Russian Digest 4/22
Top stories I'm keeping an eye on
US Permanent Representative to the OSCE Michael Carpenter during a special meeting of the Permanent Council of this organization in Vienna, Ukrinform quotes.
"We are currently investigating reports that Russian troops used chemicals during the attack on Mariupol. There is credible evidence that Russian troops may have used various means to counter the riots, including tear gas mixed with chemicals that could cause more severe symptoms to weaken and disable Ukrainian fighters and civilians as part of their aggressive capture campaign. Mariupol.” Carpenter continued, "Now we must urgently gather evidence to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice for what could well be another war crime in Ukraine."
According to Carpenter, this scenario has worried the American side for a long time, and it has repeatedly warned the world.
The Head of the US Mission to the OSCE stressed the importance of providing information on alleged Russian war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, collected by an expert mission under the OSCE Moscow Mechanism, to "appropriate prosecution mechanisms, as well as national, regional and/or international courts or tribunals that have or may have jurisdiction in the future.” via Ukrainian Pravda
The latest lies from Russia:
The Russian Defense Ministry said a fire on the missile cruiser Moskva on April 13 killed one person and left 27 missing. The statement of the Ministry of Defense is quoted by Interfax.
“In the course of the struggle for the ship's damage, one serviceman was killed, another 27 crew members were missing. The remaining 396 crew members were evacuated from the cruiser to the ships of the Black Sea Fleet in the area and taken to Sevastopol," the ministry said. via Meduza
Senior U.S. officials are renewing a push for sanctions against billionaire Roman Abramovich after the Russian tycoon’s recent trip to Kyiv to revive peace talks failed to achieve a breakthrough. Abramovich didn’t meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on that trip, speaking instead to his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, according to three people familiar with the discussions. Via BloombergQuint
The former top manager of Novatek and his family were found dead from a "double murder-suicide."
The former top manager of Russia's largest private gas company, Novatek, was found dead in Spain. Millionaire Sergei Protosenya, along with his wife and daughter, died on Tuesday in a rented villa in the resort town of Lloret de Mar near Barcelona.
Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, told G.O.P. lawmakers in the days after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that former President Donald J. Trump acknowledged he bore “some responsibility” for what happened that day, new audio revealed on Friday.
The audio obtained by The New York Times is part of a series of revelations about Republican leaders’ private condemnations of Mr. Trump in the days after his supporters stormed the Capitol.
“Let me be very clear to all of you, and I have been very clear to the president: He bears responsibilities for his words and actions,” Mr. McCarthy told House Republicans on a Jan. 11 conference call. “No if, ands or buts.”
“I asked him personally today: Does he hold responsibility for what happened?” Mr. McCarthy said. “Does he feel bad about what happened? He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened and he’d need to acknowledge that.”
Via NYT
6. Authorities in Shanghai have further tightened restrictions on the movement of residents in some districts and warned its 25 million inhabitants that strict measures would continue until Covid-19 was eradicated, neighborhood by neighborhood. After three weeks of stringent lockdown that has fuelled discontent in China’s largest metropolis, some districts were told that restrictions would be tightened even when they met the criteria for people to be allowed to leave their homes.
“Our goal is to achieve community zero-Covid as soon as possible,” the government said, referring to a target to stamp out transmission outside quarantined areas. “This is an important indication that we win this major, hard battle against the epidemic … so that we can restore normal production and life order.” via Guardian