February 25, 2024: Russian Digest

Prosecutor's Office investigates Russian execution of 7 Ukrainian POWs

Law enforcement opened an investigation into Russian troops executing seven Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered as prisoners of war (POWs) in Donetsk Oblast, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on Feb. 25.

A video showing Russian soldiers shooting seven Ukrainian POWs near the villages of Ivanivske and Khromove, not far from Bakhmut, reportedly surfaced online on Feb. 24.

"The drone camera footage shows Russian troops initially ordering our defenders to come out of the trench. Afterward, having gathered all the defenders in one place and stepped back several meters, the enemy opened fire on them with automatic bursts," the statement reads.

Russian troops "deliberately executed the wounded and unarmed Ukrainian soldiers, disregarding the norms of international humanitarian law," the Prosecutor General’s Office announced via Telegram.

Earlier this week, Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported that they had already established the military unit of Russian troops who were behind the execution.

"This incident must be documented as yet another violation of international humanitarian law by Russia," Lubinets said.

The killing of a POW is a violation of the Geneva Conventions and constitutes a war crime.

Read More at Kyiv Independent

Putin loses grip on member of his military alliance

Armenia has frozen its participation in the CSTO, PM Nikol Pashinyan said.

After more than two decades as part of a Moscow-led military alliance, Armenia has effectively suspended its membership as a result of a growing rift with Vladimir Putin's Russia.

Speaking to France24 on Friday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a club of former Soviet nations, "hasn’t fulfilled its security obligations towards Armenia."

"This couldn’t have gone without consequences. And the consequence is that in practice we have basically frozen our participation in the CSTO," Pashinyan said, accusing Moscow of failing to intervene in a simmering conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan, which is not a member of the alliance.

Read More at Politico

‘They are among us’: Russia’s terrifyingly effective poisoning operation

Natalia Arno was fully inside the hotel room before she noticed the smell. It was sickly sweet, like a cheap perfume at the drug store, only more nauseating. It was May 2 2023, and Arno had arrived in Prague the night before, on part of a European tour. The Russian activist and non-profit director had been on the road, meeting with donors and organisers looking for ways to bolster democracy back in Russia. On the previous leg of her trip, Arno had felt a bit tired, like she was coming down with something. But now, after a day of meetings and a business dinner, she was full of her usual energy. She was just going back to her room to change into jeans, before meeting up for drinks with colleagues. Arno, a petite woman with warm eyes and an open face framed by a straight dark bob, was staying at the Hotel Garden Court, a tastefully renovated building nestled among the baroque architecture and cobbled streets that border the city’s old town. As she’d come down the long white hallway to her room, she realised the door was ajar. Arno tensed. She slowly opened the door, bracing for a potential intruder, but no one was there. She started searching for listening devices — under the table, near the bed, in her suitcase, with her clothes — but found nothing. The smell was overpowering, especially near the bed. Some awful floral scent worn by the maid, she reasoned. But had housekeeping even been? The wastebasket had been emptied but the bed looked unmade. Arno put the thought aside and went to freshen up, brushing her teeth before heading out again for drinks.

Read More at FT

Russian media reporting…

Prime Minister of the Yemeni government went on an official visit to Russia

The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the internationally recognized government of Yemen, Ahmed bin Mubarak, went on an official visit to Moscow on Sunday evening. Via Ria Novosti.

Note: A Russian delegation visited Yemen on February 15th.

Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Ahmed bin Mubarak welcomed today a mission from the Russian Foreign Ministry headed by Director of the Middle East and North Africa Department Alexander Kinschak.

Potential evidence for more war crimes by sanctioned treasonous traitor Yevgeny Balitsky…

“They beat me, and they beat me hard.” Moscow-appointed authorities spoke about the deportation of Ukrainians from the Zaporizhzhia region

Ukrainians who did not support Russian authorities were evicted from the occupied territory of the Zaporizhzhia region. Moscow-installed ‘governor’ Yevgeny Balitsky said in an interview with propagandist Nadana Friedrichson. According to Balitsky, the deportation process began even before Russia announced the illegal ‘inclusion’ of the occupied territories in its composition on September 30, 2022. He noted that a significant number of families were evicted: “ Those who did not support the SVO in one way or another, those who insulted the flag, the anthem of Russia, and the President of the Russian Federation were evicted. We, taking advantage of the position that we had at that time until we legally joined the Russian Federation, we evicted such people.”

The Russian-installed ‘governor’ emphasized that the eviction took place in ‘compliance’ with formalities: the residents were read out the decision on eviction, after which they went “to their home in Banderstat” to build their “gay world.”

“Someone was forcibly evicted: they brought him to the ribbon, read out the decision to evict him, gave him a bottle of water and sent him away. […] Well, what to do with a woman with three children, who has a different belief, but she does not consider Russia to be her homeland, she does not consider anything that is happening, right? Well, should we kill her?” the puppet ‘governor’ said.

At the same time, Balitsky noted that when evicting local residents, the Russian regime made “extremely tough decisions.” “We hit - and we hit hard. And, unfortunately, sometimes I had to make extremely tough decisions, which I won’t talk about for now,” he admitted.

Via The Moscow Times

Ukraine Was Behind Attack on Top Russian Steelmaker’s Plant

Drones hit NLMK’s plant in Lipetsk in western Russia

Ukrainian drones attacked a plant owned by Russia’s biggest steelmaker overnight as Kyiv continues to strike beyond its borders in a war that’s entering its third year.

The joint operation by the Security Service of Ukraine and the country’s military intelligence sought to disrupt work at the facility in Russia’s Lipetsk owned by NLMK PJSC, said a person in the country’s intelligence services.

Read More at Bloomberg

Under new general, Russia’s Wagner makes deeper inroads into Libya

Using a new avatar of the paramilitary group, Putin is strengthening Russia’s presence in the North African country.

With the gaze of much of the world fixed on the carnage unfolding in Gaza, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin continues to expand his country’s reach in Africa.

Russia, in the form of the private military contractor (PMC) Wagner, has been a growing presence in Libya since at least 2018, when the group was first reported to be training troops under renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, leader of the Libyan National Army, forces belonging to the eastern of the country’s two parliaments.

Read More at Al Jazeera

Belarus’ Lukashenko to ‘Run’ for Seventh Presidential Term in 2025

Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko said he would run for president again in 2025, Belarusian state news agency BelTA reported Sunday.

Lukashenko made his comments after voting in parliamentary and local council elections, denounced by the United States as a sham. The ex-Soviet state's top election official dismissed the criticism and told Washington to look after its own affairs.

Read More at VOA