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The international criminal court plans to open two war crimes cases tied to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and will seek arrest warrants for several people, the New York Times reported citing sources unauthorised to speak publicly.
The cases are the first international charges to be brought forward since the start of the conflict, the newspaper reports. The charges allege Russia deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure and abducted Ukrainian children and teenagers and sent them to Russian re-education camps.
The chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, a senior English barrister, must first present his charges to a panel of pretrial judges, who will decide whether the legal standards have been met for issuing arrest warrants, or whether investigators need more evidence. It was not clear whom the court planned to charge in each case.
The news comes days after the Pentagon was accused of blocking the sharing of US intelligence with the international criminal court (ICC) about Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
The Biden White House and state department have been a proponent of cooperation with the Hague-based ICC, as a means of holding Russian forces accountable for widespread war crimes, but the defence department is firmly opposed on the grounds that the precedent could eventually be turned against US soldiers.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us from Ukraine and elsewhere:
Civilians are seen near the collapsed house as people live under difficult conditions after shelling in Donetsk. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesA Ukrainian child looks out the window after shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesUkrainian soldiers come to Spain for Leopard 2A4 tank training. Photograph: Javier Cebollada/EPAChechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of Vladimir Putin and a staunch supporter of the war in Ukraine, met with Russia’s president to discuss the war, according to reports.
In a video circulating online shared by BBC journalist Francis Scarr, Kadyrov is seen sitting across from Putin reading from prepared notes.
“In our republic everything is very good,” said Kadyrov. “That’s thanks to you, don.”
Even when addressing Putin, Ramzan Kadryrov’s speech is littered with the Chechen filler word ‘don’
And when he starts reading out his prepared notes (look at the size of the writing), he’s apparently encountering difficulties with Russian pronunciation pic.twitter.com/bJFMgXiyPk
— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) March 13, 2023 Head of the Chechen Republic Kadyrov meets with Russia’s president Putin in Moscow. Photograph: SPUTNIK/ReutersThe UK chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will unveil his budget on Wednesday as the country faces the pressing issues of inflation, pay and public finances.
Here’s what PA Media says we can expect in the budget this week:
The Treasury has been under pressure for months to boost the defence budget, as the war in Ukraine continues.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised an extra £5bn for the military over two years, with an extra £1.98bn this year and £2.97bn next year for defence.
According to Sunak, the extra funding will take spending from 2% of GDP in 2020 to 2.25% in 2025.
Any indications from the chancellor about the future trajectory of defence spending beyond this will likely be eagerly received by MPs.
Talks under way for possible Black Sea grain deal extensionNegotiations began on Monday between UN officials and Russia’s deputy foreign minister on a possible extension to a deal allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, the Russian diplomatic mission in Geneva said.
The Black Sea grain initiative, brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the UN and Turkey last July, aimed to prevent a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blockaded by Russia’s invasion to be safely exported from three Ukrainian ports.
The deal, which was extended for 120 days in November, is up for renewal on 18 March, Reuters reports.
Moscow has already signalled it will only agree to an extension if restrictions affecting its own exports are lifted, but many diplomats and senior officials, including Turkish defence minister, Hulusi Akar, are optimistic that the deal will be renewed.
Russian officials say that although the country’s agricultural exports have not been explicitly targeted by the west, sanctions on its payments, logistics and insurance industries have created a barrier for it being able to export its own grains and fertilisers.
Pjotr Sauer
Russian liberals on Monday celebrated the Oscars win of Navalny, a documentary about the poisoning and imprisonment of “hero” Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The film, which won best feature documentary at the Academy Awards in LA on Sunday, follows an investigation by Navalny’s team together with the Bellingcat group as they unmask FSB agents who were sent to poison Navalny in 2020. The Kremlin has always denied involvement.
Director Daniel Rohe accepted his statuette by dedicating it to Navalny and to all political prisoners around the world.
“Alexei Navalny, the leader of the Russian opposition, remains in solitary confinement for what he calls – I want to make sure we get his words exactly right –‘Vladimir Putin’s unjust war of aggression in Ukraine’,” Roher said.
Read more here:
A senior Russian lawmaker introduced a bill to parliament on Monday to raise the age of conscription to 21-30 years from the current 18-27 years by 2026, Reuters reports.
The bill was introduced by Andrei Kartapolov, a former general who chairs the State Duma’s defence committee and represents the ruling United Russia bloc, just over a year into Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine.
Because there are two transition years – 2024 and 2025 – when the conscription age will span 10 or 11 years instead of the usual nine, the bill would for a time increase the number of men subject to a year’s compulsory service.
President Vladimir Putin gave his backing in December to defence ministry proposals to push back the age range.
In January, Ukraine’s military intelligence claimed that Russia is set to order the mobilisation of as many as 500,000 conscripts in January in addition to the 300,000 it called up in October, in another apparent sign that Vladimir Putin has no intention of ending the war.
Chinese leader also planning to speak to ZelenskiyXi Jinping also plans to speak with Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the first time since the start of the war, according to the Wall Street Journal.
China’s president is to speak virtually with his Ukrainian counterpart likely following a visit to Moscow next week the paper reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us from Ukraine:
Military mobility continues in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesThe aftermath of a recent shelling in Donetsk. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/ReutersDestruction in Ukraine’s suburb of Saltivka. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesA resident grills meat on the street next to a grocery shop nearby Bakhmut frontline. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesXi Jinping ‘to visit Russia’ as early as next weekChina’s president, Xi Jinping, is planning to visit Russia as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter said, according to Reuters, while Moscow and Kyiv both reported intense fighting over the eastern city of Bakhmut.
Summary of the day so far … President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has awarded the Hero of Ukraine to Oleksandr Matsievskyi, a soldier who was seemingly executed by machine gun fire on camera after being captured by Russian soldiers. Zelenskiy said: “Today I conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine upon Oleksandr Matsievskyi, a soldier. A man whom all Ukrainians will know. A man who will be remembered for ever. For his bravery, for his confidence in Ukraine and for his ‘Glory to Ukraine!’”
Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the Ukrainian presidency, has reported on Telegram that one civilian was killed and four people were injured in a rocket attack on Znob-Novhorodske in Sumy region.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, is reporting a claim that resistance fighters have blown up a railway that Russian forces were using in occupied Kherson. The claims have not been independently verified. A video posted by the Atesh partisan group appears to show a railway track between the settlements of Abrikosivka and Radensk being blown up.
Oleh Synyehubov, governor of Kharkiv, has reported that a 40-year-old man has been injured by a petal mine near Izyium.
Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency is reporting that the Russia-installed authorities in occupied regions of Donetsk are claiming that almost 4,500 people have died as a result of shelling by Ukrainian armed forces since 17 February 2022.
One of President Vladimir Putin’s top allies – Russian security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev – said on Monday that he doubts that the Nord Stream pipelines were blown up by a pro-Ukrainian group, and said that Moscow still does not know who exactly was behind it.
Russia’s industry ministry said on Monday it was expanding its list of brands that can be imported without the trademark owner’s permission to include goods from companies such as Ikea and US toy manufacturers Hasbro and Mattel.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has offered congratulations to Pope Francis on the 10th anniversary of the latter’s election. Relations between the pope and the patriarch have been strained since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The patriarch has been a vocal supporter of Russia’s military action, whereas Pope Francis has frequently called for peace during his regular Vatican addresses.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later. Geneva Abdul will be here shortly to take you through the next few hours of our live coverage.
Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the Ukrainian presidency, has reported on Telegram that one civilian was killed and four people were injured in a rocket attack on Znob-Novhorodske in Sumy region. The claims have not been independently verified.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, is reporting a claim that resistance fighters have blown up a railway that Russian forces were using in occupied Kherson. It writes:
On the left bank of the Kherson region, members of the resistance movement blew up the railway on which the echelons of the Russian army were moving.
“The army of the Russian Federation understands that they are also uneasy on the Crimean peninsula. We keep their logistical transport routes under control, including with the support of the resistance movement,” the head of the joint press centre of the defence and security forces of the South, said on air.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Kherson is one of the regions of Ukraine which Russia partially occupies and which it claimed to annex in October last year. Ukrainian forces liberated the city of Kherson from occupation after Russian forces pulled back to the south of the Dnieper River.
Oleh Synyehubov, governor of Kharkiv, has again warned residents of the danger of mines in the region. He has posted to Telegram:
In a village a 40-year-old civilian man stepped on a “Petal” mine near a field. As a result of the explosion, he received shrapnel wounds and an injury. [He was] hospitalised in moderate condition.
Once again, I urge everyone to be as attentive and careful as possible, because the enemy left a lot of mines and other explosive objects in the de-occupied territories. Refrain from visiting forests, forest strips, rivers, fields, etc. All of these areas are potentially dangerous.
Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency is reporting that the Russia-installed authorities in occupied regions of Donetsk are claiming that almost 4,500 people have died as a result of shelling by Ukrainian armed forces since 17 February 2022.
The claims have not been independently verified.
It quotes the “joint centre for control and coordination of issues related to war crimes of Ukraine”, saying:
During the 389 days of escalation, 677 civilians, including 28 children, were killed in the territory within the borders before the start of the special military operation. In the territory liberated during the special military operation, 3,780 civilians were killed, including 106 children. In total, 4,457 [people], including 134 [children].
“Special military operation” has been Russia’s preferred term for the invasion of Ukraine which it launched on 24 February 2022. The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) was founded in 2014, and has been recognised as a legitimate authority by only three UN member states: Russia, Syria and North Korea.
Russia’s state-owned RIA news agency has reported that Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has offered congratulations to Pope Francis on 10th anniversary of the latter’s election.
It quotes Kirill saying “during the difficult times we are experiencing, dialogue between religious leaders can bring good results”.
Relations between the pope and the patriarch have been strained since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The patriarch has been a vocal supporter of Russia’s military action, whereas Pope Francis has frequently called for peace during his regular Vatican addresses.
Russia’s industry ministry said on Monday it was expanding its list of brands that can be imported without the trademark owner’s permission to include goods from companies such as Ikea and US toy manufacturers Hasbro and Mattel.
Reuters reports Moscow has been pushing a so-called “parallel imports” scheme to help domestic consumers maintain access to a host of foreign products in the face of sanctions imposed by the west over the conflict in Ukraine.
The mechanism allows Russian companies to buy goods from any company outside Russia, including from the country of the goods’ origin, provided they were bought legally.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s expanded list includes luxury brands, such as Lancome, Giorgio Armani and Yves Saint Laurent, and brands including Wahl, Zanussi, and Nintendo. Brands of motor oils and agricultural equipment makers were also added.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us from Ukraine, showing damage to buildings in Kharkiv.
Saltivka is a suburb located in the north-east of Kharkiv, along a busy ring road. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesThe inside of a building in Saltivka, Kharkiv. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesA heavily damaged abandoned vehicle in Saltivka, a large residential area. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesAnother inside view of a damaged building. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesOne of President Vladimir Putin’s top allies said on Monday that he doubts that the Nord Stream pipelines were blown up by a pro-Ukrainian group, and said that Moscow still does not know who exactly was behind it, Reuters reports, citing Interfax.
Russian security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev also said that Ukraine had gained nothing from the destruction of the pipelines.