The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine on Sept. 23 informed the Human Rights Council that based on the evidence gathered, Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine. The Commission had been set up in March through General Assembly Resolution… Read moreUN inquiry sees Russian war crimes in Ukraine
Tens of thousands of conscription-age Russian men have fled to neighboring countries since President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilization of military reserve troops to fight in Ukraine. The tide has grown in recent days amid fears that the Kremlin will impose an… Read moreMass exodus of Russian youth
More than 2,000 people have been detained in protests across Russia since President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilization of military reserve troops to fight in Ukraine, according to human rights monitor OVD-Info. The demonstrators are risking long prison terms under laws passed shortly after… Read moreRussia: anti-draft uprising spreads
In the wake of Vladimir Putin’s barely veiled nuclear threat upon announcing a mobilization of Russia’s reserve forces to reverse his recent losses in Ukraine on Sept. 21, official and semi-official Moscow commentators have made such menacing completely explicit. Later that… Read moreRussia escalates threats of nuclear war
Drone strikes and unexplained explosions on the Russian-annexed Criman Peninsula have prompted the Moscow-controlled administration to urge citizens to hunt for possible saboteurs. This comes amid widening repression on civil society, especially targeting the Crimean Tatar people. On Sept. 15, a local court… Read moreCrackdown on civil society widens in Crimea
Following last week’s discovery of mass graves containing some 450 bodies in the Ukrainian town of Izium, the European Council presidency has issued a call for “the speedy establishment of a special international tribunal that will prosecute the crime of… Read moreEU calls for war crimes trial over Ukraine mass graves
Dozens of municipal deputies from Moscow and St. Petersburg on Sept. 12 issued a public statement calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to resign. “President Putin’s actions are detrimental to the future of Russia and its citizens,” reads the petition shared on Twitter by… Read moreRussia: municipal revolt against Putin
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission (UNHRMM) on Sept. 9 accused Russia of arbitrary detentions and forced disappearances in Ukrainian territory, and violating the basic human rights of Ukrainian war captives. The UNHRMM documented numerous cases of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners… Read moreUN documents Russian rights abuses in Ukraine
In Episode 140 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg calls out former Pink Floyd creative genius Roger Waters as a propaganda agent for the criminal regimes of Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Bashar Assad. In his recent CNN interview, Waters blames Ukraine… Read moreRoger Waters: another brick in the war propaganda
The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) issued a new report Aug. 30 on the Wagner Group’s activities in the Central African Republic and Mali, and it makes for chilling reading. The Russian mercenary group has targeted civilians in more than… Read moreReport sheds light on Wagner Group crimes in Africa
Satellite images show significant damage from an Aug. 25 Israeli air-strike on the Assad regime’s main center for conventional and chemical weapons development. Nine buildings of the Scientific Studies & Research Center (SSRC) were destroyed or heavily damaged, and a military… Read moreRussia conniving in Israeli strikes on Syria?
Russian energy giant Gazprom cut off the flow of natural gas to Germany and other European markets via the Nord Stream pipeline on Aug. 31, calling it a three-day shut-down for maintenance purposes. But Western governments charge that Russia is… Read moreRussia ‘weaponizes’ gas supplies to Europe
