Russia

2022 - 9 - 22

Post cover
Image courtesy of "NPR"

Russians rush for flights out amid partial reservist call-up (NPR)

BELGRADE, Serbia — Large numbers of Russians rushed to book one-way tickets out of the country while they still could Wednesday after Russian President ...

A group based in Serbia, Russians, Belarussians, Ukrainians and Serbs Together Against War, tweeted that there were no available flights to Belgrade from Russia until mid-October. [troops to invade Ukraine](https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-general-assembly-russia-ukraine-putin-biden-health-5596bb7d07051a8edb776faa63311f82) almost seven months ago. The price for flights from Moscow to Istanbul or Dubai increased within minutes before jumping again, reaching as high as 9,200 euros ($9,119) for a one-way economy class fare.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "UN News"

Biden denounces Russia's 'shameless violation' of UN Charter ... (UN News)

Strongly denouncing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, United States President Joe Biden warned United Nations Member States on Wednesday that “if a nation can ...

“This is the responsibility of every Member State.” The only country doing that is Russia.” “Russia,” he continued, “has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations Charter ... Mr, Biden said that his country had warned about the invasion and worked hard to avert war. Biden also said Russia was “right now” calling up more soldiers and preparing a “sham” referendum on the annexation of lands it already occupied in eastern Ukraine. attempted to erase a sovereign State from the map.”

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Financial Times"

Russia releases foreign PoWs in brokered prisoner swap (Financial Times)

Freed detainees on way to Saudi Arabia from fighting in Ukraine include UK and US citizens.

[Purchase a Print subscription for 11,12 € per week You will be billed 107,91 € per month after the trial ends](https://subs.ft.com/spa3_uk3m?segmentId=461cfe95-f454-6e0b-9f7b-0800950bef25&utm_us=JJIBAX&utm_eu=WWIBEAX&utm_ca=JJIBAZ&utm_as=FIBAZ&ft-content-uuid=d503ee6e-cb94-49fc-96cf-7ad48a193c48) [Purchase a Digital subscription for 6,64 € per week You will be billed 39 € per month after the trial ends](https://subs.ft.com/digital_edit?ft-content-uuid=d503ee6e-cb94-49fc-96cf-7ad48a193c48) [Purchase a Trial subscription for 1 € for 4 weeks You will be billed 65 € per month after the trial ends](/signup?offerId=41218b9e-c8ae-c934-43ad-71b13fcb4465&ft-content-uuid=d503ee6e-cb94-49fc-96cf-7ad48a193c48)

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Aljazeera.com"

Biden says Russia 'shamelessly' violated UN charter (Aljazeera.com)

At the annual meeting at the UN General Assembly, the US president accused Moscow of launching 'brutal' war in Ukraine.

“Human wellbeing is under great threat,” Ruto said. “We all know we are already living in a climate crisis. He also explicitly called out human rights abuses by China, Myanmar and the Taliban. “Our wish is only one thing: observance of commitments,” Raisi said. However, “if Russia were to use a nuclear weapon, how would it take military advantage from that?” he asked. Amini died on September 16, several days after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, according to Iranian authorities.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Forbes"

Russia Is About To Draft 300000 New Troops. It Won't Be Able To ... (Forbes)

Russia will mobilize 300000 men in order to make good its losses in Ukraine and expand the army, Pres. Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday.

“Putin is accepting greater political risk by undermining the fiction that Russia is neither in a war, nor a national crisis, in the hope of generating more combat power,” the U.K. If there’s anything working in Russia’s favor, it’s that the war in Ukraine is about to slow down—a lot. The practice, in Russia, is for front-line brigades to handle most of the training for new troops. Offensive operations in the country tend to pause until the ground freezes in January. But that means that unit training is inconsistent at best—and varies according to the resources at each brigade’s disposal. A new sign of [Russian] weakness.” There, they will face Ukrainian troops who are much better trained—and infinitely more motivated. As new draftees, they’re going to need significant retraining before shipping off to the war zone. “How units are resourced plays a big part,” Hertlind explained. Hertling recalled his two visits to Russian training bases. A protest broke out in Moscow. Familiarization versus qualification on rifles, rudimentary first aid, very few simulations to conserve resources and, most importantly, horrible leadership by ‘drill sergeants.’”

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Mail and Guardian"

Putin calls up reservists, warns Russia will use 'all means' for defence (Mail and Guardian)

President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial military mobilisation and vowed on Wednesday to use “all available means” to protect Russian territory, ...

“Putin does not want to win this war on the battlefield. This is not a bluff,” Putin said. In a pre-recorded address to the nation early on Wednesday, Putin accused the West of trying to “destroy” his country through its backing of Kyiv, and said Russia needed to support those in Ukraine who wanted to “determine their own future”.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Aljazeera.com"

'Thrown into the meat grinder': Russians react to mobilisation (Aljazeera.com)

After President Putin announced the partial mobilisation of population, 'how to leave Russia' spikes on search engines.

I don’t want to go; the interests of the state do not coincide with the interests of the public. “I think they will try to prevent any protests, and whoever opposes the mobilisation will be severely punished. According to Google Trends, in the hours before Putin’s announcement the question “how to leave Russia” spiked on search engines, as did “how to break an arm”. “And if I don’t go join the special operation now, they’ll put me in jail because of the mobilisation. It turned out that they were not winning – and prisoners began to be recruited to the front. “I think the main problem is they have a shortage of personnel on the ground – they don’t have enough soldiers to attack Ukraine, or even protect the occupied areas. The authorities used to say that only ‘professionals’ were fighting and that they would win. There is no civil society, and Russia hasn’t had free elections since the 2000s,” he said. The deputies and officials who daily yelled about the need for mobilisation will remain in their warm chairs, alive and well. Those who do not immediately fit the first category [of 300,000 experienced soldiers] will be registered for subsequent conscription.” They will be given additional training before being sent to the front, and will not include students or former conscripts. According to the new decree, reservists will be treated the same as regular, contract soldiers should they fail to report for duty.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "TVP World"

Russia: Over 1300 detained during protests against mobilisation (TVP World)

More than 1,300 people have already been detained in Russia on Wednesday during nationwide protests against mobilisation for war with Ukraine, ...

[pic.twitter.com/7Fo0Kjo7nu] [September 21, 2022] Moreover, footage of people being pacified by police officers circulates social media. [pic.twitter.com/fAn0kljkoZ] [September 21, 2022]

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Reuters"

Explainer: What does Vladimir Putin's 'partial' mobilisation mean for ... (Reuters)

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered Russia's first mobilisation since World War Two after suffering a major battlefield reversal in Ukraine, ...

* "This (mobilisation) means that thousands of Russian men - our fathers, brothers and husbands - will be thrown into the meat grinder of war," Vesna said in a statement. * Western military analysts are divided on whether partial mobilisation is too little too late to alter the course of the war in Moscow's favour. * The mobilisation announcement appears to have caused panic among some potential reservists. According to a copy of the legislation, seen by Reuters, voluntary surrender would become a crime for Russian military personnel punishable by 10 years in prison. * The reservists' main task, according to Shoigu, will be to reinforce the front line in Ukraine, which is currently over 1,000 km (621 miles) long. There is no mention of the 300,000 figure in the decree as published, which came from an interview that Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister, gave to state TV.

Explore the last week