A woman stands amid the destruction of her home by Russian drones in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine (Getty)
Monday’s Coverage: Zelensky Hails Military Commitments from Europe
UPDATE 0649 GMT:
At least one civilian was murdered and six wounded in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine by Russian attacks on Monday.
Russian forces used drones, artillery, and warplanes in assaults on 25 settlements. Damage was reported to a multi-story building, six private houses, outbuildings, a private garage, and vehicles.
UPDATE 0639 GMT:
Finland Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen says the defeat of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is critical to restraining China in the Indo-Pacific.
Häkkänen told Guardian Australia:
China is watching. Does the West have a muscle and resilience, when the autocrats and dictators think they can wage war for another year, and the democratic countries will become fed up?
No. We have to show that we are even more putting stronger support against violence. It’s not only on Ukraine. It’s against violence, against war, and that’s a signal also for China and the Indo-Pacific area.
The Defense Minister said the defeat of the Russian invasion in Ukraine requires tougher sanctions on Moscow’s economy and energy exports; more military assistance to Kyiv; and the use of long-range weapons to destroy Russian factories for drones and missiles.
UPDATE 0554 GMT:
Russia’s Lukoil is selling its foreign assets after the imposition of US sanctions last week.
The American measures, announced after the Kremlin maintained its demands for more Ukrainian territory and its deadly attacks on civilians, targeted Russia’s State firm Gazprom, the privately-owned Lukoil, and 34 of their foreign subsidiaries.
“PJSC Lukoil informs that owing to introduction of restrictive measures against the company and its subsidiaries by some states, the company announces its intention to sell its international assets,” the company said in a statement on its website.
Lukoil said it is currently reviewing bids from potential buyers. Among its six subsidiaries is Lukoil-Western Siberia, which accounts for around 40% of Russia’s hydrocarbon production.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: A UN investigation has concluded that Russia, in a “crime against humanity”, is using drones to chase and drop bombs on civilians who live near the frontline in Ukraine.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine documents how civilians, seeking shelter, are pursued for long distances by drones with cameras and then attacked.
The 17-page report is based on interviews with 226 people, including victims, witnesses, aid workers and local authorities, and around 500 verified videos. The attacks have occurred in the Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv regions in southern Ukraine over more than a year.
Between July and October 2024, at least 24 civilians were murdered and more than 400 injured in the Kherson region alone.
The investigators emphasized that the attacks are systematic, targeting individuals, first responders including ambulances and fire brigades, houses and buildings, humanitarian distribution points, and critical energy infrastructure.
Many of the attacks struck the same vehicles and infrastructure repeatedly, deliberately setting them on fire, spreading terror among the civilian population and violating their fundamental human rights….
These attacks were committed as part of a coordinated policy to drive out civilians from those territories and amount to the crime against humanity of forcible transfer of population.
