A summary of today's developments
An international team of legal advisers has been working with local prosecutors in Ukraine’s recaptured city of Kherson in recent days as they began gathering evidence of alleged sexual crimes by Russian forces as part of a full-scale investigation, Reuters reports. The visit was by a team from Global Rights Compliance, an international legal practice headquartered in The Hague. Their efforts are part of a broader international effort to support overwhelmed Ukrainian authorities as they seek to hold Russians accountable for crimes they allegedly committed during the conflict.
The Ukrainian port of Odesa was not operating on Sunday after the latest Russian attack on the region’s energy system, agriculture minister Mykola Solsky said, but added that grains traders were not expected to suspend exports.
The UK’s foreign secretary James Cleverly has said that there needed to be “accountability” for Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine. He referred to claims of rape and sexual violence being used as weapons while he was in Kyiv, and that he also heard “very credible claims” that Ukrainian children are being forcibly sent to Russia to be adopted.
Russia’s ex-president Dmitry Medvedev has said the country is ramping up production of new-generation weapons to protect itself from enemies in Europe, the United States and Australia, Reuters reports.
A neo-Nazi paramilitary group linked to the Kremlin has asked its members to submit intelligence on border and military activity in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, raising concerns over whether far-right Russian groups are planning an attack on Nato countries. The official Telegram channel for “Task Force Rusich” – currently fighting in Ukraine on behalf of the Kremlin and linked to the notorious Wagner Group – last week requested members to forward details relating to border posts and military movements in the three Baltic states, which were formerly part of the Soviet Union.
Ukraine has attacked a barracks in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, with some Ukrainian sources claiming scores of Russian casualties. According to witnesses, 10 explosions were heard, although some of those may have been from Russian anti-aircraft systems. Ukrainian officials claimed scores of Russian dead and injured while Russia conceded a handful of casualties.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said Vladimir Putin is determined to conquer parts of Ukraine and shows no restraint in his brutality. “Whenever I speak with Putin, he says very clearly that for him it is about conquering something,” Scholz said on Saturday at an event in Potsdam, near Berlin. “He simply wants to conquer part of Ukrainian territory with violence.”
The Ukrainian port of Odesa was not operating on Sunday after the latest Russian attack on the region’s energy system, agriculture minister Mykola Solsky said, but added that grains traders were not expected to suspend exports.
All non-critical infrastructure in Odesa was without power after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities, leaving 1.5 million people without power, officials said.
