Rights chief also warns Britain will be ‘judged harshly by history for its failure to help prevent civilian slaughter in Gaza’
The UK has been accused by Amnesty International of “deliberately destabilising” human rights on the global stage for its own political ends.
In its annual global report, released today, the organisation said Britain was weakening human rights protections nationally and globally, amid a near-breakdown of international law.
Continue reading...£2.2bn-worth of oil processed in China, India and Turkey – to whom Russia supplies crude – was imported in 2023, data shows
The UK has been accused of “helping Russia pay for its war on Ukraine” by continuing to import record amounts of refined oil from countries processing Kremlin fossil fuels.
Government data analysed by the environmental news site Desmog shows that imports of refined oil from India, China and Turkey amounted to £2.2bn in 2023, the same record value as the previous year, up from £434.2m in 2021.
Continue reading...Arrest of deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov comes weeks after Vladimir Putin urged FSB to step up efforts to root out corruption
A well-connected Russian deputy defence minister has been charged with bribe-taking, in the highest-profile corruption scandal in the country in years, triggering speculation about a possible purge within Moscow’s elites.
Timur Ivanov, 47, who was responsible for Russia’s military infrastructure projects, was detained by the FSB services late on Tuesday evening at his work.
Continue reading...Regional armed forces admit ‘difficult situation’ as Kyiv awaits western military aid
Russian forces have made significant advances in a narrow corridor in eastern Ukraine as an offensive by Moscow to take territory before western military aid arrives appears to be gathering pace.
Footage posted by Kremlin military bloggers shows a Russian tricolour flying above the shattered village of Ocheretyne. Russian troops reportedly entered the territory on Sunday, north-west of the town of Avdiivka, after advancing about 5km in 10 days.
Continue reading...Independent Russian media outlet claims strongman was diagnosed with pancreatic necrosis in 2019
Chechnya’s strongman leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, has published a workout video in an apparent move to scotch rumours of illness after a media report claimed that his health was rapidly deteriorating.
Novaya Gazeta Europe, an independent Russian outlet, published a report on Monday that said Kadyrov was diagnosed with pancreatic necrosis in 2019, a severe condition characterised by the death of pancreatic tissue.
Continue reading...PM pledges equipment including 400 vehicles, 1,600 weapons and 4m rounds of ammunition, plus £500m in funding
Rishi Sunak has promised the UK’s largest ever military support package for Ukraine as he warned that Vladimir Putin would “not stop at the Polish border” if Russia won the war.
The prime minister will visit Poland on Tuesday to discuss European security and the threat from Russia with the Polish leader, Donald Tusk, and the Nato secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, before travelling to Germany to meet the chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
Continue reading...Nikol Pashinyan urges calm after making concessions in attempt to avoid war with his country’s heavily armed neighbour
Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian prime minister facing four days of protests against his decision to hand four villages to Azerbaijan, has urged Armenians to recognise that the way the issue is handled will determine the viability of the future peace process with its neighbour.
In an interview with British journalists in his office, Pashinyan, the leader of Armenia’s velvet revolution in 2018, said the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan “need to convert the theoretical peace agenda into an actual peaceful reality”.
Continue reading...Member states warned at meeting not to be complacent but ministers stop short of pledging Patriot missiles
EU ministers have been warned against “relaxing” support for Ukraine but stopped short of new pledges to supply air defence systems that Kyiv is urgently seeking to defend itself against relentless Russian bombardment.
The Ukrainian government has said it is running out of US-made Patriot air defence missiles as Russia intensifies attacks on infrastructure and cities.
Continue reading...Kremlin says ‘more Ukrainians will die’ following US agreement of new aid package; Andrzej Duda says country could host nuclear arms
A new US package of military aid to Ukraine will not change the situation on the frontlines, where Russia has the upper hand, the Kremlin said.
“The Russian armed forces are improving their positions at the front … The money allocated and the weapons that will be supplied will not change this dynamic,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Continue reading...For the first time, government military spending increased in all five geographical regions, Sipri thinktank finds
Global military expenditure has reached a record high of $2440bn (£1970bn) after the largest annual rise in government spending on arms in over a decade, according to a report.
The 6.8% increase between 2022 and 2023 was the steepest since 2009, pushing spending to the highest recorded by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) in its 60-year history.
Continue reading...Ukrainian president urges Senate to ratify aid package so that country can strengthen frontline with Russia
Ukraine’s president has said the vote by the US House of Representatives to pass a long-delayed $61bn (£49bn) military aid package demonstrated that his country would not be abandoned by the west in its effort to fight the Russian invasion.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview with US television that Saturday’s vote showed Ukraine would not be “a second Afghanistan”, whose pro-western government collapsed during an US-led pullout in the summer of 2021.
Continue reading...Ukrainian president thanks America after Speaker Mike Johnson secures bipartisan support for funding Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan
After months of stalling, the US House of Representatives finally approved more than $61bn worth of military assistance to help Ukraine in its desperate defense against Russia, as well as billions for other allies including Israel and Taiwan.
In a bipartisan vote, 210 Democrats and 101 Republicans joined to support Ukraine, with 112 Republicans – a majority of the GOP members – voting against. It came after the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, forced a series of bills onto the floor in the face of fierce resistance within his own Republican party, many of whom oppose spending more on Ukraine’s defense.
Continue reading...Biden administration to rethink counter-terrorism strategy after breakdown of pact allowing US forces on soil to fight jihadists
The US will withdraw more than 1,000 military personnel from Niger in a move that will force the Biden administration to rethink its counter-terrorism strategy and amounts to a strategic victory for Russia.
The decision comes a month after the west African country’s ruling military junta revoked a security pact with Washington that had allowed American forces on its soil to help fight jihadist terrorism.
Continue reading...Two Polish citizens detained earlier on suspicion of attacking Russian opposition figure Leonid Volkov in Lithuania
A Belarusian national has been detained in Poland on suspicion of ordering the attack on a top Russian opposition leader, Leonid Volkov, on Moscow’s behalf, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, has announced.
Volkov, a close aide of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was briefly admitted to hospital last month after he was ambushed and attacked outside his house in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The assailant smashed open Volkov’s car window and repeatedly struck him with a hammer, breaking Volkov’s left arm and damaging his left leg before fleeing the scene.
Continue reading...Poland’s national prosecutor says man was preparing to share security details of airport used by Ukrainian president
A Polish man has been arrested on allegations that he aided a plot by Russian intelligence services to assassinate the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors.
The office of Poland’s national prosecutor said in a statement that the man, identified only as Pawel K, was accused of being prepared to pass airport security information to Russian agents and that he was arrested in Poland on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Men accused of working with secret service to target sites, including US military bases, to undermine Ukraine support
Two German-Russian nationals have been arrested in southern Germany on suspicion of plotting sabotage attacks, including on US military facilities, in what officials called a serious effort to undermine military support for Ukraine.
The men, named as Dieter S and Alexander J, are suspected of operating as Russian spies on behalf of the Kremlin, according to German media sources. Prosecutors said only that the men were accused of working for a foreign secret service.
Continue reading...Led by prime minister Andrej Plenković, the Croatian Democratic Union won 60 seats out of 151 but face tough talks to gather a majority
Croatia’s ruling conservative party won the most seats in parliamentary elections, but not enough to form a government, according to almost complete official results.
The prime minister, Andrej Plenković’s Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) has won 60 seats in the 151-member assembly, results from more than 90% of the polling stations have showed. In the previous 2020 election, the party won 66 seats.
Continue reading...Foreign minister warns of environmental catastrophe in Baltic Sea as he accuses Moscow of using unseaworthy vessels
Russia appears prepared to create “environmental havoc” by sailing unseaworthy oil tankers through the Baltic Sea in breach of all maritime rules, the Swedish foreign minister has said.
Speaking to the Guardian during his first visit to London since Sweden became a Nato member, Tobias Billström called for new rules and enforcement mechanisms to prevent the ageing and uninsured Russian shadow fleet causing an environmental catastrophe. About half of all Russian oil transported by sea passes through the Baltic Sea and Danish waters, often operating under opaque ownership, and using international waters to try to avoid scrutiny.
Continue reading...Olaf Scholz says Chinese president agreed to back June peace talks that Russia is not attending while Xi says efforts for a resolution must involve both sides
Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, says he has urged Xi Jinping to press Russia to end its “senseless” war in Ukraine and that the Chinese president has agreed to back a peace conference in Switzerland.
Scholz said after a meeting with Xi in Beijing on Tuesday that “China’s word carries weight in Russia”.
Continue reading...Legislation is seen as similar to an anti-democratic Russian law and Brussels has said it would undermine hopes of EU membership
Georgian lawmakers have agreed an early draft of a controversial “foreign influence” bill, sparking fresh street protests against the legislation criticised for mirroring a repressive Russian law.
The bill has sparked outrage in Georgia and concern in the west, with many arguing it undermines Georgia’s bid for EU membership.
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