Separatist sees no reason to spare 3 lives
The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic sees no reason to pardon two British nationals and one Moroccan sentenced to death after their capture while fighting with the Ukrainian army.
On Thursday, the Donetsk Supreme Court sentenced Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin, as well as Moroccan Saadoun Brahim, to die by a firing squad for participating as mercenaries. Prosecutors said the men pleaded guilty to all charges.
“First, I should be guided by the court decision,” separatist leader Denis Pushilin said. “By the nature of those articles, those offenses that they committed, I see no reason, no prerequisites for me to come out with a decision to pardon them.”
Pinner’s family issued a statement saying they were “devastated and saddened at the outcome of the illegal show-trial.” They described Pinner as a Ukrainian soldier, not a mercenary, and said he should be treated like a prisoner of war, not a criminal.
Russian official who questioned invasion fired
A Russian official who questioned the invasion into Ukraine months ago has been fired from her job as deputy chief of the agency that deals with international humanitarian cooperation, Russian media reported Monday. Natalia Poklonskaya, a Russian politician born in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, said in a Telegram post she was transferring to an unidentified post and thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin “for his support and trust.”
In April, Poklonskaya questioned the popularity of the letter “Z” in Russia, representing the war effort. She said the war meant many deaths and sorrow for many families.
Western reporters ‘have gone nuts,’ Kremlin spokesman says
Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss the impact of sanctions on global energy and food prices at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that opens Thursday. More than 100 nations are expected to be represented, Russian organizers say. The U.S. will not be among them.
“We urge governments and companies to join our boycott and send a clear message that there is no ‘business as usual’ while Russian forces brutalize Ukraine,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Twitter.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS that foreign reporters are welcome.
“The president feels comfortable communicating with both foreign and Russian reporters,” Peskov said. But he added that “the sanity of many prominent Western reporters is currently raising questions, at least for us, and we wouldn’t call them true and unbiased journalists, because all of them have simply gone nuts.”
Russians push Ukrainian troops out of Sievierodonetsk center
Russian forces have intensified an artillery-supported assault on the embattled city of Sievierodonetsk and have pushed the Ukrainian troops out of central neighborhoods, the Ukrainian military said Monday. Sievierodonetsk is one of just two cities in the Luhansk region of the Donbas that Russia does not completely control.
Regional governor Serhiy Haidai said the Russians aim to encircle the city, destroying bridges that connect to the city center. He said evacuations are impossible because of shelling.
“The Russians are making every effort to cut off Sievierodonetsk,” Haidai said. “The next two or three days will be significant.”
Leonid Pasechnik, head of the selfproclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, said the Ukrainians making their stand in Sievierodonetsk should save themselves the trouble.
“If I were them, I would already make a decision” to surrender, he said. “We will achieve our goal in any case.”