17:29 The Russians shelled Tyaginka, Kherson region, three people were injured, the OVA reported.

17:04 EU countries have agreed on a package of financial support for Ukraine worth 50 billion euros for the next four years , SkyNews writes. European Budget Commissioner Johannes Hann said that the aid package is not disputed by any EU country.

17:00 The new Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, received the Russian ambassador in Bratislava and said that Slovakia should prepare for the period after the end of the war in Ukraine and the “standardization of relations” with Russia.

16:56 The Russians fired a mortar at a residential area in Toretsk, Donetsk region. Three people who came to receive humanitarian aid at the administrative building were wounded, the prosecutor's office reported.

16:53 The Biden administration called on Turkey to refrain from supporting Hamas and Russia, The Wall Street Journal writes, citing sources. Deputy Treasury Secretary for Counterterrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson, during a visit to Ankara, told representatives of the Turkish authorities that they are provoking violence in the Middle East and Europe by actively helping Hamas and Russian militants violate Western sanctions. US officials have warned that Turkish companies and individuals risk sanctions if they continue to help Russia evade sanctions.

16:10 Hungary will not support the decision to begin negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU and the EU’s allocation of 50 billion euros to it until 2027, said the head of Orban’s office, Gergely Gulyas.

15:51 North Korea sent about 2,000 containers with weapons to Russia, writes Reuters. The containers could contain shells and short-range missiles. They were loaded onto Russian ships in the port of the North Korean free economic zone of Rason, which has not operated since 2018.

15:32 The Russian army attacked Berislav, Kherson region, with a drone, two people were wounded, OVA reported.

15:29 Russian media write that the cause of the fire in a freight train in the Severomuysk tunnel was allegedly caused by a “short circuit in the cable network.” A freight train of 50 cars began to enter a tunnel near the Okushikan station in Buryatia when the driver heard a “pop.” A fire started in one of the carriages. As a result, three tank cars were damaged, one of them burned out completely. Currently, recovery and firefighting trains are operating in the tunnel. Propagandists claim that there are no delays in the movement of passenger trains and no people were injured.

15:15 Zelensky said that he had a conversation with Scholz, they discussed further defense cooperation, the situation on the battlefield, and the work of the grain corridor. The President also had a telephone conversation with Rishi Sunak, informed about the priority needs to increase the defense capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and strengthen the Ukrainian air shield after visits to the front line in the south and east of Ukraine.

15:02 The Russians fired a mortar at the civilian infrastructure of the city of Seredina-Buda, Sumy region. One person was wounded, prosecutors said.

14:43 First Lady Elena Zelenskaya was included in the list of the 25 most influential women in the world in 2023 according to the British newspaper Financial Times. Zelenskaya was included in the Heroes category. The Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas gave a characterization of the first lady. According to her, Zelenskaya, like her husband, has become “a global symbol of perseverance.”

14:09 The number of deaths as a result of enemy shelling of the village of Sadovoye, Kherson community, has increased to three, the OVA reported.

13:25 The growth of social tension and the deterioration of the social situation in the Russian Federation is stated by Russian officials and representatives of the special services themselves, including in closed reports to the country’s top leadership, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense reports. According to Ukrainian military intelligence, the increase in protest activity of the Russian population is expressed by increasingly high dissatisfaction with the war against Ukraine.

In addition, there is a deterioration in the crime situation within the Russian Federation. The increase in crime in the regions is caused by the loss of stable sources of income, difficulties in finding employment and alcoholism of the population. Also increasing social tension is affected by rising prices.

13:11 Zelensky said that he visited the forward command post of the defenders of Kupyansk.

12:59 As a result of the Ukrainian strike on the Russian headquarters in occupied Tokmak, Zaporozhye region, which they placed in a kindergarten, at least 14 Russian military personnel were eliminated, including many officers, said the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov. According to him, on November 29, explosions also continued in Tokmak - in those places in the vicinity of the city where the enemy concentrates military equipment and manpower.

12:36 Zelensky said at a meeting with students in Nikolaev that it would be more difficult for Ukraine to return Donbass than Crimea, since local residents fought against the Ukrainian Armed Forces: “It may happen that we return the territories before these people. If, for example, we take Donbass, people have been living there for ten years, but not there. They live in another dimension. I think it will be more difficult with Donbass. I believe that the territories are returning with people. If people don’t want it, it will be very, very difficult. I think it will be very difficult to return Donbass mentally more difficult, because there was a contact line with the occupation for ten years and there were constant hostilities. There was a lot of separatism on the other side, they fought. This means that in this or that family in Donbass, not everyone returned. Or some kind of history returned. Relationships are clear. And even now, when the Russian Federation is fighting and fighting against us, the toughest ones are the separatists. They are standing. The Russians are fleeing, but these are standing. But there were no hostilities in Crimea."

The President believes that now “the main thing for Ukraine is to preserve us, our integrity,” and the situation in the occupied territories may change with the change of generations.

12:32 The Russians fired artillery at the village of Sadovoye, Kherson region, one person was killed, the OVA reported. In addition, one person was injured as a result of an enemy attack on the Korabel microdistrict of Kherson.

11:41 A bill has been submitted to the US Congress to seize the assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs and transfer them to the restoration of Ukraine. The document was introduced by both Democrats and Republicans from both houses of parliament: Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat) and Lindsey Graham (Republican), along with members of the House of Representatives Joe Wilson (Republican) and Steve Cohen (Democrat).

The bill's description says it will "allow the Department of Justice to more quickly confiscate high-value assets belonging to sanctioned Russian oligarchs through existing administrative forfeiture procedures and transfer the proceeds from those assets to Ukraine." In particular, we are talking about private jets, yachts and other expensive assets.

11:37 Ukrainian media report, citing sources, about a new special operation of the SBU: tonight there was an explosion on the Baikal-Amur Mainline, namely in the Severomuisky tunnel named after. Bessolovo, which is located in Buryatia. This is the only full-fledged railway route between Russia and China, and now this route, used by the Russian Federation for military supplies, is paralyzed. According to media reports, four explosive devices went off while the freight train was moving, and the FSB is now on the scene.

In turn, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense reported that in the last days of November, two objects burned down on important sections of the Russian railway in the Moscow region: a relay cabinet near the settlement of Lazenki, Novoperedelkinsky district, and a relay cabinet near the settlement of Artemyevo, Domodedovo urban district. As a result of “a special event carried out jointly with the resistance movement,” train traffic in these areas was paralyzed, the Main Intelligence Directorate reports.

11:10 At the site of shelling of a residential building in Novogrodovka, Donetsk region, the body of the deceased was pulled out from under the rubble. As of 10:00, there are probably four people under the rubble, one of them a child. The search and rescue operation continues, said Igor Moroz, head of the OSA.

10:58 Putin will hold a direct line and an annual large press conference on December 14, Peskov said.

10:27 Ukraine produces about 50 thousand FPV drones every month, while Russia produces six times more, Forbes writes. In total, there are about 200 UAV manufacturers in Ukraine, which provide only 10-15% of the total needs of the army. At the same time, Ukrainian manufacturers lack 2,000 engineers, and to reach the level of Russia, the industry needs 6,000 engineers.

09:51 In the Odessa region, during a night attack, a drone hit an unused building, said Oleg Kiper, head of the OVA. The fire was quickly extinguished by rescuers; no people were injured.

09:22 At night, the Russian army attacked Daryevka, Kherson region, four local residents were injured, OVA reports. About ten residential buildings, a kindergarten and a hospital were damaged. Over the previous 24 hours, one person was killed and five were injured as a result of Russian shelling in the region.

08:47 As a result of the night shelling of settlements in the Pokrovsky district of the Donetsk region, ten people were injured, including four children. Five more people are being searched under the rubble, the National Police said. The enemy fired six S-300 missiles at Pokrovsk, Novogrodovka and Mirnograd. Apartment and private buildings, the police department, and cars were damaged.

08:35 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of November 30:

  • personnel - about 328,760 (+1180) people,

  • tanks - 5551 (+13),

  • armored combat vehicles - 10,340 (+28),

  • artillery systems - 7909 (+1),

  • MLRS - 910 (+0),

  • air defense systems - 600 (+0),

  • aircraft - 323 (+0),

  • helicopters - 324 (+0),

  • UAV of operational-tactical level - 5954 (+10),

  • cruise missiles - 1567 (+0),

  • ships/boats - 22 (+0),

  • submarines - 1 (+0),

  • automotive equipment and tank trucks - 10,361 (+13),

  • special equipment - 1124 (+3).

08:09 In the Khmelnytsky region, during a night attack, debris from downed drones fell on the territory of a former plant in the Shepetovsky district, no people were injured, the OVA reported. The IAEA team monitoring the situation at the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant reported that, while in its premises, it heard several explosions in the immediate vicinity last night for 20 minutes.

07:58 At night, air defense destroyed 14 of 20 Shahed attack UAVs , which Russia attacked from two directions - Crimea and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, the Air Force command reported. Air defense operated in the southern, eastern and central regions of Ukraine. In addition, the Russians attacked the Donetsk region with eight S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles.

07:41 Over the past 24 hours, 101 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report . In particular, the Defense Forces repelled 24 enemy attacks in the Limansky direction (in the Serebryansky forestry areas of the Luhansk region and east of Ternov, Yampolevka, Torskoye, Donetsk region) and 22 attacks in Avdeevsky (near Stepnoy, Novokalinovo, east of Novobakhmutovka, Avdeevka, south of Tonenkoye, Severny, Pervomaisky, Donetsk region).

In the Kupyansk direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled enemy attacks near Sinkovka, Petropavlovka in the Kharkov region and Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk region; on Bakhmutsky - near Ivanovsky and Andreevka, Donetsk region; on Maryinsky - in the Krasnohorivka and Novomikhailovka districts of the Donetsk region; on Shakhtarsky - south of Prechistovka, Donetsk region; in Zaporozhye - in the Rabotino area and north-west of Verbovoy, Zaporozhye region.

At the same time, the Defense Forces continue the offensive operation in the Melitopol direction, assault operations south of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, and in the Kherson direction they hold occupied positions on the left bank of the Dnieper.

04:40 In Russian Bryansk, drones attacked a warehouse with Shahed drones, which in Russia are called Geran-2, local publics report. According to them, city residents heard explosions in the area of ​​the television center. Russian authorities did not comment on the explosions.

00:33 In Crimea, Russian TV channels broadcast videos with appeals from Zelensky , Zaluzhny and Budanov, local publics report. The Ukrainian president’s address was also supplemented by footage of Ukrainian Armed Forces’ strikes on Russian positions and on Russian ships in the Black Sea. Advisor to the Gauleiter of Crimea Oleg Kryuchkov later reported that a number of local Internet providers had been hacked.

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel orders EVACUATION of 1.1M people from Northern Gaza within 24 hours, UN says
2023-10-13
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Israel has ordered more than one million people to evacuate northern Gaza within 24 hours ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive aimed at eradicating Hamas.

The order this morning sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade, while the United Nations called such an evacuation 'impossible' that would turn an tragedy into calamity.

It comes as Hamas claimed at least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages held in northern Gaza have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours.

'Thirteen prisoners... including foreigners' were killed in five locations targeted by Israeli fighter jets, Hamas's armed wing said Friday.
In other words, Hamas is using kidnapped foreigners and Israelis as human shields to protect key military locations — strictly forbidden by the Geneva Conventions, to which Hamas is not a signatory.
Israel's military sent one evacuation order directly on Friday morning, telling the 1.1 million people living north of an area called Wadi Gaza to move south. This would mean the entire population of Gaza City and its surroundings fleeing their homes.

Israel has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza with airstrikes and cut off food, water and electricity since Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,300 in Israel.

Israel's directive, which comes seven days after Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza, charged that Hamas terrorists were hiding in tunnels under the city.

Meanwhile, a Hamas official called the evacuation order 'fake propaganda', urged Palestinians to stay in their homes and not to 'fall for it'.

The UN said it received a separate directive from the Israeli military shortly before midnight, giving all 1.1 million civilians of northern Gaza 24 hours to flee south.

It said the broad evacuation warning it received for all of Gaza's north also applies to all UN staff and to the hundreds of thousands who have taken shelter in UN schools and other facilities since Israel launched round-the-clock airstrikes.
The article also has maps, photos and video showing some of what happened last Saturday.
Link


Africa Horn
43 bodies collected from clashes in a disputed Somali city — Red Cross
2023-09-03
[AFRICANEWS] The International Committee of the Red Thingy says 43 bodies have been collected in the past week from the front line of the latest fighting in a disputed city in Somaliland.

The ICRC in a statement Friday said a further 110 maimed people have been taken to hospitals in the past week by the Somali Red Islamic Thingy Society amid festivities that have continued for months in and around Las-Anod. The statement did not identify the dead or those to blame.

Somaliland separated from Somalia three decades ago and has sought recognition as an independent country. Somaliland security forces have been fighting clan militia who wish to be part of Somalia, whose Puntland
...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion...
 state for years has disputed Las-Anod with Somaliland.

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the fighting. It is not known how many hundreds of people have been killed in total. The ICRC reported "widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure" in Las-Anod, the capital of the Sool region.

Somaliland's government in a statement Thursday condemned what it alleged were images circulating of mistreatment of its captured soldiers and reminded combatants of the Geneva Conventions guidelines, as well as Islamic custom, for the treatment of prisoners.

Hundreds of people have been captured on both sides in the latest fighting, and the ICRC said it had managed to make its first visit to 300 held by the militias. Four maimed detainees were taken to a hospital, it said. ICRC staff had previously visited captured militia forces in the Somaliland capital.

Somaliland's defense ministry earlier this year denied that the army had shelled the main hospital in Las-Anod.
Link


International-UN-NGOs
Top Dutch court confirms Gantz can’t be sued for civilian deaths in 2014 Gaza strike
2023-08-27
A strike against the use of universal jurisdiction by national courts in the soft jihad of the law against Israel... and others.
[IsraelTimes] Ex-Defense Minister hails Israel’s ’strong and independent judicial system,’ as ruling upholds findings that senior IDF officers enjoy ’functional immunity’ from civil proceedings in Netherlands

The Dutch Supreme Court on Friday upheld a ruling that a Paleostinian man cannot sue Israel’s former defense minister and another former senior military officer over their roles in a deadly 2014 Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
 Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
The highest Dutch court confirmed findings by judges in two lower courts that Benny Gantz
...a leader of the center-left opposition to Bibi Netanyahu. In recent elections he and his party were clients of Barack Obama’s favourite strategist, Joel Benenson, who also guided Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign...
and former Air Force Commander Amir Eshel
...who has actually avoided a political career, unlike former PM General Gantz...
are protected from civil proceedings in the Netherlands because they have "functional immunity."

The long-running case was brought by Ismail Ziada, who lost six members of his family in the airstrike that lawyers for the two Israelis argued was part of an Israeli military operation during the 2014 Gaza war between Israel and Hamas, the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®, terror group.

Ziada, who also has Dutch citizenship, wanted the court to order Gantz and Eshel to pay damages of 600,000 euros ($650,000). His legal team argued that the men didn’t have immunity because their actions amounted to war crimes.

In a written reaction, Ziada said he was "disappointed and angered" by the Supreme Court ruling and is considering appealing to the European Court of Human Rights.

"The court has once again chosen to put politics over people and blocked access to justice. Today’s ruling only deepens the injustice we have suffered," he added.

Israel’s Justice Ministry told a lower Dutch court that an internal Israeli military investigation determined the airstrike had killed four Paleostinians hiding in the house. It said the attack was permissible under international law.
Indeed.
Gaza’s Hamas rulers themselves have said that two of their fighters were in the building.
Q.E.D.
Gantz thanked his country’s justice and foreign ministries for leading "the push that led to the dismissal of the lawsuit against me and against the former Air Force Commander Major General (ret.) Amir Eshel in the Netherlands."

Gantz — who was military chief of staff at the time of the airstrike in Gaza — and Eshel had immunity because they were carrying out Israeli government policies, Dutch courts in The Hague ruled. The Supreme Court agreed in a short written ruling issued Friday.

Gantz is now head of the centrist opposition party National Unity in the Knesset. Eshel, a former director-general of the Defense Ministry when Gantz served as defense minister from 2020 to late last year, was named this month as a senior fellow at the hawkish Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Gantz welcomed the dismissal of the lawsuit, crediting what he described as Israel’s "strong and independent judicial system" that protects Israeli soldiers and commanders "even in front of international courts."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government is currently pushing to overhaul the country’s judicial system and weaken the Supreme Court, a move that the security establishment has worried could render the country more vulnerable to international prosecution.

"As the system protects us — it is our duty to protect it and preserve its strength and independence," Gantz said.

Israel said it launched the 2014 operation to stop rocket fire against its citizens and destroy tunnels used for smuggling weapons and bully boys. The conflict, known as Operation Protective Edge in Israel, left 2,251 dead on the Paleostinian side, most of them civilians,
...explained by the habit of Hamas, et al, of storing war materiel and working spaces amid and underneath civilian buildings like apartment blocks and schools. The Geneva Conventions specifically place the responsibility for resulting civilian casualties on those using them as a shield....
and 74 on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers.
Low Israeli casualties are explained by Israeli society choosing to spend a great deal of money and effort to harden civilian sites and train civilians to seek shelter when the air raid sirens go off, despite the Gazans deliberately targetting civilian rather than military sites, targetting civilians being contrary to the Geneva Conventions. Also, Gazan rocketeers are really bad at hitting their targets — on average a quarter of their rockets and missiles come straight back down in the Strip.
Related:
Dutch Supreme Court: 2013-06-28 European Court Confirms U.N. Immunity over Srebrenica
Dutch Supreme Court: 2010-03-31 Dutch court upholds UN immunity in Srebrenica case
Related:
Benny Gantz: 2023-07-29 Another 10,000 IDF reservists announce they won't serve anymore
Benny Gantz: 2023-07-24 ‘Time of emergency’: Dueling judicial overhaul rallies as Herzog makes final bid for compromise
Benny Gantz: 2023-07-18 Israel appoints first military attaché to Morocco
Related:
Amir Eshel: 2021-12-08 Dutch court upholds Gantz immunity in Israeli airstrike case
Amir Eshel: 2021-10-12 Israel Air Force asks to swap four KC-46 tanker aircraft instead of two
Amir Eshel: 2020-10-28 Israel To Get Direct Access To SBIRS Sats & More F-35 Capabilities; Esper Visiting
Related:
Ismail Ziada: 2021-12-08 Dutch court upholds Gantz immunity in Israeli airstrike case
Ismail Ziada: 2019-09-17 Dutch court to hold war crimes hearing against Benny Gantz on election day
Related:
Operation Protective Edge: 2023-04-11 Floridian Jews embrace wounded Israeli soldiers
Operation Protective Edge: 2022-12-01 UNRWA condemns subterranean opening found beneath Gaza school
Operation Protective Edge: 2022-10-26 As Russia attacks Ukraine with drones, Germany looks to Israel to protect critical facilities
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Turkey to appoint single governor for all northern Syria
2023-08-25
[NPASyria] Ottoman Turkish media outlets reported on Tuesday that the Ottoman Turkish government is planning to designate a governor in the areas under its occupation in northern Syria.

Turkiye newspaper reported that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
 had previously appointed seven governors in the areas it controls in northern Syria. However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese...
 it adopts a new approach that involves appointing only one governor.

The newspaper outlined the establishment of a new system to coordinate between Ankara and local councils it had founded in 13 towns and cities in northern Syria including Afrin, Azaz, Jarablus, al-Bab, Tel Abyad, and Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain).

Turkey launched three military operations against northern and northeastern areas in Syria. The first was "Euphrates Shield" operation in 2016 where it occupied Jarablus and al-Bab, the second was "Olive Branch" operation in 2018 where it occupied Afrin, and the third was "Peace Spring" in 2019 which resulted in the occupation of the two cities of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad with their countryside.

Those operations led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of the original people and settling instead of them the families of the bandidos snuffies of Ottoman Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), that assisted Turkey in its three operations. This step resulted in the change of the demography of northern Syria.

"Undoubtedly, Turkey aims to consolidate its occupation of those areas and, may be, to hold a referendum to announce it a Ottoman Turkish province as it did in Cyprus," said Hussein Naaso, a Germany-based lawyer and human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
 activist.

In an exclusive statement to North Press, Naaso described the step as a crime and a violation of the international law. "As an occupation state, Turkey must preserve the civil and judicial administrations in the occupied areas according to the Geneva Conventions and their protocols in addition to the Hague Conventions."

"However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese...
 as Turkey is an influential member of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
 and occupies an important geopolitical position that allows it to make benefit from the American-Russian contradictions, it disregards all the international conventions and keeps imposing its will on the neighboring countries like Syria and Iraq through military interventions," Hussein Naaso noted.
Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: August 22nd, 2023
2023-08-23
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title
22:57 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that over the Black Sea, the flight of the MQ-9 Reaper and TB2 Bayraktar UAVs was allegedly recorded, which conducted aerial reconnaissance near the Crimean peninsula. Fighters of the air defense forces on duty were lifted into the air, as a result of which the UAVs changed the direction of their flight and left the air reconnaissance areas, according to Moscow.

22:14 The Russians fired artillery at the settlements of the Limansky territorial community of the Donetsk region: three people were killed, two were injured, the Office of the Prosecutor General said. In particular, three people were killed and one wounded as a result of shelling. Torsk. Another wounded - in with. Zakotnoe.

21:52 171 children remain in the front-line communities of the Donetsk region, Pavel Kirilenko, head of the OVA, said. He clarified that these are the children who have parents. "We are using a tougher mechanism, in particular, forced evacuation with parents. The evacuation continues, we hope to reach zero within two weeks so that there are no children here," Kirilenko said.

To date, 492 thousand people live in the Donetsk region. In particular, Avdiivka, where about 40,000 people lived until 2014, currently has 1,691 people. These are mostly elderly people, although there are also young people under 30 years old.

20:59 The Ukrainian Armored Vehicles Company announced that it had established a joint production of 120 mm mortar shells with two NATO member countries at once. Mortar shells fully comply with NATO standards, and international cooperation and the dispersal of production facilities have helped the company increase the monthly supply of these ammunition for the Defense Forces.

20:26 Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Russia is now transferring tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. According to him, "such actions are changing the security architecture in Europe and on NATO's eastern flank."

20:22 The war in Ukraine has not reached a stalemate, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said: “We have always clearly understood that the battlefield is very dynamic. Attacks and defenses are taking place from both sides at different points along a very long front line. We see how Ukraine continues to methodically and systematically reclaim territories."

In addition, Sullivan said the Biden administration is confident it can secure additional funding for Ukraine, despite opposition from some Republicans: "We believe that support will and will be sustained - even if there are dissident voices on the other side, we believe that at the core there is still a strong bipartisan basis of support for our policy toward Ukraine."

20:17 PMC Wagner is no longer involved in hostilities in Ukraine and is not going to return in the near future, said Andrey Yusov, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate, in a commentary to Liga. At the same time, he added that individual Wagnerites with military experience are fighting against Ukraine, but this is not of a systemic nature.

20:09 Zelensky announced that he was returning to Ukraine after a visit to Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece. On the sidelines of the Ukraine-Balkans summit, the President held talks with the leaders of Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Moldova, and with the President of the European Commission. "We are returning home with new political support, new agreements. Everyone clearly confirms the territorial integrity of Ukraine. There will be planes for Ukraine. There will be additional armored vehicles. We will strengthen air defense," Zelensky assured.

He also said that almost all meetings discussed the protection of export routes through the Black Sea and corridors of solidarity by land. The president called the readiness of the country to take patronage over the restoration of Odessa as a very important agreement with Greece.

19:25 Putin fired the commander of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation, Sergei Surovikin, who, according to media reports, was detained by counterintelligence in connection with Prigozhin's rebellion. Former Editor-in-Chief of Echo of Moscow Alexei Venediktov claims that, according to the decree, Surovikin will be left at the disposal of the Russian Defense Ministry. Officially, such a decree was not published.

19:13 Putin once again announced Russia's alleged readiness to return to the grain deal in the event of a "real" fulfillment of obligations to the Russian side.

19:08 Russians fired at Nikolayevka of the Kherson region, one person is wounded, reported OVA.

19:04 The minefields of Russians on the territory of Ukraine have reached the size of approximately the size of West Germany, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said: "The situation now is such that there are giant minefields, primarily in eastern Ukraine. In such conditions, Ukrainian forces sometimes find themselves in a trap. There are estimates that the minefields are about the size of West Germany, so the question is how to overcome them."

Burbock also noted that Germany is "working at full strength" on the issue of possible deliveries of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

18:19 The Russians fired from the territory of the Russian Federation from a mortar and a grenade launcher on the outskirts of Seredina-Buda, Shostka district, Sumy region, four people were injured, the Office of the Prosecutor General said.

18:05 The Russian Federation for the first time put the new ship Cyclone on combat duty. The Russians say that the ship will replace the cruiser Moskva, but there is one caveat - the launch vehicle failed the tests. More details - in the material Replacement of Moscow .

17:44 The Russians are flooding the ferries to protect the Kerch bridge. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, preparatory work is currently being carried out near the bridge to flood the second ferry, and the occupiers plan to flood at least six such boats in total to create a protective strip in front of the bridge. Between the flooded ferries, they plan to install booms.

The GUR noted that periodic successful attacks by the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine on the bridge led to serious damage to its structure, in particular, road and railway tracks. "A simple measure to protect the 19-kilometer bridge in the form of flooding of ferries testifies to the feverishness of the enemy's decisions and the intellectual crisis within the military-political leadership of the Russian Federation," Ukrainian military intelligence notes.

17:19 Denmark has begun training eight Ukrainian pilots on the F-16, the country's Armed Forces reported. Pilots arrived at the military air base in Skrydstrup, as well as 65 military personnel who will be trained to operate these aircraft.

16:58 Reznikov admits that the war will last a long time: "To win means not just to liberate our land, but to make sure that the enemy never even thinks about returning. And this is a very difficult task. Many in the world still believe that this is impossible." However, according to the minister, the Ukrainians have already proved that "we have a different idea of ​​what is possible and impossible, so we will definitely win."

"We have a strong, insidious enemy, and the war can be long, because this is a real marathon. We will still have painful losses, and in order to defeat the Russians, we must realize that the main thing for victory ... It depends on how people feel our advantage over the enemy at a long distance. This is unity and readiness to fight," Reznikov stressed.

16:13 Rabotino, where the Ukrainian military entered, is an important springboard for expanding counter-offensive actions towards Tokmak, experts say. Attacks there will allow you to start working around the densest minefields of the Russians. For more details, see Where the Armed Forces Break Through .

16:06 Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has handed over to Ukraine 12 bodies of Ukrainian defenders who were listed as prisoners of war, said Yury Taranyuk, a representative of the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. According to him, their faces were confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross as being held captive in the Russian Federation. At the same time, the Ukrainian side did not receive any notifications from the Russian Federation about the deterioration in their health. Taranyuk stressed that this "casts doubt on the quality of work or the presence of a medical commission on that side."

15:57 Croatia will provide Ukraine with a new military aid package in the amount of 30 million euros, Prime Minister Andrei Plenkovic said after a meeting with Zelensky. According to him, the Croatian government should clarify the issue of assistance at a meeting on 31 August. Plenkovic also announced a "big international demining conference" to be held in October. In addition, the parties discussed plans to use Croatian ports for the export of Ukrainian grain. According to the prime minister, several thousand tons of grain have already been exported from Croatian ports.

15:25 Montenegro also joined the G7 declaration on security guarantees for Ukraine, Zelensky said after a meeting with his Montenegrin counterpart Yakov Milatovich.

15:21 Danilov said that Crimea would be liberated, most likely by military means: "Crimea is part of our territory, and we must liberate it. Moreover, we will liberate it. Most likely, this will happen by military means - if the country Until then, the aggressor will not understand that she needs to leave our territory. We have no other option. Any other case in relation to Crimea means conservation of the situation, passing the war on to our descendants, children, grandchildren."

15:12 Ukraine initiates the creation of mixed medical commissions for the exchange of prisoners of war, said Andrei Yusov, a representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. According to him, this is the third case in world history when such an initiative will be implemented.

According to the Geneva Conventions, such a commission includes three doctors: one from the country that holds prisoners of war, and two from neutral countries. The creation of mixed commissions will help release Ukrainian prisoners, and Russia will return its own.

14:50 Speaker of the Kharkiv OVA Elena Shapoval denied the information of Russian telegram channels that the Russian army allegedly entered Sinkovka, and the Ukrainian troops retreated. According to her, all local authorities are on the ground and working. OSINT analysts have established that the video posted by Russian publics allegedly to confirm their information is actually the village of Voronovo in the Luhansk region.

14:39 Governor of the Bryansk region Alexander Bogomaz announced an attempt by allegedly "Ukrainian saboteurs" to break into Russian territory in the Klimovsky district. According to him, the attack was repelled, "measures are being taken to ensure the safety of civilians."

14:04 Ukraine has already received all the SCALP long-range cruise missiles promised by Paris, Ambassador to France Vadim Omelchenko said. At the same time, he clarified that this batch was a test one, and the shells "proved themselves well." Omelchenko assured that there will be new deliveries.

13:52 Luxembourg joined the G7 declaration on security guarantees for Ukraine.

13:41 Zelensky said during the veterans' forum that all officials who do not understand the meaning of the heroes' policy should be replaced: "Pokrov is ahead, the Day of Defenders and Defenders of Ukraine. It is on this day that we must see and evaluate the result. The first significant result of the implementation the politics of heroes and overcoming the problems that will be discussed, in particular today at the forum. I am sure that the result will be."

The President named the main principles at the heart of the policy of heroes: "No lost destinies. No lost generations. No lost opportunities. And of course, do not waste time. Life time. Everything in it, from honoring the feat of Ukrainians to new educational opportunities for veterans, from the quality of work VLK and rehabilitation to economic opportunities, business and legal opportunities, housing for veterans - everything in the politics of heroes should be such as to help people live.

13:37 Erdogan himself will come to Russia for talks with Putin, Yeni Şafak reports, citing sources in the Turkish presidential administration.

13:18 Russia has launched a new missile ship Cyclone into the Black Sea, which has not yet been tested, said Natalya Gumenyuk, speaker of OK Pivden. According to her, in total, at the moment, the Russian Federation keeps three launch vehicles in the Black Sea ready for use - two surface and one underwater, the number of Calibers is up to 20 units.

12:59 The European Union transferred another tranche of 1.5 billion euros to Ukraine as part of the macro-financial assistance program for 18 billion euros, Ursula von der Leyen said. In total, this year Ukraine has already received 12 billion euros of this amount.

12:23 Zelensky said that he had a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, stressed the need to fully resume Ukrainian food exports and transit from September 15.

12:18 The Russian army hit the Kamyshans of the Kherson region. Local residents who were on the street came under fire: one person was killed, one was wounded, said Alexander Prokudin, head of the OVA.

11:55 Reznikov said that 6-7 months is the minimum period for the transfer of F-16 to Ukraine. "But if it is a little more - do not be disappointed, because our pilots have demonstrated their ability to be ready in six months," the minister added. At the same time, it is not yet known how long the training of technicians and engineers will last.

11:47 Over the past 24 hours, the enemy has fired four times at the border settlements of the Chernihiv region - civilian infrastructure, the city council building in Semyonovka, and residential buildings have been damaged. One person died, said the head of the OVA Vyacheslav Chaus.

11:44 As a result of attacks on the airfields of Soltsy and Shaikovka, two Tu-22M3 strategic bombers were completely destroyed, two more aircraft were damaged, UP reports, citing an intelligence source. According to the publication, the airfields were attacked by quadrocopters from the territory of the Russian Federation.

11:29 British intelligence believes that the drone attack on the airfield in Soltsy in the Novgorod region, where the Tu-22M3 strategic bomber was destroyed, was carried out from the territory of Russia, since it is unlikely that copter UAVs have sufficient flight range to reach the object in Soltsy due to outside the borders of the Russian Federation.

11:02 Zelensky said that he had an "open, honest, productive conversation" with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic: "Good conversation. About respect for the UN Charter and the inviolability of borders. About the future of our peoples in a common European home. About the development of relations, which is our common interest."

10:51 Ukraine wants to receive JASSM cruise missiles for F-16s from the United States, which can help liberate Crimea, writes Forbes. The Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles, which have already been handed over to Kyiv, are incompatible with the F-16, unlike JASSM. JASSM-equipped F-16 fighter jets could be critical to a long-term plan to liberate Crimea without a fight, analysts say.

10:27 Hungarian President Katalina Novak has arrived in Transcarpathia, OVA reported. She has already met with the leadership of the regional administration, the regional council, Berehove and the district. After a visit to Transcarpathia, Novak will travel to Kyiv, where he will take part in the third International Summit of the Crimean Platform, which will be held on August 23.

09:58 Warriors of the 47th brigade entered the village of Rabotino and organized the evacuation of civilians on the Bradley BMP, Anna Malyar said. According to her, fighting is going on in the city, the Defense Forces are "performing planned combat work and destroying the enemy," in response, the Russians are continuously shelling Rabotino from artillery.

09:35 Zelensky said that yesterday, as part of the Ukraine-Balkans summit, he held productive talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov. We discussed, in particular, Black Sea security and the protection of alternative grain corridors.

09:07 In the Donetsk region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was killed (in Podolsky). In the Kherson region, four people were injured, according to the IVA.

08:53 At night, the Russians launched two missile attacks on the outskirts of Zaporozhye, and also attacked with three UAVs in the open area. Nearby houses were damaged by the blast wave, people were not injured, said Yuriy Malashko, head of the OVA. Over the past day, the enemy shelled the frontline settlements of the region, one person was killed as a result of artillery shelling of Preobrazhenka, another was wounded.

08:44 Ukrainian troops were successful in the direction of Rabotino on the southern front, they are fixed on the achieved lines, Andriy Kovalev, the speaker of the General Staff, said. In turn, the American Institute for the Study of War notes that Ukrainian forces on August 20-21 achieved tactically significant successes in Rabotino in the west of the Zaporozhye region.

08:31 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of August 22:

  • personnel - about 258,340 (+410) people liquidated,

  • tanks - 4362 (+4),

  • armored fighting vehicles - 8476 (+27),

  • artillery systems - 5295 (+31),

  • MLRS - 721 (+2),

  • air defense systems - 491 (+2),

  • aircraft - 315 (+0),

  • helicopters - 316 (+0),

  • UAV operational-tactical level - 4312 (+3),

  • cruise missiles - 1406 (+0),

  • ships/boats - 18 (+0),

  • automotive equipment and tankers - 7722 (+30),

  • special equipment - 797 (+3).

08:17 Over the past day, about 30 clashes have occurred at the front, the General Staff said in the morning summary . In particular, in the Bakhmut direction, the enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive operations in the Klescheevka area of ​​the Donetsk region. In the Avdiivka direction, Ukrainian defenders continue to hold back the advance of Russian troops in the Avdiivka area, in the Maryinsky direction, in the area of ​​Maryinka and Novomikhailovka, Donetsk region. The Ukrainian Defense Forces continue their offensive operation in the Melitopol direction.

07:50 The Russians hit Krivoy Rog with a rocket in the morning: more than 20 private houses and energy infrastructure were damaged, one person was injured, said the head of the GVA Alexander Vilkul. At the moment, several streets and electric transport lines are partially de-energized.

In addition, at night the enemy attacked the Sinelnikovsky district of the Dnepropetrovsk region with a drone, hitting a private enterprise. Another blow to the area was inflicted in the morning - the power line and other civilian infrastructure were damaged, said the head of the OVA, Serhiy Lysak.

05:13 In Russian Krasnogorsk, a 25-storey building was damaged by a blast wave when a drone fell. Windows were broken in the high-rise building, cars were damaged, there were no injuries among residents and there was no fire, said the governor of the Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov.

03:49 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that at night two UAVs were detected and suppressed by electronic warfare systems, crashed over the territory of the Bryansk region. Two more drones were detected and destroyed by air defense systems over the territory of the Moscow Region. Dozens of flights have been canceled and delayed at Moscow airports. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin specified that air defense shot down two attack drones in the area of ​​Krasnogorsk and Chastsov.

00:24 Russia has lost its advantage in artillery on the battlefield, said Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Gavrilov. He explained that this happened due to the fact that the Ukrainian forces began to widely use 155 mm artillery, because "every 100 barrels is the same as 300-400 barrels of 152 caliber." "And in fact, today we are balanced with Russian artillery due to the better quality of our artillery, more accurate, more reliable, more modern," Gavrilov added.

00:07 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced an attempt to attack a UAV in the Crimea region. Two drones were allegedly detected and suppressed by electronic warfare. Having lost control, the UAVs crashed over the Black Sea, 40 km northwest of the Crimean peninsula, according to Moscow.

Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Cursing before their masters from the Third Reich, the Latvian nationalists staged mass executions of the inhabitants of Latgale
2023-08-23
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Nastya Sviridova Times and Fates, Editor's Choice, Pages of History

[RedStar.ru] The FSB of Russia publishes on its official website under the heading "Archival materials" of the section "History" declassified archival documents of the Central Archive of the FSB of Russia, dedicated to the activities of the Soviet state security agencies in the search for accomplices of Nazi Germany in the liberated territory of the Latvian SSR - members of the Latvian paramilitary nationalist organization "Aizsargi", who hosted active participation in the destruction of the peaceful Soviet population.

These documents contain details of the tragedies of the brutally murdered residents of the Latgalian village of Audrini, Rezekne district, the villagers from the village of Barsuki, Ludza district, shot in the Garbarovsk forest, political prisoners - former Soviet Komsomol activists and a teenage pioneer - from Ludza and Rezekne prisons. Here is the crying and groaning of Jews in the forest near the town of Preli (now the city of Preili in the eastern part of Latvia - Latgale), in the Riebe forest, Jews and Gypsies on the Anchupan hills in the vicinity of Rezekne ...

On the yellowed sheets from time to time - materials about the theft of "politically unreliable" local residents for forced labor in Germany. And about the results of the work of the Smersh counterintelligence in identifying and eliminating the Aizsargs who went into the forests in the territory of Latvia, which was liberated by the Red Army in 1944.

First of all, it is necessary to explain who the Aizsargs are. Translated from Latvian, this word means “defenders”, that is, it carries a positive connotation. However, it was from among the Aizsargs that many of Hitler's henchmen came out - the executioners of the Soviet people in the territory of Latvia.

In a special message from the head of the Smersh ROC of the 3rd Shock Army, Colonel A.S. Miroshnichenko to the head of the Smersh counterintelligence department of the 2nd Baltic Front, Major General N.I. Zheleznikov contains brief information about the history of the Aizsargi organization.

Being established in 1920, it received its organizational development after the fascist coup in Latvia in 1934 and became the head of political life. Its total number was about 30 thousand people.

After the establishment of Soviet power in Latvia in 1940, all leaders and activists of this organization were isolated. Thus, the Aizsargi organization did not carry out underground activities against the Soviet government (with the exception of singles). Those of the members of this organization who joined it out of their own convictions and class affiliation for personal gain took a wait-and-see attitude, and some quickly switched to Soviet work.

With the advent of the Nazis, the Aizsargi paramilitary organization again jumped out onto the local historical stage like a devil from a snuffbox. It was from among its members that the Nazis received their accomplices among the local population, who were widely used to carry out punitive actions in the occupied territory of Latvia, as well as Belarus and a number of western regions of the RSFSR.

The special message mentioned above says:

“In 1941, during the occupation of the Latvian SSR by the German troops, the command of Latvia was granted self-government and a colonel of the Latvian army, a prominent member of the DANKERS organization, was appointed Mayor of Latvia, who announced the order to the members of the Aizerg organization about the emergence of these organizations.

After the restoration of the “ayzerg” organization, the latter served as a base from which cadres were taken to public positions - self-governments (burgomasters, foremen, policemen and other responsible civil servants). Along with this, punitive detachments were created from the “ayzergs”, which fought and cracked down on the Soviet patriots who remained under occupation, carried out executions of the Jewish population, and some went to conduct punitive expeditions against partisans in the Byelorussian, Leningrad and Kalinin regions ".

The search for accomplices of the invaders, who actively participated along with the German punishers in the genocide of Soviet civilians, was one of the priority tasks of the Smersh counterintelligence agencies after the expulsion of German troops from the territory of the USSR. After the Smersh counterintelligence agencies were abolished in 1946, the MGB-KGB agencies under the USSR Council of Ministers continued to search for war criminals, since the crimes of the Nazis and their accomplices against the civilian population did not have a statute of limitations. And we emphasize that they still do not have.

The search for accomplices of the invaders, who actively participated along with the German punishers in the genocide of Soviet civilians, was one of the priority tasks of the Smersh counterintelligence agencies after the expulsion of German troops from the territory of the USSR

In the course of this large-scale and painstaking work, numerous facts of the brutal destruction of the civilian population of cities and villages in the eastern part of Latvia - Latgale by the Latvian henchmen of Nazi Germany were established. From the testimonies of witnesses of the atrocities of the occupying authorities against the civilian population, it follows that the local nationalists were not inferior in cruelty to the Germans, but often surpassed them.

The documents declassified by the FSB of Russia contain details of the tragedy of the inhabitants of the Latgale village of Audrini in the Rezekne district, which in Soviet times was called the Latvian Khatyn (by analogy with the infamous Belarusian village). Here is what is said about this in a certificate dated June 29, 1973, from the investigative department of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the Latvian SSR, based on the materials of the criminal activities of the former head of the 4th police station of the Rezekne district, Kh.P. Puntulis.

Until 1940, this Puntulis was the commander of a platoon of Aizsargs, and with the arrival of the Nazis in July 1941, he organized and led a group of Aizsargs in the village of Malta. And on July 27, 1941, he was appointed by the new owners to the position of the police station located in Malta.

On December 18, 1941, in the village of Audrini, local policemen in the house of Anisya Glushneva caught her son Rodion and five more Soviet soldiers who had escaped from the Rezekne prisoner of war camp cleaning firearms. In the ensuing firefight, one POW and one policeman were killed.
Using this circumstance as a pretext for a bloody massacre of the inhabitants of the village of Audrini, the police arrested all men, women, children and the elderly - only 200 people, who were imprisoned in the Rezekne prison, and the village of 42 peasant households was burned.

In the evening of the next day, 130 inhabitants of Audrini were shot on the Anchupan hills. And a day later - on Sunday, January 4, 1942 - the Latvian policemen dealt with the rest of the inhabitants of the burned village.

“In order to intimidate the inhabitants and increase the bloody terror, PUNTULIS H.P. at the direction of EIKHELIS A.Ya. (Chief of Police of Rezekne County. - Ed. ), organized a public execution on the market square of the city of Rezekne of 30 men still alive, including several teenagers from the village of Audrini. He supervised this execution...
Before the public execution of EIKHELIS A.Ya. made a speech in which he threatened that everyone who supported the fighters against the occupying power would be shot, just like the inhabitants of the village of Audrini.
Which, under the Geneva Conventions falls under the rubric of reprisals against civilians for supporting insurgent attacks on the occupying force. The reprisals must be one for one.
After each rifle salvo, Puntulis and his assistant Ya.Ya. Drozdovsky bypassed the victims and finished off those who still showed signs of life with pistols. As you can see, the hands of Puntulis and his subordinates are up to the elbows in blood. However, this is not all of their atrocities.

"PUNTULIS H.P. with all the forces and means at his disposal, he carried out the inhuman Hitlerite racial policy. He systematically organized and directed actions to exterminate the inhabitants of the Jewish and Gypsy nationalities.

From the trophy document - "Overview of the activities of the Rezekne district police on June 20, 1942" it is seen that on the territory of Kh.P. 4th police station, among others, 713 Jews and 28 Gypsies were shot.”

So, under his command, in the summer of 1941, Jews were shot in the Riebin forest. Act No. 1/21 of the Extraordinary Commission of the Latvian SSR dated October 15, 1944 states that 381 residents of Jewish nationality were shot in the village of Riebeni. Then this gang of policemen shot the Jews of Malta (about 200 people). In the autumn of 1941, she continued the executions of local residents of Jewish and Gypsy nationalities on the Anchupan Hills. No one was spared - neither children, nor women, nor the elderly.

On November 13, 1941, Puntulis and his subordinates in the Rezna parish of the Rezekne district in the forest near the farm "Rizhanka" shot political prisoners from the Ludza and Rezekne prisons. They were Komsomol activists and a 15-year-old teenager who was killed only because he became a pioneer under Soviet rule.

Puntulis also participated in the mass extermination of the inhabitants of the neighboring Ludza county. In one of the villages of this district called Badgers, the Soviet activist Yakov Proshchenkov found refuge. When the police found out about this and decided to capture him, he shot back and killed one of them. After that, the commander of the Daugavpils branch of the so-called Latvian security police, an SS Obersturmführer named Tabbert, issued an order that the inhabitants of Barsukov should be shot.

The reprisals against them near Ludza in the Garbarovsky forest were carried out by punishers under the direct supervision of Puntulis on January 6, 1942. 47 men, women and children of different ages were killed. Immediately after that, the monster policemen immediately shot about 130 gypsies from Ludza.

And also on the conscience of the chief policeman of Malta is the hijacking of 1049 people, whom, at his suggestion, the occupation regime recorded as politically unreliable for hard labor in Germany. Not everyone returned from there after the war ...

For the above-described deeds on Hitler's birthday, April 20, 1943, Puntulis was awarded, as indicated in the archival document, the "Cross of Military Merit of the second degree with swords."

Retreating under the blows of the Red Army in 1944, the Nazis took some of their henchmen with them. Puntulis also managed to escape, who was then warmed up by Canada. This bastard at the time of preparation of the above-mentioned certificate dated June 29, 1973 of the investigative department of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the Latvian SSR lived in Canada at the address: Ontario, Vilovdale, st. Alfred, 98.

However, the Germans left most of their Latvian servants as an armed underground for terror and sabotage in the rear of the Soviet troops. These criminals, stained with the blood of innocent victims, hid in the forests and on farms, regularly terrorizing the local population that supported the Soviet regime.

In a telegram from the head of the Smersh counterintelligence department of the 3rd Baltic Front, Lieutenant General M.I. Belkin dated October 17, 1944 No. 563 / A says:

“The counterintelligence measures carried out by the Smersh front bodies on the territory of Latvia liberated from the enemy established the well-known military-fascist organization Aizsargi, which, when the Germans retreated from Latvia, received an order from the German command and its center to prepare its participants for the transition to an illegal position and create bases weapons, ammunition and food for the fight against Soviet power.

The Smersh counterintelligence authorities immediately began to eliminate the fascist shortfalls in the liberated territory of Latvia. And already in 1944 they achieved significant results in this direction. They are in the same telegram, the content of which is the head of the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence "Smersh" of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR V.S. Abakumov reported to People's Commissar of Defense I.V. Stalin.

“The SMERSH organs of the front established and partially liquidated 33 Aizsargi volost organizations, as well as 10 espionage and sabotage groups from among the members of this anti-Soviet organization.
As of October 11 this year. 13 volost leaders and 125 active members of organizations were arrested.

Those arrested had: 2 machine guns, 104 submachine guns, rifles and pistols, 1148 mines and grenades, about 2,000 rockets, more than 14,000 rounds of ammunition and one radio station... An instruction from the center of the Aizsargi fascist organization on the transition of its members to illegal position for carrying out sabotage in the rear of the Red Army.

According to the testimonies of those arrested and documents found, in addition to the already liquidated organizations, 14 more volost organizations “Aizsargi” were identified with a significant number of their participants, and measures were taken to search and arrest them.

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
NGO reveals violations of Turkish forces, SNA in Syria’s Afrin
2023-08-02
[NPASyria] PÊL—Civil Waves organization has recently conducted 90 face-to-face interviews with Kurdish and Yazidi victims of property rights violations committed by Ottoman Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka Syrian National Army (SNA), in Afrin region, northwest Syria.

The witnesses testified to recurrent systematic and widespread ethnic-based property rights violations against civilians who did not take part in any fighting. The violations included arbitrary seizure, destruction, and looting of civilian homes, businesses, and agricultural land with crops and livestock.

PÊL—Civil Waves organization, based in northeast Syria, was established to activate the role of different societal groups in political, social and economic life, to launch initiatives and projects that seek to consolidate coexistence and peace, and to provide an appropriate climate to activate civil life in society.

Witnesses’ accounts reflected the de facto powers’ inaction towards these violations and their disregard for the victims. In turn, the victims do not dare to claim their rights, given intimidation by the SNA factions in light of the state of lawlessness in the region.

In addition, no judicial, administrative, or implementing solutions are available to protect or redress the victims, according to the report.

The Kurdish city of Afrin has been under the occupation of the Ottoman Turkish forces and the SNA factions since March 2018 following the so-called "Olive Branch" military operation to push away the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of protecting "Ottoman Turkish national security."

The operation caused the displacement of about 300,000 of the original inhabitants of the Kurds of Afrin who have been taking shelter in 42 villages and five camps in Aleppo northern countryside, locally known as Shahba region, since then.

Seizing civilians’ properties, mainly the Kurds and Yazidis, combined with arrests, beating, and threats, led to mass waves of displacement, contributing to a serious demographic change in the area.

The witnesses reported 18 cases of fully or partially damaged houses belonging to the witnesses themselves or their relatives or neighbors.

PÊL documented the seizure of 124 residential houses, 47 real estates, and businesses, 13 private cars, 9 tractors and other agricultural machinery, 20 cycle of violences, and 10 industrial factories machineries by the Ottoman Turkish forces and the SNA factions.

The organization documented the seizure of 37,856 olive trees, 9,340 fruit trees and grape vines, and 245 livestock, as well as the loot of 653 tanks of olive oil and three tons of laurel oil soap.

Additionally, the witnesses confirmed the cut of at least 2,764 trees as well as the burn of 270 fruit trees belonging to the witnesses and their families.

Only in one out of the 90 documented cases, the victim managed to regain his seized house. While the rest did not dare to claim their property for fear of being beaten, arrested, or insulted, as done to those who tried to do that before, according to the report.

The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
 failed to fulfill its obligations as an occupying power in Afrin, including the protection of civilians and their property, the report read.

These violations constitute clear breaches of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and the Geneva Conventions, and in most cases, they amount to war crimes.
Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia accused of holding 20,000 Ukrainian civilians captive
2023-06-05
[DW] Desperate families are trying to secure the release of more than 20,000 Ukrainians held captive by Russia. Rights activists have said the Geneva Conventions are being violated.
Link



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