Russia

Europe

Dozens detained at Moscow anti-mobilization protest

Russian law enforcement detained at least two dozen people at a protest in Moscow, as wives and relatives of service members fighting in Ukraine demanded their return. Those arrested included journalists covering the protest and human rights monitors. Kin of the soldiers gathered to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, outside the Kremlin walls. The demonstration marked 500 days since President Vladimir Putin ordered the mobilization of up to 300,000 military reservists for the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine. The call-up prompted more than 260,000 men to flee the nation, with Moscow reportedly setting up draft offices at borders to intercept fleeing reservists. (Photo: astrapress via The Moscow Times)

Europe

ICJ issues mixed ruling in Ukraine case against Russia

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that Russia failed to investigate Ukrainian claims that Russian nationals finance terrorism in Ukraine, in violation of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (ICSFT). The ruling, however, rejected requests by Ukraine for a plethora of provisional measures. Ukraine had requested the ICJ declare Russia in violation of both the ICSFT and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), seeking a court order demanding Russia comply with its obligations under these conventions. Ukraine also requested that the ICJ order Russia to prosecute certain officials, such as the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, and further requested reparations for civilian shelling. (Photo: ICJ)

Africa

Sahel states defect from ECOWAS

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announced they are withdrawing from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), issuing a joint statement saying they had taken a “sovereign decision” to abandon the regional bloc of which they were founding members in 1975. The statement charges that ECOWAS has “drifted from the ideals of its founding fathers and the spirit of Pan-Africanism,” and is now “under the influence of foreign powers.” All three countries are led by military juntas after undergoing coups d’etat, which resulted in their suspension from the bloc. All three countries have also moved closer under their respective military regimes to Russia, whose Wagner Group mercenary force is backing up a new Malian government offensive against Tuareg separatist rebels. (Map: Wikivoyage)

Africa

‘Blood gold,’ diamonds behind Russian war effort

Gold-mining operations in Africa under the control of the paramilitary Wagner Group are funneling money to the Kremlin for the Russian war effort in Ukraine, according to a new report by watchdog organizations. “The Blood Gold Report,” prepared by the Consumer Choice Center and Democracy 21, finds that Wagner has laundered some $2.5 billion in proceeds from its African operations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, helping Moscow to ride out international sanctions. In the Central African Republic, Wagner is said to have exclusive operational control over the country’s largest gold mine at Ndassima in return for its services in propping up the regime. The European Union meanwhile announced sanctions on Russia’s state-owned diamond giant Alrosa and its CEO, citing their “long-standing partnership with the Russian Armed Forces.” (Photo of CAR army troops wearing the Wagner Group insignia via Corbeau News Centrafrique)

Europe

Propaganda game in fight over Ukraine military aid

With Republicans holding up new military aid for Ukraine on Capitol Hill, Russia launched one of the most massive aerial assaults of the war, killing 40 in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Lviv. Ukraine retaliated the next day with a missile strike on the Russian city of Belgorod, killing at least 22. Russia counter-retaliated with a wave of drone strikes, damaging schools, hospitals and homes across Ukraine, killing at least 24. Russia accused Ukraine of using internationally prohibited cluster munitions in the strike on Belgorod, and called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. Of course, Russia has itself used cluster munitions since the start of the war in February 2022, despite international criticism from bodies including the UN Human Rights Council. (Photo from Little Ukraine, NYC: CounterVortex)

Southeast Asia

Podcast: the Burmese struggle in the Great Game

The US uses its veto on the UN Security Council to protect its client state Israel amid the criminal bombardment of Gaza, while Russia and China pose as protectors of the Palestinians. In Burma, the situation is precisely reversed: Russia and China protect the brutal junta on the Security Council, while the US and UK pose as protectors of the pro-democratic resistance. Yet another example of how a global divide-and-rule racket is the essence of the state system. Bill Weinberg dissects the mutual imperial hypocrisy in Episode 206 of the CounterVortex podcast. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo: Burmese resistance fighters pose with armored vehicle seized from a captured junta outpost. Via Myanmar Now)

Southeast Asia

China seeks ceasefire in Burma border zone

China’s government announced that it has mediated a short-term ceasefire to the conflict between the Burmese junta and rebel armies of ethnic peoples in the northeastern region near the Chinese border. The conflict has been escalating since the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) launched Operation 1027 in Shan state in late October. The rebel armies have joined as a self-declared Three Brotherhood Alliance seeking control of Burma’s northeast. None of the parties to the conflict have commented on the supposed ceasefire. China, a major backer of the junta, continues to conduct live-fire military exercises on its side of the frontier. (Map: PCL)

Europe

Russia: unprecedented number of treason cases in 2023

The Russian authorities opened 70 cases in 2023 for “state treason” or “secret cooperation with a foreign state or organization,” according to a report from the human rights organization Perviy Otdel. Out of the 70 new cases initiated in 2023, in addition to 28 pending from previous years, courts found defendants guilty in 37 cases, marking an historical high. Some cases progressed swiftly from initiation to final judgment, spanning a mere month. Often, the Federal Security Service (FSB) conducted online sting operations, particularly targeting individuals opposing the war in Ukraine. Those charged under the treason statute, Article 275of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, may face from 12 years to life imprisonment. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Europe

Russia: ex-GRU officer to testify before ICC

Former Russian military intelligence officer Igor Salikov arrived in the Netherlands to testify as a witness at the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding Russian war crimes. Salikov took part in operations in eastern Ukraine as an officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) starting in 2014, and later served as a senior instructor for the private military company Wagner in Syria. In 2022, he was a commander in the private military company Redut during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Salikov admitted to witnessing crimes against civilians, including child abductions. (Photo: OSeveno/WikiMedia)

Europe

Russia prolongs detention of Tatar-language journalist

A district court in Kazan, capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan, extended the detention of Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist holding joint Russian and United States citizenship. Kurmasheva, who reports for the Tatar-language service of US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was first detained in October. She faces charges of failure to register as a “foreign agent,” an offense that carries a potential five-year prison term. The decision extending her pre-trial detention through early February was made without actually setting a trial date. (Photo: The Moscow Times)

Africa

Niger junta pivots from the EU to Russia

The ruling junta in Niger has broken off a military partnership with the European Union that provided training and equipment for the counterinsurgency against jihadist rebels. The rupture is linked to the EU’s refusal to engage with the junta that took power in a July coup. Russian officials have meanwhile visited the country, signing documents to strengthen military cooperation. Russian support for other armies in the Sahel region has led to massive rights abuses, yet the EU’s own record was far from exemplary. The bloc spent large sums on Niger’s military but failed to implement measures to prevent abuses—resulting in civilian casualties that played into the hands of the jihadists. (Map: PCL)

Planet Watch

COP 28 looks at climate-conflict overlap

For the first time, the annual UN climate summit is focusing on the overlap between conflict and the climate crisis. This convergence is especially clear in rebel-controlled northwest Syria. A years-long drought is compounding the suffering caused by over 12 years of war, and devastating earthquakes that struck the region earlier this year. Water pumping infrastructure has been repeatedly hit by regime and Russian warplanes, leaving farmers without irrigation for parched fields. Since the start of October, the northwest has been experiencing the most intense military escalation by the regime and its Russian patron in nearly three years, with scores killed and over 120,000 displaced by air-strikes. (Photo: Mahmoud Abo Ras/TNH)