Russia Ukraine War Live Updates: Moscow detains politician for criticising Ukrainian invasion; war crosses six-month mark

Russia Ukraine War News Live Updates: The detained politician was one of a handful of Kremlin critics who won mayoral posts following a series of big opposition demonstrations as President Vladimir Putin campaigned for office in 2012.

By: Express Web Desk
New Delhi | August 24, 2022 9:43:23 am
A woman stands behind a broken window of the hotel Central, which was damaged by recent shelling in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in Donetsk. (Reuters)

Russia Ukraine War News Live Updates: Russian authorities have detained politician Yevgeny Roizman known for his criticism of the Kremlin and, more recently, of the military campaign in Ukraine, Russia’s TASS news agency reported. Roizman, a former mayor of the city of Yekaterinburg, is being investigated for “discrediting the Russian army”, TASS reported, citing Yekaterinburg security services.

Meanwhile, Ukrainians marked 31 years since they broke free from the Russia-dominated Soviet Union on Wednesday in what is certain to be a day of defiance against the Kremlin’s six-month-old war to subdue the country once again. Ukraine’s Independence Day falls on the six-month anniversary of Russia’s February 24 invasion and will be marked by subdued celebrations under the threat of attacks from land, air and sea.

Public gatherings are banned in the capital Kyiv and a curfew is in force in the frontline eastern city of Kharkiv, which has weathered months of shelling. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned late on Tuesday of the possibility of “repugnant Russian provocations” and authorities urged people to take air raid warnings seriously.

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Russia Ukraine War News Live Updates: War crosses six-month mark as Ukraine observes Independence Day; US to announce a new package of about $3 billion; Follow this space for Latest Updates

Members of the Honour Guard attend a rising ceremony of the Ukraine's biggest national flag to mark the Day of the State Flag, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv. (Reuters)

The UN nuclear agency renewed its request to assess the safety and security at Europe’s largest nuclear plant in southeastern Ukraine which Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of shelling, sparking warnings of a possible nuclear catastrophe. UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo announced at the start of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant that Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, requested to send an IAEA mission “to carry out essential safety, security and safeguard activities at the site.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told representatives of about 60 states and international organisations attending a virtual summit on Crimea that Kyiv would drive Russian forces out of the peninsular by any means necessary, without consulting other countries beforehand.

The war has killed thousands of civilians, forced over a third of Ukraine's 41 million people from their homes, left cities in ruins and shaken global markets. It is largely at a standstill with no immediate prospect of peace talks. In addition to Crimea which it annexed in 2014, Russia has expanded its control to areas of the south including the Black Sea and Sea of Azov coasts, and chunks of the eastern Donbas region comprising the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk.

Ukraine's armed forces have said almost 9,000 military personnel have been killed in the war so far. Russia has not publicised its losses but US intelligence estimates 15,000 killed in what Moscow calls a "special military operation" to "denazify" Ukraine. Kyiv says the invasion is an unprovoked act of imperial aggression.

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First published on: 24-08-2022 at 09:43:23 am
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