Search Results for: vladimir putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree on Thursday allowing foreign nationals fighting for Russia in its war in Ukraine to obtain Russian citizenship for themselves and their families. The decree comes just days after the UN condemned Russia for a recent spate of attacks in Ukraine, as the war nears its third year.  The [...]

The Directorate of Communications for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan released a statement Tuesday confirming the country would not allow two British military minehunter ships en route to Ukraine to travel through the Turkish Straits in keeping with the 1936 Montreux Convention. In the statement, the Directorate wrote, “Our pertinent allies have been duly apprised [...]

Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said on Sunday in an interview with the Russian state-owned RIA news agency that the Russian courts have issued long-term prison sentences for more than 200 members of Ukrainian armed groups for alleged crimes. Addressing an inquiry into the alleged crimes of Ukraine, Lavrov informed the news agency that Russian [...]

Every December 10th, international lawyers, governments, and advocacy groups commemorate Human Rights Day. This marks the day in 1948 when, improbably, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in Paris by a nascent United Nations General Assembly under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt. This year, as the Declaration turned 75, I found myself in [...]

The Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee approved Sweden’s NATO membership on Tuesday. This is the first step in Türkiye’s process to full approval, which entails submission to the General Assembly of the Turkish Parliament, followed by ratification from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Upon successful ratification, Hungary will be the final NATO member to approve Sweden’s [...]

Former Russian military intelligence officer Igor Salikov arrived in the Netherlands this week to testify as a witness at the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding Russian war crimes. Salikov is a former intelligence officer who took part in operations conducted by the Russian Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the [...]

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Russia issued a statement Monday, expressing grave concerns over the disappearance of Russian dissident and opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, who has been missing within the Russian penal system for nearly two weeks. Navalny, a prominent critic of the Kremlin, has been imprisoned in Russia since 2021 [...]

Time is of the essence when it comes to creating a court or tribunal dedicated to adjudicating Russian aggression against Ukraine. And while much consideration has already been given to the creation of a UN General Assembly-backed tribunal, the preferred option in my opinion, I would suggest the time has come to expand our consideration [...]

A spokesperson for Russian dissident Alexei Navalny said on social media Monday that the activist has been missing within the prison system for six days. Spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said that Navalny’s team doesn’t “know where is or what’s happening to him.” A long-time critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government, Navalny has been behind bars [...]

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned on Saturday the Russian Federation’s plans to hold presidential elections on occupied Ukrainian territory early next year, following the decision taken by Russian lawmakers on Friday. Russian authorities, in addition to setting a date for the presidential election, also announced that they plan to arrange voting in Donetsk, Luhansk, [...]