The Netherlands and Germany are calling for more attention to the abduction of children by Russia
The Netherlands and Germany are calling for more attention to the abduction of children by Russia
The Netherlands and Germany are working together to draw more attention to children abducted from occupied territory by Russia. International news agencies reported that foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra (CDA) and his German colleague Annalena Baerbock were announced on Monday during a replacement in The Hague.
“These are tens of thousands of children,” said Hoekstra, who believes that more attention should be paid to these “despicable crimes” by Russia. According to Baerbock, the perpetrators of the kidnappings must be brought to justice. These are children who are abducted from occupied territory to the Russian region, where they end up in orphanages or are adopted by host families. Russia claims to be helping them with the deportation of the children, while in many cases their female relatives of caretakers are still alive.
Hoekstra and Baerbock later teamed up with the United Nations, the OSCE and the International Criminal Court to draw more international attention to the fate of the children. “Their parents, families and caregivers must no longer live in uncertainty and fear. These children are at home with their families in Ukraine. They did not leave their homes voluntarily, but were kidnapped,” said Baerbock.
The German foreign minister also visited the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Monday, where they spoke with chief prosecutor Karim Khan. Afterwards, Baerbock expressed her support for a special tribunal that could try Russian attacks and war crimes in Ukraine.
Turkish ombudsman: Russia and Ukraine are working on a major prisoner exchange
Russia and Ukraine are working on an agreement for the exchange of a total of 1,000 prisoners of war. That is what the Turkish ombudsman Seref Malkoç said on Monday. He lived last week a meeting between the Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and his Russian counterpart Tatyana Moskalkova, with both sides presenting a list of prisoners of war to be exchanged.
According to Malkoç Russian Ukraine for the release of eight hundred prisoners of war and Moskalkova handed over a list with underlying two hundred names. The Turkish ombudsman says his country is ready to arrange a “humanitarian corridor” in Istanbul, where the prisoners can be exchanged without danger.
The exchange of (wounded) prisoners was also discussed earlier on Monday during a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey. Since the start of the war, Russia and Ukraine have already exchanged several hundred prisoners of war.
At least 40 dead in rocket attack in underground Dnipro, number continues to rise
The death toll from the rocket attack that hit an apartment building in the Korean city of Dnipro on Saturday rose to 40 on Monday. That reported insane. The number is one of the highest since the start of the war and is expected to continue to rise.
According to Argentine regional governor Valentyn Reznitsjenko, “the fate of 35 other residents of the unknown building is,” prompting fears of a doubling of the death toll. At least 75 people were later injured by the attack, including fourteen children. Rescue operations, including the deployment of a dog brigade, are still ongoing to find survival under the smoking rubble. Since the start of the rescue operations, according to the governor, at least 39 people have been left under the devastation process.
The Kremlin, as it always does, denied responsibility for the massacre and blamed the American side. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, spoke of “a tragedy” that would be beyond US air defenses.
Kremlin responds to British delivery of heavy tanks to Ukraine
The Kremlin reacts with irritation to the news that the United Kingdom will deliver the heavy and modern Challenger 2 tanks to the US military. This is reported by Reuters news agency on Monday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the British tanks “burn like the rest”. According to Peskov, the new shipment of heavy defense equipment promised by the UK, Poland, the United States and France, among others, will make little difference to the course of the war.
The question has existed at the highest political level in NATO since the beginning of the war what equipment can be supplied to Ukraine, without provoking Russia too much. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky begs loudly for heavier weapons such as fighter jets and tanks. According to Zelensky, whose counterattack last summer stalled, heavy tanks would be the way to break through Russian lines again. Last Saturday, the UK gave in to Zelensky by announcing that the 14 heavy tanks will be delivered to Ukraine. Other allies, including the US and Germany, are moving forward as a result of the British commitment put under pressure to also make tanks available.
Germany heavy and advanced Leopard 2 tanks, and must give permission to other countries that also have Leopard 2s to supply, such as Finland and Poland. Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to do that alone when the Americans deliver their M1 Abrams tank. However, according to the US, it is too advanced and maintenance-intensive to just send it to the front. All countries are convinced that their advanced tank technology will fall into Russian hands if the tanks are deployed in Ukraine.