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Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv 'endangering civilians' by using schools as military bases, says Amnesty

Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv 'endangering civilians' by using schools as military bases, says Amnesty
A couple reacts after the Russian shelling in Mykolaiv Credit: Kostiantyn Liberov /AP

Amnesty International has accused the Ukrainian army of endangering civilians and violating humanitarian law in their fight against Russian invaders.

The human rights NGO said Ukrainian forces in Kharkiv, Donbas and Mykolaiv had in some cases established bases and operated weapons systems in populated residential areas, including in schools and hospitals.

The group said such tactics violate international humanitarian law as they turn civilians into targets for Russian strikes.

“We have documented a pattern of Ukrainian forces putting civilians at risk and violating the laws of war when they operate in populated areas,” Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said.

While the group said the practices “do not in any way justify indiscriminate Russian attacks”, Dr Callamard added: “Being in a defensive position does not exempt the Ukrainian military from respecting international humanitarian law.”

Amnesty said that between April and July, its researchers spent several weeks investigating Russian strikes and said it used satellite images to corroborate evidence of Ukrainian troops basing themselves in civilian buildings.

The group claimed that it was not aware that the Ukrainian military who located themselves in civilian structures buildings had asked or assisted civilians to evacuate, which it said was a “failure to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians”.

According to the latest UN estimate, more than 11,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since the war began on Feb 24.

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Russia seizes Zaporizhzhia

Olaf Scholz signals U-turn on shutting Germany’s nuclear plants

Germany's chancellor has signalled that the country will keep its last three nuclear plants, upending a legacy policy of Angela Merkel to shut them down, reports James Rothwell

As European countries scramble to find alternatives to Russian gas, Olaf Scholz said it "made sense" to continue running three plants that were due to be closed down at the end of the year.

“As far as the energy supply in Germany is concerned, the three last nuclear plants are relevant exclusively for electricity production, and only for a small part of it," said Mr Scholz. "Nevertheless, it makes sense [to continue running them]."

You can read James' report in full here.

Ukrainian forces clear mines by throwing objects on them

Placeholder image for youtube video: mVR22NhSICM

Ukrainian troops around Zaporizhzhia, in pictures

A serviceman of a Territorial Defence battalion who goes by the nom de guerre 'Did' smokes a pipe Credit: Dmytro Smolyenko/Avalon
'Yenot' assembles an ammunition belt Credit: Dmytro Smolyenko/Avalon
'Kep' holds a firearm at positions in Zaporizhzhia Credit: Dmytro Smolyenko/Avalon

Health crisis worsens - WHO

Ukraine is facing a worsening health emergency as the conflict with Russia rages on, the World Health Organisation said, with a combination of burnt-out staff, increased shelling and the approach of winter fuelling the agency's concerns.

There have been 434 attacks on healthcare facilities in the country, out of 615 such attacks reported this year worldwide, according to a WHO tracker.

The WHO's Ukraine emergency co-ordinator Heather Papowitz said healthcare teams in many areas have become used to working with shelling outside their window.

"It's kind of falling off the news in a way... but this is an emergency of public health," Ms Papowitz told Reuters on Wednesday.

Ms Papowitz, who visited Ukraine last week, said the WHO was most concerned about areas inaccessible to its teams due to fighting or Russian occupation, including the eastern Donbas region and Kherson to the south.

"Getting access is the biggest issue, it is what keeps us up at night," she said, citing challenges in getting medicines into these areas for people with chronic conditions or treating physical and mental trauma.

Disease control is also a factor. Ukraine has low vaccination coverage for measles and a polio outbreak, and there have been concerns over the risk of cholera. No cholera outbreaks have yet been verified, said Ms Papowitz.

UN watchdog appeals for access to Ukrainian nuclear plant

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog appealed for access to a Ukrainian nuclear power plant now controlled by Russian forces to determine whether it was a source of danger.

Contact with the Europe's largest nuclear plant, which is at Zaporizhzhia and is being operated by Ukrainian technicians, was "fragile" and communications did not function every day, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi told Swiss paper Tages-Anzeiger.

"We can't afford faulty communication with the plant in areas relevant to safety. We know of allegations that live ammunition is stored in the plant, that there are attacks on the power plant," he said in interview published in German.

"Frankly, if I don't have access, I can't determine that. There are contradictions between the accounts of the Russian and Ukrainian sides. I receive information, I also mention it in my situation reports, but I have no way of determining whether it corresponds to the facts."

A Russian-installed official in Ukraine said on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had repeatedly used Western arms to attack the plant, which has two of six reactors operating and has been the subject of repeated warnings from Ukraine, the West and Russia.

Closing arguments set for Brittney Griner trial

Closing arguments in Brittney Griner's cannabis possession case in Russia are set for today, nearly six months after the American basketball star was arrested at a Moscow airport in a case that has reached the highest levels of US-Russia diplomacy.

Ms Griner faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Although a conviction appears almost certain, given that Russian courts rarely acquit defendants and Ms Griner has acknowledged that there were vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage, judges have considerable latitude on sentencing.

Lawyers for the two-time Olympic gold medalist have pursued strategies to bolster her contention that she had no criminal intent and that the canisters ended up in her luggage due to hasty packing. They have presented character witnesses from the Russian team that she plays for in the WNBA off-season and written testimony from a doctor who said he prescribed her cannabis for pain treatment.

It's not clear when the verdict will be announced. If she does not go free, attention will turn to the high-stakes possibility of a prisoner swap.

Before her trial began in July, the State Department designated her as "wrongfully detained," moving her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, effectively the government's chief hostage negotiator.

Then last week, in an extraordinary move, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, urging him to accept a deal under which Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction, would go free.

Russia creating strike group in Volodymyr Zelensky's home town

Russian forces are engaged in considerable military activity, firing from tanks, barrel and rocket artillery in several parts of Ukraine, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has said.

Earlier, Ukraine said Russia had begun creating a strike group in the Kryvyi Rih direction and that it could be preparing new offensive operations in southern Ukraine.

The steel-producing city of Kryvyi Rih where Volodymyr Zelensky grew up lies around 30 miles from the southern frontline.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said on the Telegram app that three civilians had been killed in Bakhmut, Maryinka and Shevchenko and five wounded in the past 24 hours.

Governors of the Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk regions reported that their regions had been shelled overnight, and civilian infrastructure, houses had been damaged.

"The idea is to put military pressure on us in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk over the next few weeks...What is happening in the east is not what will determine the outcome of the war," Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in an interview appearing on YouTube.

The whole point of the Russian offensive in the east is to force Ukraine to divert troops from the area that is truly a danger - Zaporizhzhia, Mr Arestovych added.

Russian forces attempt to 'hide bridge' by using pyramidal radar reflectors

Russia has almost certainly positioned pyramidal radar reflectors in the water near the recently damaged Antonivskiy Bridge in a bid to hide it, the UK's Ministry of Defence said.

"The radar reflectors are likely being used to hide the bridge from synthetic aperture radar imagery and possible missile targeting equipment," the ministry wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

"This highlights the threat Russia feels from the increased range and precision of Western-supplied systems."

Russian pilots told to 'brake less' as spare parts run out

Russian pilots have been told not to brake too much to reduce wear and tear amid a shortage of parts for plane repairs because of western sanctions. 

According to internal memos from four Russian airline companies, pilots have been asked to be gentle when braking and taxing.

S7 Airlines has told pilots to use engine reverse thrust and to avoid autobrake mode if the runaway is long enough, the Aviatorshina Telegram channel reported. Pilots were also told they shouldn’t go hard on brakes in order to get off the runaway quickly to make way for other planes.

Read the full story by By Nataliya Vasilyeva here

Western sanctions are forcing airlines to minimise wear and tear to planes Credit: Reuters

US Senate votes in favour of Finland and Sweden joining Nato

The US Senate has voted to approve Finland and Sweden's accession to Nato – the most significant expansion of the alliance in nearly 30 years as it responds to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Voting in the American upper chamber easily surpassed the two-thirds majority of 67 votes required to support ratification of the two countries' membership.

Finland and Sweden were both warned by the Kremlin not to join the alliance.

Nato's 30 members signed the accession protocol for them last month, allowing them to join the US-led nuclear-armed alliance once its members ratify the decision.

The accession now needs to be ratified by the parliaments of all Nato members before Finland and Sweden can be protected by the defence clause stating that an attack on one ally is an attack against all. 

Situation at nuclear plant ‘out of control’

Russia is using Europe’s largest nuclear power plant to shelter from Ukrainian bombardment and launch attacks on civilians, with the United Nations warning the situation is “completely out of control” amid fears of a nuclear disaster, Joe Barnes writes.

Russian forces seized control of the Zaporizhzhia plant, in the south-eastern city of Enerhodar, in early March, soon after the invasion of Ukraine began.

Under mounting pressure from long-range Ukrainian strikes, troops last month ordered the plant’s staff to surrender access to the engine rooms of three of its reactors in order to store heavy weaponry.

Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-run nuclear company, said Russian ammunition had been stored close to highly combustible materials and would trigger a nuclear disaster on the scale of Chernobyl if it was detonated.

Read more: Situation at huge Ukraine nuclear plant ‘out of control’

Russia 'could attack Zelensky's hometown'

Ukraine said Russia had started creating a military strikeforce aimed at President Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rih.

Ukraine on Wednesday night said Russia was engaged in considerable military activity in the east, northeast and south of the country and warned that Moscow could be preparing new offensive operations in southern Ukraine.

Dmytro Zhyvytsky, governor of Sumy region on the border with Russia, said three towns had been shelled by Russian forces on Wednesday, with a total of 55 missiles fired. There were no injuries, but homes and commercial premises were damaged.

He said eight artillery shells hit residential parts of Krasnopilska community.

Biden: Vote shows our commitment to Nato

Joe Biden has hailed the vote in the US Senate that earlier on Wednesday night approved Nato membership for Finland and Sweden.

"This historic vote sends an important signal of the sustained, bipartisan US commitment to Nato, and to ensuring our Alliance is prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow," the US president said in a statement.

Joe Biden with Sauli Niinisto, left, the president of Finland, and Magdalena Andersson, the prime minister of Sweden at the White House in May Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Zelensky seeks talks with China to end war

Ukraine is seeking an opportunity to speak "directly" with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to help end its war with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday.

In an interview with SCMP, the Ukrainian leader urged China to use its outsize political and economic influence over Russia to bring an end to the fighting.

"It's a very powerful state. It's a powerful economy … So (it) can politically, economically influence Russia. And China is [also a] permanent member of the UN Security Council," Mr Zelensky told the newspaper.

US basketball star back in Russian court

US basketball star Brittney Griner returns to a Russian court today as her drugs trial grinds towards a finale that could end with a 10-year prison sentence and a US-Russia prisoner swap for one of the world's most notorious arms dealers.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) star, was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on Feb 17 with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.

Cannabis is illegal in Russia for both medicinal and recreational purposes.

The US has said Griner was wrongfully detained and made what Secretary of State Antony Blinken called a "substantial offer" to Moscow to exchange Russian prisoners for American citizens held in Russia, including Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan.

One source familiar with the situation told Reuters that Washington was willing to exchange convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, whose life helped inspire the 2005 Hollywood film Lord of War, starring Nicholas Cage.

Griner has been in detention for nearly six months Credit: GETTY IMAGES

UN to investigate Ukraine prison killings

The United Nations chief said on Wednesday he is appointing a fact-finding mission in response to requests from Russia and Ukraine to investigate the killings at a prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine that the nations accuse each other of carrying out.

Russia claimed that Ukraine's military used US-supplied rocket launchers to strike the prison in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Moscow-backed Donetsk People's Republic. Separatist authorities and Russian officials said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian POWs and wounded another 75.

The Ukrainian military denied making any rocket or artillery strikes in Olenivka.

The intelligence arm of the Ukrainian defence ministry claimed in a statement on Wednesday to have evidence that local Kremlin-backed separatists colluded with the Russian FSB, the KGB's main successor agency, and mercenary group Wagner to mine the prison before "using a flammable substance, which led to the rapid spread of fire in the room."

The destroyed prison in Olenivka Credit: AP

One US senator opposes Nato bill

The Senate voted 95 to 1 in favour of Finland and Sweden joining Nato.

The sole opponent was Republican Josh Hawley, who argued that the US has to focus on protecting its homeland but also that Washington should concentrate on the challenge from China rather than Europe.

Senate leader Chuck Schumer said it was a signal of Western unity against Russian aggression.

"This is important substantively and as a signal to Russia: they cannot intimidate America or Europe," Mr Schumer said.

"Putin has tried to use his war in Ukraine to divide the West. Instead, today's vote shows our alliance is stronger than ever."

The US is the 23rd of the 30 Nato countries to formally endorse it so far, after Italy approved it earlier on Wednesday and France on Tuesday. 

Hawley said the US should instead focus on the threat from China Credit: BLOOMBERG

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