Day 199 ~ Russian Lawmakers Try To Charge Putin With Treason
The liberation of Ukraine continues as Russians appear to flee the occupied areas
Day 199 (10 September)
Latvia is proving to be a lawyer neighbour as they are pushing for EU ascension talks. Egilis Levits, the Latvian president has stated he is doing what he can to speed up the Ascension talks. This is because the process is quite lengthy and Ukraine needs the security to rebuild the country and also to help protect it from any subsequent invasions.
He is also the first world leader to have stayed overnight in Kyiv and has vowed to help rebuild Ukraine as he arrived for an unannounced visit.
The German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock also made an unannounced visit to show the German support for Ukraine’s battle against Russia.
The UN human rights team that had planned to visit the Olenivka penal colony to document evidence of the bombing incident that killed 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war, have said Russia has denied them access to the sites again. What the team are looking for is evidence of war crimes and to find out what actually happened and how the prisoners of war died.
A Russian oligarch has offered $1 billion to Ukraine, and to deposit it the Alfa Bank in Ukraine that he co-founded if sanctions against him are lifted. Mikhail Fridman has had sanctions imposed against him since March and wishes to convince the UK to lift those sanctions
.
In St Petersburg, five lawmakers called for Putin be charged with high treason, but as expected were quickly detained and charged with discrediting the Russian army
Zelenskyy has said at least 30 settlements in the Kharkiv region have been liberated. The army has retaken Izyum and reports claimed that the Russians didn’t resist and fled.
Lyman has also been liberated, and again there are reports that the Russians fled. Perhaps the Russians value their own lives more than sacrificing them for Putin? Svyatohirsk is next to be liberated.
Kupiansk in the east has been liberated by the Ukrainian army. This was a major hub for the Russians that was used to transport equipment and other supplies, therefore, it is a key area to regain control of. Russia has been reported to be sending additional troops to the Kharkiv region to counter the counteroffensive employed by Ukraine. This comes during the weekend that the sham referendums were to take place.
Zelenskyy has awarded the Order of Merit to the CEO of Baykar, a Turkish company that makes drones. The company donated a drone to Ukraine and vowed never to sell weapons to Russia. Zelenskyy held talks with Haluk Bayraktar to discuss the possibility of building a Baykar plant in Ukraine which would help rebuild the economy too. Zelenskyy also thanked Erdogan for his support (he helped with the grain blockade deal, but only because Turkey has rights of passage in the Black Sea)
.
One should also remember that while Baykar supports Ukraine, that is not wholly representative of Turkey as Erdogan has a friendship and alliance with Putin. Putin has also asked Erdogan to assist him in purchasing weapons recently, and Erdogan has also publicly stated that the West are provoking Russia.
Sanctions must really be hurting the Russian oligarch when he offers to deposit $1 BILLION in a Ukrainian bank, which he co-founded, if sanctions against him are lifted. (The "which he co-founded" part makes me wonder how secure that cash would be even if sanctions against him were lifted.)