Related video: Pakistan’s Sharif struggles with headphones as he meets Putin during SCO summit
Russia is facing calls for an international war crimes tribunal after the discovery of mass graves in Ukraine.
It comes as the Ministry of Defense questioned whether Russia’s frontline forces have “sufficient reserves or adequate morale” to withstand another concerted assault in the east of the country.
Any substantial loss of territory here would “unequivocally undermine” Vladimir Putin’s strategy for the conflict, experts say.
Putin warned on Friday that Ukraine risks provoking “more serious” action from Moscow with its radical counter-offensive, saying “so far we have responded with restraint”.
He vowed to continue his “special military operation” during his speech to reporters after attending a meeting of Asian world leaders, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in Uzbekistan.
He said the “liberation” of the entire eastern Donbass region from Ukraine remains Russia’s main military goal and that it has no intention of giving up the fight.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered a public rebuke to Putin for the first time, and the Russian leader admitted there were also concerns about the situation in Beijing.
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The bodies in the Izyum mass grave are identified: the deputy prime minister
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says some bodies exhumed from mass graves found in Izyum have already been identified.
Ms Vereshchuk said the process is being carried out with the assistance of the government’s commissioner for missing persons, Oleh Kotenko, who is currently in Izyum.
“He says terrible things, it’s true. The exhumation is done, then the identification, some bodies have already been identified”, he said.
“The relatives of those identified, who took DNA tests, are informed. It is a very difficult process and I am very sorry that people are receiving this information. But, unfortunately, we see this terrible number of people, graves, mass graves, tortured civilians,” said Vereshchuk.
Shweta Sharma September 18, 2022 6:45 am
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Biden urges Putin to avoid nuclear weapons in interview to air Sunday
Joe Biden will urge Vladimir Putin not to use tactical nuclear or chemical weapons in the wake of the setbacks in Ukraine, in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday.
Ukraine’s military pushed back Russian forces in a landslide rout in the country’s northeast this week, putting Putin under pressure from nationalists at home to regain the initiative.
Putin has warned that Moscow would respond more forcefully if its troops were put under more pressure, raising concerns that at some point it could use unconventional means such as nuclear or small chemical weapons.
Asked by a “60 Minutes” reporter what he would say to Mr. Putin if he were considering using those weapons, Biden said: “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. It would change the face of war like nothing since of World War II,” in a clip of the interview released by CBS on Saturday.
Biden said the U.S. response would be “consequential,” but declined to elaborate.
Russia would “become more of a pariah in the world than ever,” he added. “Depending on the extent of what they do will determine what response would occur.”
Russian government officials have dismissed Western suggestions that Moscow would use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but it remains a concern for some in the West.
US President Joe Biden is in the UK for the Queen’s funeral
(son PA)
Sam Rkaina September 18, 2022 06:30
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Zelensky’s wife Olena will represent Ukraine at the Queen’s funeral
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wife, Olena Zelenska, will attend the Queen’s funeral in London on Monday.
Although the president will not join heads of state at the funeral, Ms Zelenska will represent her nation at the service at Westminster Abbey.
“The presence of Olena Zelenska is another sign of global support for Ukraine while Russia is isolated,” a source told The Sun.
Sravasti Dasgupta reports.
Zelensky’s wife Olena will represent Ukraine at the Queen’s funeral
Ukraine’s first lady will return to the war-torn country immediately after the ceremony
Shweta Sharma September 18, 2022 6:20 am
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Zelensky cites more than 10 torture chambers as new evidence at Izyum
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there is new evidence of torture of people buried in the Izyum mass grave, following the discovery of more than 10 torture chambers and torture devices.
“More than 10 torture chambers have already been found in the liberated areas of the Kharkiv region, in various cities and towns,” the Ukrainian president said in a video address on Saturday afternoon.
“When the occupiers fled, they left the torture devices behind. Even at a common railway station in Kozacha Lopan, torture chambers and electric shock torture instruments were found,” he said.
“Torture was a widespread practice in the occupied territories. That’s what the Nazis did, that’s what (the Russians) do,” he added. “They will respond in the same way, both on the battlefield and in the courtrooms.”
A mass grave containing an estimated 440 bodies was discovered in Izyum, one of dozens of towns retaken northeast of Kharkiv after a flash Ukrainian advance earlier this month.
Shweta Sharma September 18, 2022 6:06 am
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Ukraine will dominate the UN General Assembly
The issue of the Ukraine conflict and subsequent global food crisis will dominate discussions among world leaders as they gather for the UN General Assembly in New York this week.
“It would be naive to think that we are close to the possibility of a peace agreement,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said before the high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly in 193 members, starting Tuesday. “The chances of a peace agreement are minimal, at the moment.”
Geopolitical divisions, hardened by the seven-month war, are likely to be on full display as the US and Western allies compete with Russia for diplomatic influence.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, “other countries have expressed concern that … while we are focusing on Ukraine, we are not paying attention to what is happening in other crises around the world “.
“That’s not the case,” he told reporters, adding that while Ukraine will come up next week, “it won’t be the only thing we’re dealing with.”
Guterres said the geopolitical rifts are “the widest they have been at least since the Cold War.” He warned that they “are paralyzing the global response to the dramatic challenges we face”, citing war, climate, poverty, hunger and inequality.
Adam Withnall 18 September 2022 06:00
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Australia rules out banning Russian tourists over Ukraine war
Australia has said it will not target individuals, ruling out banning Russian tourists as part of sanctions against the country for invading Ukraine.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said on Sunday the sanctions were aimed at the Russian government, “not the Russian people themselves”.
“That’s not something we’re considering at the moment,” he told ABC television. Australia has sanctioned a number of Russian oligarchs and entities while supplying defense equipment and humanitarian supplies to Ukraine.
Mr Marles declined to see whether Australia would supply more Bushmasters and other protected vehicles to Ukraine following a recent request from Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia.
“We’re going to look at how we can provide that ongoing support,” said Marles, who called Australia “one of the largest non-NATO military supporters of Ukraine.”
Shweta Sharma September 18, 2022 5:51 am
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Greenpeace blocks Russian gas shipment
Greenpeace activists have blocked the offloading of a shipment of Russian gas to Finland, according to the climate campaign group.
The organization calls on Helsinki to stop imports of Russian gas due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The shipment contained liquefied natural gas from Russia, Finnish company Gasum said.
Greenpeace’s Olli Tiainen said: “It is completely unacceptable that Russian gas can still flow into Finland, more than six months after Putin launched his invasion.”
Sam Rkaina September 18, 2022 05:30
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Putin faces concerns over Ukraine conflict from India
Russian President Vladimir Putin has addressed India’s concerns over the protracted conflict in Ukraine at a high-level summit in Uzbekistan.
“I know that today’s era is not one of war,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the Russian leader in televised remarks as they met on Friday.
“We discussed this with you on the phone several times, that democracy and dialogue touch the whole world.”
Modi said he wanted to discuss “how we can move forward on the path of peace”, adding that the main concerns facing the world are issues of food security, fuel security and fertilisers. “We have to find some way out and you too have to contribute to that,” Modi stressed in a rare public rebuke.
Emily Atkinson September 18, 2022 4:30 am
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Zelensky asks world leaders for more weapons
President Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed his call on Western and other countries to increase arms supplies to Ukraine.
In an interview with Reuters, he continued: “We would like more help from Turkey, we would like more help from South Korea. More help from the Arab world. From Asia.”
He also expressed his fear that if the recent Ukrainian counter-offensive did not achieve the territorial gains it did, the supply of foreign arms to Kyiv would have dwindled.
“I think this is a very important step that influenced, or will influence, the decisions of other countries,” he said.
Emily Atkinson September 18, 2022 3:30 am
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Ukraine claims “hundreds more” POWs after counteroffensive, Zelensky says
The Ukrainian army captured hundreds of…