APRIL 12, 2023 | VIEW IN BROWSER Get the full story: subscribe to FP. By Alexandra Sharp
Welcome back to World Brief, where Russia faces new accusations of war crimes in Ukraine, South Korea and Nigeria are targeted by U.S. intelligence, and Brazil negotiates for greater Chineseinvestment.
Have tips or feedback? Please email WorldBrief@ForeignPolicy.com with your thoughts.
Putin’s War Crime Patterns
Russia is facing new accusations of war crimes in Ukraine after two videos emerged online in the past week of what appear to be Russian soldiers beheading Ukrainian prisoners of war. The first video, which initially circulated on Russian Telegram channels, seems to show a Russian soldier using a knife to decapitate a still-alive man in a Ukrainian military uniform as a group of Russian soldiers look on. In another video of what seems to be a separate event, footage purportedly taken by Russian mercenaries with the paramilitary Wagner Group shows the beheaded bodies of two Ukrainian soldiers next to a destroyed military vehicle.
On Wednesday, Ukraine opened a war crimes investigation into the first video. What this video shows “is something that no one in the world can ignore: how easily these beasts kill,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message posted on Telegram. “The execution of a Ukrainian captive, the world must see it. This is a video of Russia as it is.” The European Union and United Nations also denounced the footage. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, speaking to reporters on Wednesday, called the video “terrible” but cast doubt on its authenticity.
Russian forces have a documented history of committing atrocities—against both civilians and prisoners of war—in Ukraine since their February 2022 invasion. The International Criminal Court last month issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over his unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. Ukrainian troops have also been credibly accused of war crimes, including the killing of captured Russian soldiers, though on a vastly smaller scale than Russian forces. Importantly, Ukraine’s government has opened investigations into alleged incidents by its own forces. The Kremlin, by contrast, has lavished praise on its war fighters for their actions. Most notably, Putin awarded the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade last April for its fighting in Bucha, Ukraine, where mass graves of massacred civilians were discovered after Russian forces withdrew from the city.
Moscow has struggled to recruit—let alone properly train—enough men to replenish troop levels as its own death toll rises, with the Kremlin resorting to increasingly desperate conscription measures. Bracing for Ukraine’s looming spring counteroffensive, Russia’s Federal Assembly approved a bill this week that allows draft summonses to be sent electronically and prohibits anyone called to fight from leaving the country. Putin is expected to sign the legislation into law. Previously, these military notices were required to be delivered in person—allowing many Russians to dodge the draft by avoiding their listed addresses. But with the new bill, a draft notice begins not when an individual receives the summons but rather when it is sent online.
No comments:
Post a Comment