Ukraine

East Asia

Gaza at issue in Nagasaki commemoration

The US ambassador to Japan did not attend this year’s official commemoration of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in protest of the city’s failure to invite Israel. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel said the event had been “politicized” by Nagasaki’s decision to exclude the Jewish state. Five other G7 countries and the EU likewise boycotted the ceremony. The municipal government in Hiroshima refused to pay heed to public calls to exclude Israel over the Gaza bombardment, and invited Israeli officials to its event as usual. Russia and Belarus were exuded from both commemorations for a third consecutive year. (Photo: Pop Japan)

Syria

Is Ukraine backing Syrian insurgents?

Ukrainian special forces under command of Kyiv’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) carried out an operation against Russian forces in Syria, according to a video released by the agency. First reported by the Kyiv Post, the raid by the “Khimik” elite unit is said to have targeted Kuweires airbase outside Aleppo, which is used by both Russian and Assad regime forces. Drone strikes followed by a ground attack are said to have destroyed a Russian “electronic warfare complex” at the base, along with other “military objects.” The report said the operation was conducted in cooperation with Syrian “insurgents,” although it didn’t make clear which faction. The strike was reportedly carried out the day after a meeting at the Kremlin between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad. In May 2023, HUR chief Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov promised to “destroy Russian war criminals anywhere in the world they may be.” (Image via Kyiv Post)

Central Asia

Russia: indigenous rights groups designated ‘extremist’

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders released a statement urging Russia to refrain from designating groups advocating for the rights of indigenous peoples and national minorities as “extremist organizations.” The statement follows a decision by Russian authorities a week earlier to thusly classify 55 such organizations. The Ministry of Justice cited a June ruling by Russia’s Supreme Court banning “structural divisions” of the so-called “Anti-Russian Separatist Movement,” which was defined as an “international public movement to destroy the multinational unity and territorial integrity of Russia.” Involvement in the movement may result in a sentence of up to six years in prison—despite the fact that no such movement formally exists. (Photo of Itelmen people in the Kamchatka Peninsula via Wikipedia)

Africa

Is Ukraine backing Mali insurgents?

Mali announced that it has cut diplomatic relations with Ukraine, after a Kyiv military official boasted of having aided an insurgent attack in the country’s north that left scores of government troops and Russian mercenaries dead. Andrii Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency, said on social media that “the rebels received necessary information, and not just information, which enabled a successful military operation against Russian war criminals.” While not saying whether Ukrainian military personnel were involved in the fighting or were present in the country, Yusov cryptically added that the GUR “won’t discuss the details at the moment, but there will be more to come.” Malian official Col. Abdoulaye Maiga said Yusov’s comments “admitted Ukraine’s involvement in a cowardly, treacherous and barbaric attack by armed terrorist groups.” (Photo: FIDES)

Watching the Shadows

Podcast: sleepwalking into fascism

With Trump gaining momentum since surviving an assassination attempt, and the Democrats demoralized and in disarray, the forces of MAGA-fascism seem poised to retake the White House—and, with Project 2025, are this time armed with the organizational wherewithal to effectively instate their program. Meanwhile, the radical left, which by rights should be the most intransigent source of anti-fascist resistance, is actually in danger of being coopted by Trumpism in a new Red-Brown alliance, lured by perceived “isolationism” and a shared antipathy to the “liberal order.” In Episode 235 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg desperately scours the American political landscape—as well as historical precedents such as Italy in the 1920s—for glimmers of hope. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo via CEPR)

Europe

Russian playwright gets prison for ‘justifying terrorism’

A Russian military court convicted playwright Svetlana Petriychuk and theater director Yevgeniya Berkovich and sentenced them each to six years in prison over a play that was found to “justify terrorism.” The basis for the prosecution was the play Finist the Brave Falcon, its plot drawing inspiration from the plight of Russian women who went to Syria to marry Islamist fighters and were convicted upon return to their home country. Berkovich and Petrychuk repeatedly stated that their play was intended to warn against terrorism and not to justify it. In the eyes of the defense and human rights organizations, the real reason for the prosecution was retribution against the pair for their outspoken opposition to the war in Ukraine. (Photo: StageRussia)

East Asia

China and Russia launch joint naval exercise

Chinese and Russian naval forces have begun a joint exercise at a southern Chinese military port, China’s Ministry of National Defense announced. The “Maritime Joint-2024” exercise is taking place off Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, on the South China Sea. The operations encompass reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, anti-missile and air defense maneuvers. This naval cooperation unfolds against a backdrop of mounting tensions between China and NATO allies. At their Washington summit, NATO members designated China as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war in Ukraine, citing the two nations’ declared “no-holds-barred partnership” and China’s support for the Russian defense industry. (Map: Google)

Europe

Ukraine: Russian strikes hit largest children’s hospital

Russian missile attacks on Ukraine killed dozens of people, injured hundreds, and damaged the country’s largest children’s hospital, UN and Ukrainian officials announced. Numerous commercial and residential buildings were struck in the wave of strikes on cities including Dnipro, Kramatorsk, Pokrovsk, Kryviy Rih and Kyiv, leading to the death of at least 36 and injuries to no less than 140 people. Kyiv’s Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital was damaged with at least 16 injured, including children and medical staff, and two adults dead. UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine Denise Brown stated: “It is unconscionable that children are killed and injured in this war. Under international humanitarian law, hospitals have special protection. Civilians must be protected.” (Map: PCL)

Europe

ECHR: Russia liable for rights violations in Crimea

Ruling in the case Ukraine v. Russia (re Crimea), the European Court of Human Rights unanimously found that Russia is guilty of a pattern of human rights violations since 2014 in Crimea, as codified under under the European Convention on Human Rights and international humanitarian law. These violations included ill-treatment, intimidation, disappearances, forced Russian citizenship, and suppression of Ukrainian media and press. (Photo: chief39/Pixabay)

Europe

Russia suppressing Ukrainian language in occupied areas: report

A Human Rights Watch report finds that Russian authorities have violated human rights obligations by suppressing the Ukrainian language and injecting propaganda into educational curricula in occupied Ukrainian territories. Changes to school curricula include an array of disinformation aimed at justifying Russia’s invasion and portraying Ukraine as a “neo-Nazi state.” Russian authorities have also introduced military training in schools, mirroring the resurgence of youth military training in Russia, and require secondary schools to send lists of all students aged 18 and up for conscription into the Russian military. International law prohibits forced enlistment of an occupied population into the occupier’s military. (Map: PCL)

East Asia

Russia-DPRK defense pact: Cold War redux

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a mutual defense assistance pact during Putin’s first visit to Pyongyang since 2000. According to a statement from the Russian government, the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership stipulates “mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties thereto.” Article 4 of the pact states: “If either side faces an armed invasion and is in a state of war, the other side will immediately use all available means to provide military and other assistance.” While full details were not made public, this appears to revive provisions of the 1961 treaty between the Soviet Union and North Korea that stipulated automatic military intervention if either nation came under attack. (Photo: gfs_mizuta/Pixabay via Jurist)

Europe

Baltic brinkmanship amid NATO war games

Sweden’s armed forces charged that a Russian SU-24 fighter plane violated the country’s airspace just east of the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, calling the act “unacceptable.” Just days before the incident, Sweden and other NATO allies were conducting naval exercises in the area as part of the annual Baltic Operations drill (BALTOPS). Amid the exercise, the Finnish military reported a similar airspace violation by four Russian warplanes over the Gulf of Finland. This was the first time Sweden and Finland had taken part in BALTOPS. (Photo: NATO)