EA-Ukraine VideoCast: Putin Under Pressure to Halt Invasion?

Friday’s Coverage: Poland’s Tusk in Kyiv, Warning of Russia’s Hybrid Warfare

UPDATE 0504 GMT:

Two civilians were murdered and at least eight injured by a Russian guided aerial bomb that struck a high-rise residential building in Sumy in northeast Ukraine.

A 13-year-old girl was among those injured in Friday night’s attack. Three of the wounded are in serious condition.

Four people, including a child, have been rescued from under the rubble. More people could be trapped.

UPDATE 0454 GMT:

Donald Trump has # legislation authorizing 100% tariffs on the top five countries buying Russian oil and the top five helping Moscow evade international sanctions.

The measure was adopted by the House this week after it was passed by the Senate last month. The White House had stalled on the legislation since last year, but its adoption was spurred by the death of a leading proponent, Sen. Lindsey Graham, this summer.

The law requires Trump, no later than 30 days after enactment, to impose the duties. Affected countries include China, Turkey, and India.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky responded:

the best reward for everyone helping us put pressure on Russia to end its war will be peace. Peace – and an end to all the problems and challenges this war has brought.

Peace comes through strength. Calm comes through security. And the best guarantee of security is resolve.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: The UN has documented extensive sexual violence by Russia’s forces during their 55-month full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said:

I am deeply alarmed by the prevalence of these abhorrent acts documented in our report, and fear that they are almost certainly continuing amid the unceasing violence we are witnessing every day in Ukraine.

Out of the 1,004 verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence between February 2022 and July 2026 against civilians and prisoners of war, 89% were attributed to Russian forces.

The Russians subjected Ukrainian POWs and civilians in captivity to sexual violence in a pattern of torture, intimidation, and coercion. Offenses included rape, gang rape, genital mutilation, electric shocks, beating to the genitals, and degrading acts. Threats of sexual violence comprised almost half of the violations.

Turk explained:

Sexual violence is a grave feature of the full-scale armed attack against Ukraine. It must stop immediately, irrespective of the perpetrators.

Given the high prevalence of cases attributed to its forces, however, the Russian Federation in particular must take concrete and discernible steps to protect civilians and prisoners of war from all forms of torture, including sexual violence.

The 20-page report is based on interviews with hundreds of survivors of sexual violence, court documents, official records, and the findings of the UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. The analysts acknowledge that the findings are not comprehensive, given that sexual violence may be underreported. Russia has not granted the access to Ukrainian territory that it occupies.

In a common form of torture, Russian forces electrocuted men’s genitals using tasers or a Soviet-era military field telephone known as a “tapik”. The torture was reported by 155 Ukrainian POWs.

Ukrainian women describe being raped by Russian soldiers under the threat of being killed, or having their family tortured or killed.

The report’s summary noted that while the Ukrainian government has taken “concrete steps to prevent and address such violations”, Russia has failed to do the same.