Ukrainian troops prepare to break through the Russian positions in the southeast, U.S. media reports said. Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General releases the number of civilian deaths and Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine. Ukrainian fencer Olha Kharlan disqualified from the world championships after refusing to shake hands with the Russian opponent.
Do Ukrainian troops prepare to break through Russian positions in southeast?
A US official who asked not to be identified discussing details of military operations said Ukrainian troops were making a significant push in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, the Bloomberg said.
Ukrainian officials have admitted in recent weeks that the counteroffensive has been more difficult than expected as their forces make slow progress fighting through Russian minefields, tank barriers and other defenses without being able to provide air support.
The main thrust of Ukraine’s nearly two-month-old counteroffensive is now underway in the country’s southeast, two Pentagon officials told The New York Times on Wednesday.
Ukrainian officials have told U.S. officials that the enlarged Ukrainian force would try to advance south through Russia’s minefields and other fortifications toward the city of Tokmak, and, if successful, on to Melitopol, near the coast.
Their goal is to sever the so-called land bridge between Russian-occupied Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula, or at least advance far enough to put the strategically important peninsula within range of Ukrainian artillery. The new operation, if successful, could take one to three weeks, Ukrainian officials have told officials in Washington.
Speaking at a briefing this week, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Ukrainian troops are slowly advancing. “They’ve [the Ukrainians] already acknowledged that they’re not going as far or as fast as they would like. That said, they are moving. It’s not a stalemate. They’re not just frozen. The Ukrainians are moving,” Kirby said.
“What we’re going to do is make sure (…) that they have the kinds of tools and capabilities they need to stay on the move,” he added.
Ukraine’s defense forces continue to advance in the Melitopol and Berdyansk directions, and are reinforcing the positions they have taken, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in an evening report Thursday.
Ukraine’s Office of Prosecutor General releases number of civilian deaths, Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine
After 17 months of war, Ukraine’s civilian casualties in the war with Russia are nearing the number of military casualties that the USSR sustained in its ten years-long war in Afghanistan.
According to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, as of July 2023, more than 10,000 civilians have been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine. The prosecutor’s office recorded a total of 10,695 civilian deaths. Those known to have died included 494 children. At least 15,469 civilians have been injured, including 1,068 children.
The Office of the Prosecutor General has recorded more than 97,000 Russian war crimes since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has committed 3,115 crimes against children. The Office of the Prosecutor General has also documented 215 cases of sexual violence committed by Russian soldiers.
Prosecutors recorded the highest number of war crimes in Donetsk (25,405), Kharkiv (18,303), Kherson (17,084) and Kyiv (10,894) regions.
At least 383 suspects of war crimes have been identified, 220 have been indicted, and 54 have been convicted by Ukrainian courts.
The U.S. will share evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the International Criminal Court, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, Andriy Kostin, said on Twitter. He called the decision a “historic stride”.
“The United States has made another historic stride towards building comprehensive accountability for Russia’s international crimes by the decision to share the evidence of [Russian war crimes] with the [International Criminal Court],” he said.
Kostin thanked the U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the U.S. Department of Justice for “standing with Ukraine at the frontline of justice”.
“Every meeting, letter, and hearing at Congress brings us closer to our ultimate goal — halting Russia and holding Kremlin’s criminal regime accountable for all its atrocities,” he said.
Kostin said he hopes that the “transatlantic cooperation between Ukraine, the Department of Justice, and the Office of the Prosecutor of the [International Criminal Court] will continue, setting the pathway for landmark decisions.”
Ukrainian fencer Olha Kharlan disqualified from world championships after refusing to shake hands with Russian opponent
Ukrainian fencer, Olha Kharlan, has been disqualified from participating in the world championships after she refused to shake hands with Russian athlete Anna Smirnova.
Kharlan won the bout 15-7 over Smirnova. After the bout, Kharlan walked toward Smirnova and put out her sabre sword, rather than her hand, to acknowledge the opponent. According to the International Fencing Federation’s rules, Kharlan was later disqualified. Smirnova was not advanced, though.
Kharlan’s next opponent, Bulgarian fencer Yoana Ilieva, automatically passed to the next round after the Ukrainian athlete was disqualified.
The Ukrainian Fencing Federation will protest the decision to disqualify Kharlan, the president of the Federation, Mykhailo Illyashev said on television. He was at the championship in Milan.
It’s out of the question for her to be returned to this competition. The Federation will try to protest the decision so that the disqualification is lifted before upcoming competitions, he added.
It was important that this disqualification is lifted before the team competition in Milan a few days from now, Illyashev said. “It is important that our team competes. There will be no so-called ‘neutral’ athletes in the team competition,” he added.
Kharlan was not immediately given a “black card”, she was disqualified later when her next competitor was picked.
Illyashev hopes that the appeal will be considered in the coming days. Advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak posted to Twitter a photo of Russian fencer Anna Smirnova standing next to a Russian soldier and posing in a Russian winter military cap.
“As you can see, she openly admires the Russian army, which is killing Ukrainians and destroying our cities,” Podolyak said.
Ukrainian cultural institutions in cooperation with international organizations: UkraineinFlames#486
In this episode, we have expert guests Borys Filonenko and Yulia Vahanova, who discuss changes and transformations at the Venice Biennale, including the absence of national pavilions from some countries and the ongoing discussion about Ukraine’s national pavilion. It also highlights the Ukrainian pavilion’s initiative in the Louvre as an independent and strategic project, aiming for an equal partnership, scientific research, and setting a precedent for future museum collaborations. Watch Ukraine in Flames #486 to find out more.
Guests:
- Borys Filonenko, curator, art critic, editor-in-chief of ist publishing
- Yulia Vahanova, cultural manager, director of the Khanenko Museum
