The Ukrainian President received a lot of encouragement for his appearance.
(Photo: dpa)
Kyiv, New York Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked the United Nations to punish Russia for the aggressive war against his country. “A crime has been committed against Ukraine and we demand punishment,” he said in a video message to the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. Russia must be punished for the killing, torture, humiliation and disastrous turmoil it has thrown Ukraine into.
At the same time, Ukraine and Russia carried out one of the largest prisoner exchanges in the war that lasted almost seven months on Thursday night. 205 captured Ukrainians were released, according to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak. These included defenders of Mariupol, who had resisted the Russian conquerors entrenched in the Azovstal steelworks until mid-May.
In Russia, several thousand people protested the Kremlin’s announcement that 300,000 reservists would be called up. According to the civil rights portal OVD-Info, the police arrested more than 1,380 protesters in 38 cities by Wednesday evening, most of them in St. Petersburg and Moscow. For Ukraine, Thursday is the 211th day of the Russian war of aggression.
Zelensky wants to isolate Russia
As a punishment for Russia, Zelensky called for the neighboring country to be isolated in international organizations – at least as long as the aggression continues. “Take away the right to vote! Strip the delegations of their privileges! Cancel the right of veto if it is a member of the UN Security Council!” the Ukrainian President appealed.
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Blocking all relations with Russia, including trade, is both a punishment for Moscow and a step towards peace for Ukraine.
He also called for further visa restrictions for Russian citizens. They should not be able to travel to other countries for shopping and vacations, he demanded. Ukraine also wants to implement an international compensation mechanism and hopes for the support of the United Nations. “Russia should pay for this war with its wealth,” he said.
USA, New York: The President of Ukraine speaks at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
(Photo: dpa)
Zelensky made it clear that the war was not only a danger to his own country with an urgent warning in view of the situation at the contested Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia. Russia’s actions there “make you all a target,” Zelenskiy said. The “Russian radiation blackmail is something that should concern every single one of you” because no one will have a vaccine against radiation sickness.
>> Read here our report of Zelenski’s appearance before the UN General Assembly
Most of the representatives of the 193 UN member states gave standing applause to the speech of the Ukrainian President. Meanwhile, the representatives of Russia remained seated.
Prisoner Swap: “Our Heroes Are Free”
According to Yermak, Ukraine released 55 Russian soldiers who had been captured during the offensive in the Kharkov region in early September. The arrested pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, a confidant of President Vladimir Putin, was also allowed to leave the country.
In the prisoner exchange, Ukraine itself released 55 Russian soldiers.
(Photo: AP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the exchange was mediated by Turkey, according to the state news agency Anadolu. Erdogan called the agreement an “important step” towards ending the war in Ukraine.
Five of the Ukrainian commanders captured in Mariupol are in Turkey under Erdogan’s special protection, Yermak said. “Our heroes are free,” he wrote.
Separatists release ten foreigners
As part of the exchange, the Moscow-controlled separatists in eastern Ukraine released ten foreigners who were flown to Riyadh through mediation by Saudi Arabia. These were five Britons, two Americans and one each from Sweden, Croatian and Moroccan.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss spoke on Twitter of “very welcome news”. This ended months of uncertainty and suffering for those affected and their families. Among those released is a 28-year-old Briton who was sentenced to death in a show trial as a mercenary, Health Secretary Robert Jenrick said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that his two released compatriots had previously joined Ukrainian troops and been captured in combat. US citizens should not travel to Ukraine at this time, Blinken warned, but rather support the attacked country in other ways.
Protests against mobilization in Russia
The protest against the partial mobilization ordered by Putin brought thousands of people to the streets in Russia. According to OVD-Info, more than 550 demonstrators were arrested in St. Petersburg alone, and more than 500 in the capital Moscow.
In Moscow, people shouted “No to war!” and demanded a “Russia without Putin”. Photos and videos showed how police roughly packed the mostly young demonstrators and dragged them into buses. From there, those arrested were taken to police stations. There were similarly large protests in the days immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war and the consequences:
The call-up of the reservists is intended to compensate for the obvious lack of soldiers in the Russian armed forces in the Ukraine war. Moscow also wants to use sham referendums, which are completely worthless under international law, to join the occupied territories in Ukraine to Russia.
To avoid the risk of being called up, many young men from Russia immediately left on Wednesday. Airline ticket prices to Turkey, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Armenia have skyrocketed. “Apparently many Russians are leaving their homeland: anyone who hates Putin’s path and loves liberal democracy is very welcome in Germany,” wrote Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) on Twitter.
The police put down the protests in Moscow.
(Photo: IMAGO/ITAR-TASS)
The foreign ministers of the seven leading democratic economic powers (G7) called on all states to condemn the sham referendums and not to recognize the results. In addition, further targeted sanctions against Russia would be promoted, according to a statement coordinated with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Borrell criticized that given the partial mobilization, mock referendums and threats to use weapons of mass destruction, Russia had opted for the “path of confrontation”. In this way, Moscow is burdening its own people with additional war costs.
Nuclear experts negotiate protection zone for Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
According to director Rafael Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has started “real negotiations” with Russia and Ukraine over a protection zone for the embattled Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. Grossi said in New York that he had met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. “The wheels are in motion.”
Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov met IAEA Director Grossi at the UN General Assembly in New York City.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
There is no concrete result yet, said Grossi. But he has the impression that there is a conviction on all sides that the establishment of such a protection zone is indispensable. The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has been under Russian control since the beginning of March and has been repeatedly shelled.
That will be important on Thursday
The UN Security Council is meeting in New York, and both Lavrov and Kuleba are expected to attend. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock from the Greens should also speak at the meeting.
More: Don’t miss any development – Everything new in our news blog about the Ukraine war