MOSCOW: Moscow on Friday accused Ukrainian troops of killing 22 people in an occupied Russian village, including eight women who were allegedly raped before being executed.
Ukraine controls dozens of border settlements in the Kursk region of western Russia since launching a surprise offensive in August and says about 2,000 civilians still live in areas it occupies.
Russia has now retaken several towns.
Russia’s Investigative Committee had said on January 19 it was investigating the killing of “at least seven civilians” in the village of Russkoye Porechnoye, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
On Friday, it said it was now investigating the killing of “22 residents” between September and November.
Among the victims, whose bodies were found in the basements of several homes, were eight women who were allegedly raped before being killed, the Investigative Committee said.
AFP was not immediately able to verify the claims and there has been no official response from Ukraine.
Russian investigators blame five Ukrainian soldiers for the killings and said one of them, Yevgeny Fabrisenko, was arrested during the fighting in the Kursk region.
The committee released a video of the interrogation of a man identified as Fabrisenko, who confessed.
At a briefing on Friday, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “First people were tortured, abused, then killed either by being shot or blown up.”
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of killing civilians since the conflict began nearly three years ago.
Russian forces are accused of murdering hundreds of civilians in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv. AFP journalists are among the international media outlets that have seen and photographed the bodies of Ukrainian civilians killed, some with their hands tied.
Moscow has denied the allegations and accused Kyiv of staging the footage — a claim that has been rejected by several independent fact-checking organizations and media outlets, including AFP.
Russia says Kyiv’s forces killed 22 people in occupied village
https://arab.news/wegng
Russia says Kyiv’s forces killed 22 people in occupied village
- Ukraine controls dozens of border settlements in the Kursk region of western Russia since launching a surprise offensive in August
UN’s top court opens Myanmar Rohingya genocide case
- The Gambia filed a case against Myanmar at the UN’s top court in 2019
- Verdict expected to impact Israel’s genocide case over war on Gaza
DHAKA: The International Court of Justice on Monday opened a landmark case accusing Myanmar of genocide against its mostly Muslim Rohingya minority.
The Gambia filed a case against Myanmar at the UN’s top court in 2019, two years after a military offensive forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from their homes into neighboring Bangladesh.
The hearings will last three weeks and conclude on Jan. 29.
“The ICJ must secure justice for the persecuted Rohingya. This process should not take much longer, as we all know that justice delayed is justice denied,” said Asma Begum, who has been living in the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district since 2017.
A mostly Muslim ethnic minority, the Rohingya have lived for centuries in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state but were stripped of their citizenship in the 1980s and have faced systemic persecution ever since.
In 2017 alone, some 750,000 of them fled military atrocities and crossed to Bangladesh, in what the UN has called a textbook case of ethnic cleansing by Myanmar.
Today, about 1.3 million Rohingya shelter in 33 camps in Cox’s Bazar, turning the coastal district into the world’s largest refugee settlement.
“We experienced horrific acts such as arson, killings and rape in 2017, and fled to Bangladesh,” Begum told Arab News.
“I believe the ICJ verdict will pave the way for our repatriation to our homeland. The world should not forget us.”
A UN fact-finding mission has concluded that the Myanmar 2017 offensive included “genocidal acts” — an accusation rejected by Myanmar, which said it was a “clearance operation” against militants.
Now, there is hope for justice and a new future for those who have been displaced for years.
“We also have the right to live with dignity. I want to return to my homeland and live the rest of my life in my ancestral land. My children will reconnect with their roots and be able to build their own future,” said Syed Ahmed, who fled Myanmar in 2017 and has since been raising his four children in the Kutupalong camp.
“Despite the delay, I am optimistic that the perpetrators will be held accountable through the ICJ verdict. It will set a strong precedent for the world.”
The Myanmar trial is the first genocide case in more than a decade to be taken up by the ICJ. The outcome will also impact the genocide case that Israel is facing over its war on Gaza.
“The momentum of this case at the ICJ will send a strong message to all those (places) around the world where crimes against humanity have been committed,” Nur Khan, a Bangladeshi lawyer and human rights activist, told Arab News.
“The ICJ will play a significant role in ensuring justice regarding accusations of genocide in other parts of the world, such as the genocide and crimes against humanity committed by Israel against the people of Gaza.”
