A roundup of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Mexico to Hong Kong
Continue reading...Category Archives: Russia
Nato chief warns of real risk of Ukraine conflict as Russian buildup continues
Jens Stoltenberg says Nato will never withdraw its conditional offer of membership to Ukraine
The risk of conflict is real as Russia continues to mass its forces and artillery on the borders of Ukraine and make demands that it knows are unacceptable, Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, has warned.
Earlier, Nato foreign ministers held a final symbolic display of transatlantic unity before a set of three separate critical talks next week with Russia on Moscow’s demands to restore past spheres of influence and have Nato strategic weapons withdrawn from near Russia’s borders.
Continue reading...Putin taking a risk in Kazakhstan and may hope for reward
Analysis: CSTO may be an alliance but decision to intervene was almost certainly taken in Moscow
The old joke about the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact was that it was the only military alliance to attack itself, after its tanks rolled into Prague in 1968 to crush a reform movement there.
With the deployment of troops from the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) to Kazakhstan on Thursday, some heard “eerie echoes” of the so-called Prague spring of 1968, and the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian revolution in 1956.
Continue reading...Liz Truss says Russia faces high-level sanctions if it invades Ukraine
Foreign secretary asserts western solidarity against Putin’s threats, but MPs challenge her on Russian influence in UK
Massive coordinated sanctions threatened against Russia if it launches military action against Ukraine will hit the high-level Russian elite and its ability to carry out financial transactions, Liz Truss, the UK foreign secretary, told MPs on Thursday, as she warned the west could not afford to be seen to reward Moscow in crucial talks next week.
Her remarks appear indirectly to confirm that if Russia mounts an incursion into Ukraine it could be excluded from Swift, the messaging network used by 11,000 banks in 200 countries to make cross-border payments.
Continue reading...Dozens of protesters and police dead amid Kazakhstan unrest
Witnesses in Almaty describe scenes of chaos in streets as Russian ‘peacekeepers’ arrive in country
Dozens of protesters and at least 12 police officers have died in ongoing violence in Kazakhstan, authorities have claimed, as “peacekeepers” from a Russian-led military alliance arrived in the country at the request of the embattled president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Witnesses in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, described scenes of chaos on Thursday, with government buildings being stormed or set on fire and widespread looting. Many of those demonstrating said the protests had begun peacefully earlier in the week, and turned violent after a heavy-handed government response.
Continue reading...Russian paratroopers arrive in Kazakhstan as unrest continues
Moscow-led ‘peacekeeping’ alliance enters country amid violent clashes between protesters, police and army
Russian paratroopers have arrived in Kazakhstan as part of a “peacekeeping” mission by a Moscow-led military alliance to help the president regain control of the country, according to Russian news agencies.
Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, asked for the intervention from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) – an alliance made up of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – late on Wednesday and it was swiftly approved.
Continue reading...Gunfire heard during protests in Kazakhstan’s biggest city – video
Footage taken on the streets of Almaty appears to show guns being fired as unrest continues. Initially angered by a fuel price rise, protesters have been storming buildings and chanting against President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbayev. State buildings have been torched and eight security personnel reported dead in the demonstrations. The internet was shut down and 'peacekeeping forces' from a Russian-led alliance of former Soviet states will be sent to Kazakhstan to help stabilise the country
- Kazakhstan protests: Moscow-led alliance sends ‘peacekeeping forces’
- Violent clashes in Kazakhstan amid fuel protests – in pictures
Top EU diplomat offers full support to Ukraine on visit to conflict frontline
Josep Borrell warns ‘severe costs’ would follow any aggression against Kyiv by Russian-backed separatists
The European Union’s top diplomat has pledged “full support” to Ukraine on a visit to the frontline of the country’s war with Moscow-backed separatists.
Josep Borrell is the first EU high representative for foreign policy to have visited the Donbass region since war broke out nearly eight years ago.
Continue reading...Kazakhstan protests: president threatens ruthless crackdown
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev says in televised address ‘I plan to act as toughly as possible’
Kazakhstan’s president has threatened to crack down ruthlessly on protests ongoing across the country, claiming the unrest has led to deaths and injuries among law enforcement officers.
“As the head of state … I plan to act as toughly as possible,” said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in a televised address on Wednesday afternoon. “This is a question of the safety of our country. I am certain that the people will support me,” he added, saying he had no plans to flee the country’s capital.
Continue reading...Five of world’s most powerful nations pledge to avoid nuclear war
US, Russia, China, the UK and France who are permanent members of the UN security council agree ‘nuclear war cannot be won’
Five of the world’s most powerful nations have agreed that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought” in a rare joint pledge to reduce the risk of such a conflict ever starting.
The pledge was signed by the US, Russia, China, the UK and France, the five nuclear weapons states recognised by the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) who are also the five permanent members of the UN security council. They are known as the P5 or the N5.
Continue reading...Russia ‘very likely’ to invade Ukraine without ‘enormous sanctions’ – Schiff
- House intelligence chair: invasion might draw Nato closer
- Sanctions must be ‘at level Russia has never seen’ to deter Putin
Russia is “very likely” to invade Ukraine and might only be deterred by “enormous sanctions”, the chair of the US House intelligence committee said on Sunday.
Adam Schiff also said an invasion could backfire on Moscow, by drawing more countries into the Nato military alliance.
Continue reading...Russian foreign minister warns west over ‘aggressive line’ in Ukraine crisis
Sergei Lavrov says Moscow may be forced to ‘eliminate unacceptable threats to our security’ following Biden-Putin call
Russia’s top diplomat has warned the west that its “aggressive” approach to Ukraine and threat of sanctions could force Moscow to “eliminate unacceptable threats to our security”, after a high-stakes conversation between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden failed to deescalate the crisis.
The remarks by the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, were published shortly after the Russian and US presidents held a 50-minute telephone call in which the two sides traded threats regarding tensions over Ukraine.
Continue reading...Biden to speak with Putin amid Russia’s increased presence near Ukraine
Two leaders will discuss a range of topics, including ‘upcoming diplomatic engagements in Russia’
Joe Biden will speak on Thursday with Vladimir Putin regarding the Russian president increased security demands in eastern Europe.
The two leaders will discuss a range of topics, including “upcoming diplomatic engagements in Russia”, said US national security council spokesperson Emily Horne in a statement announcing the call.
Continue reading...Russian court orders closure of another human rights group
Memorial Human Rights Centre liquidated a day after its sister group, Memorial, in assault on civil liberties
A Russian court has ordered the closure of the Memorial Human Rights Centre (MHRC), a day after the supreme court revoked the legal status of its sister organisation, Memorial International.
Moscow city court authorised the dissolution of the group – one of Russia’s most venerated human rights institutions – for the “justification of extremism and terrorism” by religious groups including Jehovah’s Witnesses officially considered “extremist” in Russia.
Continue reading...Rights group’s closure is part of rapid dismantling of Russian civil society
Analysis: brief window when Russia would tolerate independent reckoning of its past appears to have closed
In a terrible year for human rights in Russia, beginning with the imprisonment of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the closure of International Memorial stands out for its ruthlessness.
Founded in the late 1980s by Andrei Sakharov and other Soviet-era dissidents, the group took the new freedoms offered under Mikhail Gorbachev and used them to reveal raw truths about the fate of millions of victims of Stalin’s repressions.
Continue reading...Russian court orders closure of country’s oldest human rights group
Supreme court ruling on Memorial is watershed moment in Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on independent thought
Analysis: Closure is part of rapid dismantling of civil society
Russia’s supreme court has ordered the closure of Memorial International, the country’s oldest human rights group, in a watershed moment in Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on independent thought.
The court ruled Memorial must be closed under Russia’s controversial “foreign agent” legislation, which has targeted dozens of NGOs and media outlets seen as critical of the government.
Continue reading...Russian court increases jail sentence for Gulag historian
Yury Dmitriyev’s term increased to 15 years on charges supporters say are punishment for exposing Soviet-era crimes
A Russian court has increased a jail sentence for the Gulag historian Yury Dmitriyev to a total of 15 years on charges his supporters say are punishment for his work exposing Stalin-era crimes.
Supporters say Dmitriyev, 65, is being targeted because of his efforts to expose the horrors of the Soviet era under Joseph Stalin.
Continue reading...Russia fines Google £73m over failure to delete ‘illegal’ content
Moscow ruling is first revenue-based fine of its kind in Russia and comes amid fears of internet crackdown
A Moscow court has said it is fining Alphabet’s Google 7.2bn roubles (£73m) for what it says is a repeated failure to delete content Russia deems illegal, the first revenue-based fine of its kind in Russia.
Moscow has increased pressure on big tech this year in a campaign that critics characterise as an attempt by Russian authorities to exert tighter control over the internet, something they say threatens individual and corporate freedom.
Continue reading...‘We’ve heard it all before’: Ukrainians brush aside talk of Russian invasion
In Kyiv and beyond, people carry on with the festive season despite rhetoric about imminent conflict
Russia is threatening war on Ukraine, but in Kyiv the city council is putting up Christmas trees rather than bomb shelter notices, and organising concerts rather than army recruitment drives.
Amid a Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s eastern border and in annexed Crimea, hostile rhetoric between Russia and the US and its allies is edging towards a cold war high, with Ukraine the battlefield for any actual fighting. Ukrainians, however, just emerging from Covid quarantine, are enjoying ice rinks and markets put up for the holiday season and would rather think about how to celebrate the coming new year.
Continue reading...Why Putin is acting like a man who has run out of time
Analysis: As Ukraine drifts from the control he desires, disdain for potential negotiating partners leaves the option of force
Vladimir Putin has deployed his troops to the border with Ukraine, delivered impossible demands on Europe and appears ready to launch a new offensive to establish his domination over Kyiv.
Putin is said to feel a “historical mission” to reverse Ukraine’s drift towards the west, despite his own role in creating a rift by annexing Crimea and fuelling a war in Ukraine’s south-east. But his current fast pace raises questions of why he appears to feel the moment to act is now, as if he is running out of time.
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