kyiv recovers town near Bakhmut; Moscow asks ICJ to dismiss genocide case

Ukraine crosses the lines of the Russian battle front near Bakhmut. The Army of the invaded country reported that its troops recovered the village of Klishchivkaon the southern flank of the city of Bakhmut.

Ukrainian authorities shared a video of their country’s forces waving flags, including the blue and yellow national flag, with ruined buildings and the noise of fighting in the background.

kyiv points out that together with the recent capture of the nearby village of Andriivkaits forces have gained key ground to continue operations to expel the invading troops from the province of Donetsk, in the east of the country.

“These settlements, at first glance small, were important elements in the enemy defensive line that extended from Bakhmut to Horlivka (…) As a result of the successful actions of our troops, the enemy’s defensive line was breached,” said the commander of Ukrainian ground forces, General Oleksandr Syrskyi.

The authorities of the attacked country assured that they recovered the villas despite Moscow’s desperate attempts to stop it, which threw “all available reserves” into the battle.

“Today I would like to especially praise the soldiers who step by step are returning to Ukraine what belongs to it, specifically in the Bakhmut area,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky.

However, Syrskyi highlighted that Russian troops are still fighting in an attempt to recover the positions they lost in the vicinity of Bakhmut, the center of fierce clashes for months, whose location is key in the recovery of territories in the east of the invaded nation.

Ukraine dismisses six deputy defense ministers

While the invaded country gains ground on the battle front, in the internal and political field it faces its own challenges. This Monday, Kiev authorities reported that six deputy defense ministers were dismissed, including Hanna Maliar, who usually reports publicly on updates on his troop movements.

“Rebooting. We begin. We continue. The ministry continues working as always,” the newly appointed head of that portfolio, Rustem Umerov, said on social media.

Although the Government of Volodymyr Zelensky did not specify the reasons for this latest measure, his dismissals come after accusations of alleged corruption in that portfolio, which on September 4 led to the resignation of the then Minister of Defense, Oleksii Reznikov.

At that time, Zelensky justified that the Ministry needed “new approaches” and Reznikov was replaced by Umerov, a former Crimean Tatar legislator, who served as head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine.

This is the largest reorganization of the portfolio with the most prominence in the midst of the war. During the ongoing conflict, the Ministry of Defense has been embroiled in scandals related to the alleged procurement of food and clothing at inflated prices, as well as allegations by some military aid NGOs of bureaucracy problems. Reznikov denied any wrongdoing.

ICJ hearings begin after genocide lawsuit

Although the hearings that began this Monday focus on determining the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the case refers to the lawsuit filed by Ukraine against Russia shortly after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of his neighboring country, on the 24th. February 2022.

The accusation centers on Moscow’s claims that the invasion of its former ally in the defunct Soviet Union was carried out to “prevent genocide.”

kyiv maintains that the Kremlin is abusing international law by claiming that its conflict is justified to prevent an alleged massacre of Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.

However, this Monday, Moscow, once again, defended those allegations when its legal team asked the UN high court to annul the case and accused the attacked nation of “Russophobia” and called it a “neo-Nazi regime.”

But Kiev argues that Russia is using the 1948 Genocide Convention, to which both countries are parties, as a pretext to try to stop the case in court.

Moscow reiterated its request that the case be dismissed and noted that the high court, based in The Hague, has no jurisdiction.

The hearings, scheduled until September 27, will not delve into the merits of the genocide matter and, instead, will focus on legal arguments about its jurisdiction.

While Russia has so far ignored ICJ orders to halt its military actions and the court has no way to enforce those demands, experts say an eventual ruling in Ukraine’s favor could be important for any future reparations claims in Ukraine. the framework of the conflict.

Meanwhile, a United Nations report published Monday that the human rights situation in Russia has deteriorated significantly since it invaded Ukraine and described a “systematic repression” against civil society organizations.

“Russian authorities have severely restricted freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression, both online and offline, and have fundamentally undermined the independence of the judiciary and fair trial guarantees,” the report said.

With Reuters, AP and local media