3 Kremlin generals dismissed in shakeup
The poor performance of Russia’s armed forces during its invasion of Ukraine appears to have led to a shakeup in command, the British Defense Ministry said Sunday.
Gen. Aleksandr Vladimirovich Dvornikov, who had been charged with overall command of the operation in Ukraine, was removed from his post last week, the ministry said. General-Colonel Aleksandr Zhuravlev, who had commanded Russia’s Western Military District since 2018, was absent from Russia’s Navy Day in St. Petersburg a week ago and likely has been replaced, the ministry said in its assessment of the war.
Another general was relieved of command of Southern Grouping Forces, the ministry said.
“These dismissals are compounded by at least 10 Russian Generals killed on the battlefield in Ukraine,” the assessment said.
List Russia state sponsor of terrorism, senators say
One prominent senator from each party is pushing the Biden administration to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism over its invasion of Ukraine, and they’re jointly taking their case to the airwaves.
Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, both with more than a decade in the Senate, told CNN on Sunday that if President Joe Biden doesn’t get behind the designation, they would work toward getting Congress to pass a bill issuing one. Typically such designations are made by the State Department.
Graham, who served in the Senate with Biden, was more pointed in trying to coax the president to put more pressure on Russia by adding it to the USA’s current list of state sponsors of terrorism, which includes Iran, North Korea, Syria and Cuba.
6 more grain shipments roll out of Ukraine ports
Six more ships carrying agricultural cargo held up by the war in Ukraine have received authorization to leave the country’s Black Sea ports, carrying more than 236,000 tons of grain.
The body overseeing an international deal intended to get 20 million tons of grain out of Ukraine to feed people in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia said the loaded vessels were cleared to depart Sunday. Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations agreed last month to create a sea corridor that would allow cargo ships to travel safely from Ukraine’s southern coast.
Amnesty International leader in Ukraine quits
The head of Ukraine’s Amnesty International chapter has resigned after the human rights organization released a report claiming Ukrainian forces put civilians in harm’s way by basing themselves in populated areas. In a Facebook post, Oksana Pokalchuk accused Amnesty International of failing to recognize the realities of war in Ukraine and ignoring the advice of staff members, who urged the group to revise its report.
The report, which drew the ire of top Ukrainian officials and Western scholars of international and military law, alleged that Ukrainian forces violated international humanitarian laws by setting up bases and operating weapons systems in schools, hospitals and other populated areas.
Pokalchuk called the report a “tool of Russian propaganda.” Russian forces have defended attacks in civilian areas by suggesting that Ukrainian fighters set up firing positions at the targeted locations.