War Crimes Research Office, American University Washington College of Law ’s Post

Putin holds meeting with law enforcement officers on situation in Kursk Region The Russian president announced such a meeting earlier at a summit with members of the government, which he held earlier at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow NOVO-OGARYOVO, August 7/ Russian President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with the heads of security agencies, the Defense Ministry, the General Staff and the Federal Security Service (FSB) on the situation in the Kursk Region. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu and FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov took part in the meeting in person, while General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov participated in the meeting in a videoconference format. The Russian president announced such a meeting earlier at a summit with members of the government, which he held earlier at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow. Putin emphasized that "the Kiev regime has undertaken another large-scale provocation, firing indiscriminately from different types of weapons, including rockets, at civilian buildings, residential houses, ambulances." Earlier, Putin held a meeting with Acting Kursk Region Governor Alexey Smirnov and instructed governmental agencies to help the region’s citizens. He appointed First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov to supervise this work. Situation in Kursk Region A massive Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Kursk Region began on August 6. As a result of shelling and drone attacks, five residents of the region were killed. According to the Russian Health Ministry, 24 people were injured, including six children. The Russian Defense Ministry said that no breakthrough deep into Russian territory was allowed, the operation to destroy Ukrainian formations in the area of the state border continues. The Ukrainian losses during the fighting over the day amounted to 260 fighters and 50 armored vehicles, including tanks and anti-aircraft missile systems. #business #finance #financialservices

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, OCTOBER 17, 2024 #ISW Press 👁️ Institute for the Study of War https://lnkd.in/g49hfYBv Russian sources reported on October 16 that unspecified actors killed the deputy commander of #Russia's #SpecialOperationsForces (#SSO) Training Center, #NikitaKlenkov, near #MoscowCity.[1] #Klenkov reportedly fought in the war in #Ukraine as part of #militaryunit43292 and was a high-ranking officer of the #RussianMainMilitaryIntelligenceDirectorate (#GRU). Russian authorities claimed that Klenkov's murder was a planned #contractkilling and opened a criminal investigation into the murder but have yet to accuse Ukraine or other Western actors of being involved in the murder.[2] ISW cannot independently verify these claims. The #EuropeanUnion (#EU) issued a statement on October 16 condemning #Russianexecutions of #Ukrainianprisonersofwar (#POWs) and noted that at least 177 #UkrainianPOWs have died in #Russiancaptivity since February 2022.[3] The #EU called Russia's increasingly frequent executions of Ukrainian POWs a grave #breach of the #GenevaConvention, highlighting that the executions demonstrate Russia’s systemic disregard for #internationallaw. The #GenevaConventiononPOWs prohibits the #inhumanetreatment and execution of POWs or persons who are clearly rendered #horsdecombat.[4] ISW has recently observed an increase in #Russianforces executing Ukrainian POWs throughout the #theaterofwar.[5] Head of the #UkrainianDepartmentforCombatingCrimesinConditionsofArmedConflict #YuriBilousov stated on October 4 that Ukrainian sources documented #evidence indicating that Russian forces have executed 93 Ukrainian POWs on the #battlefield since the start of the #fullscaleinvasion and that 80 percent of the recorded cases occurred in 2024.[6]

Evening All, Another glaring example in court earlier today of Russian linked action on UK soil, with an admission of arson in respect of a business premises in London connected to Ukraine, and with the guilty party being paid by agents acting on behalf of a foreign state. In 'Terror for Profit' (see comments) I explain how terrorism, organised crime and malign states have intersected, and what we can do about it. Behaviours are becoming increasingly brazen, and many of our fellow citizens are going to suffer as this continues. #arson #espionage #sabotage #Russia #terrorforprofit #terrorforprofitbook

All in the name of democracy

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and current military Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. These charges are related to alleged crimes during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, particularly for their roles in directing missile strikes against Ukraine's electric infrastructure from October 10, 2022, to March 9, 2023. The court believes there are reasonable grounds to hold Shoigu and Gerasimov responsible for these actions, categorizing them as war crimes and crimes against humanity due to the targeting of civilians and civilian objects. These charges add to the broader context of ICC actions against Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, who is already facing an ICC arrest warrant for the alleged forced relocation of Ukrainian children to Russia. Despite these charges, Russia, not being a full signatory to the ICC, typically does not extradite its citizens, raising doubts about whether Shoigu and Gerasimov will ever stand trial. Shoigu, who was recently dismissed from his role and reassigned to Russia's security council, and Gerasimov were among Putin's most senior defence officials, highlighting the high-level nature of these accusations. Source: Reuters, AP So what While no doubt justified it is unlikely this move will do anything more than aggravate the Kremlin and restrict any movement by the two generals (something that was already highly unlikely). Additionally, this puts an end to rumours that Shoigu may defect following his removal as it is highly unlikely he would willing to go to a country that may end up selling him out to the ICC. Follow us to join the intelligence community! #InternationalCriminalCourt #ICC #WarCrimes #CrimesAgainstHumanity #RussiaUkraineConflict #UkraineInvasion #SergeiShoigu #ValeryGerasimov #JusticeForUkraine #HumanRights #Accountability #StopWarCrimes #DefendCivilians #UkraineCrisis #GlobalJustice #StandWithUkraine #PutinWarCrimes #EndImpunity #PeaceAndJustice #ProtectHumanRights

Takeaways From the Times Investigation Into ‘The Unpunished How Extremists Took Over Israel ’ NY Times. Radical forces in Israeli society have moved from the fringes to the mainstream and put Israel’s democracy in peril. Here are the takeaways from our investigation. Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti, based in Washington, interviewed more than 100 people, including current and former Israeli government officials, for this investigation. Published May 16, 2024 For decades, most Israelis have considered Palestinian terrorism the country’s biggest security concern. But there is another threat that may be even more destabilizing for Israel’s future as a democracy: >> Jewish terrorism and violence, and the failure to enforce the law against it. https://lnkd.in/ezmtUzBU

This is a major misperception and any policy born of it is doomed to fail in its own objectives and on the greater world stage this policy view ignores. This approach will see the US and if allies back while advantaging and encouraging Russia and China.

Good News for Future War Crimes Trials Addressing the UN General Assembly and also the Press, Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia blamed an American made Patriot missile in the hands of Ukraine for the bombing of Kyiv's Okhmatdyt hospital. He unequivocally denied all Russian involvement in the attack. Nebenzia has now provided future prosecutors in the yet to be named "Nuremberg II Trials" with more necessary links to prove his personal culpability for the war crime. Intentional and malicious active measures disinformation from a ranking government official to cover for a war crime atrocity, is evidence of complicity. In a future trial, it can be used as a critical element to overcome "I was just following orders," or "I was not involved," or "I did not personally give the order" or "I did not know" defenses. DW Phillips, Esq.

US Senate voted on 11/20/2024 to continue breaking International and US law, giving weapons to Israel, funding Genocide. "On Wednesday, less than a fifth of the Senate voted to block weapons sales to Israel in a key vote orchestrated by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) that will be remembered for decades to come as a show of U.S. lawmakers’ deep complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Senators overwhelmingly rejected the resolutions, with around 79 voting against blocking the sales of tank rounds; 78 against blocking mortar rounds; and 80 against blocking the sale of JDAMs to Israel — despite extensive evidence that Israeli forces are using U.S. weapons to commit war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza and beyond." https://lnkd.in/gij8-TSJ

#Ukraine - Vladimir Putin has said he aims to create a buffer zone in the region surrounding Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine, but claims he has no plans to capture the city. His claim doesn't wash with Kharkiv's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, who has seen fighting in his area intensify as Russian troops make daily advances. He tells ITV News that he does not believe Putin's words - only his deeds. Putin's statement, made during a visit to China, was his first on the offensive launched on May 10, which opened a new front and displaced thousands of Ukrainians within days. Earlier on Friday, a massive Ukrainian drone attack on the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula cut off power in the city of Sevastopol, after an earlier attack damaged aircraft and fuel storage at an airbase. In southern Russia, Russian authorities said a refinery was also set ablaze. Moscow launched attacks in the #Kharkiv region in response to Ukrainian shelling of Russia’s Belgorod region, #Putin told reporters while visiting the Chinese city of Harbin. “I have said publicly that if it continues, we will be forced to create a security zone, a sanitary zone,” he said. “That's what we are doing.” Russian troops were “advancing daily according to plan," he said and added there were no plans for now to take the city of Kharkiv. Ukrainian troops are fighting to halt Russian advances in the Kharkiv region that began late last week. In an effort to increase troop numbers, Ukrainian President Volodymyr #Zelenskyy signed two laws Friday, allowing prisoners to join the army and increasing fines for draft dodgers fivefold. The controversial mobilisation law goes into effect on Saturday. Russia enlisted prisoners early on in the war, and personnel shortages compelled the new measures. The legislation allows for “parole from serving a sentence and further enlistment for military service" for a specific period for some people charged with criminal offences. It doesn't extend to those convicted of crimes against Ukraine’s national security. Penalties will be increased to 25,500 hryvnias (£510) for citizens and 51,000 hryvnias (£1,020) for civil servants and legal entities for ignoring draft notices or failing to update the draft board of their information. Fines were previously 5100 hryvnias (£100) and 8500 hryvnias (£170), respectively. Ukrainian authorities have evacuated around 8,000 civilians from the recent flashpoint town of Vovchansk, three miles from the Russian border. The Russian army’s usual tactic is to reduce towns and villages to ruins with aerial strikes before troops move in.