The head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin announced yesterday that dozens of Ukrainian military personnel are accused of crimes against humanity, and called for the establishment of an “independent” international tribunal with the participation of Iran and Syria. Bastrykin said that the Russian investigators have “identified” more than 220 people involved in the attacks on Donetsk and Luhansk, including “representatives of the high command of the Ukrainian army”. According to him, 92 Ukrainian commanders and soldiers are accused of “crimes against the peace and security of humanity”, and 96 other Ukrainians – including 51 commanders – are wanted.
NATO: The war in Ukraine could last for years
Russian Foreign Minister: “The goals in Ukraine have changed, they include control of new territories”
The Russian official added that in his opinion the establishment of an international tribunal with the support of the United Nations is “a questionable thing”, due to the West’s support for Ukraine. Instead, he proposed another international tribunal, in which countries with an “independent position regarding the Ukrainian issue”, such as Iran, would be members , Syria and Bolivia.
Meanwhile, Western aid to Ukraine is gaining momentum. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said yesterday that three first self-propelled anti-aircraft guns of the Gephardt model had arrived from Germany, and that a total of 15 guns should arrive along with ammunition. Reznikov also stated that the Himars artillery systems that arrived from the United States managed to destroy 50 Russian ammunition depots. “It hurts their logistics chains and takes away their ability to conduct active combat and shell our forces,” he said.
At the same time, the head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak informed that PT-91 teprid tanks from Poland are also in Ukraine, and thanked the Poles for being “friends in times of need”. A few weeks ago, the Poles also transferred T-72 tanks, and the Ministry of Defense in Warsaw stated that they would receive more than 200 advanced Abrams tanks from the USA so that the competence of the armored forces would not be compromised.
In view of the new systems arriving in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his confidence that the military forces will be able to come out with the upper hand. “Even the occupiers admit that we will win,” he declared. “We are doing everything to cause the heaviest damage to the enemy. We will celebrate against all odds, because the Ukrainians are not giving up.”
Meanwhile, The gas crisis in Europe is on the rise: The Russian company Gazprom announced yesterday that starting tomorrow it will reduce the supply of gas in the Nordstream 1 pipeline to a level of only 20%, claiming that it is a fault in the turbine. However, in Germany they rejected the Russian claims.
On Thursday, Gazprom resumed the supply of natural gas to Germany through the Nordstream 1 pipeline, after a ten-day break for “maintenance work”, but the supply remained at a level of 40% of full capacity, as it was before the pipeline was closed, when it attributed this to a delay in the installation of a turbine that makes its way after Corrections in Canada.
As mentioned, tomorrow Gazprom will announce the reduction of supply to the level of 20%, 33 million cubic meters, this time with the argument that it needs to repair another turbine. Immediately after, an 11% jump was recorded in the prices of natural gas in Europe, this in view of the fear of a serious crisis in supply for the coming winter.
In Germany they did not accept Gazprom’s explanation. “We are following the situation closely,” said the federal agency in charge of energy regulation. “According to the information we have, there is no technical problem to reduce shipments.”