Search Results for: Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed laws on Wednesday that provide exemptions from criminal liability for individuals in the Russian Federation who have contracted for military service or have been mobilized. The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, approved the bills in September. With the implementation of two new amendments, defendants who enter into military [...]

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Wednesday refused to sign a highly controversial “Family Values and the Protection of Minors” bill to significantly curtail the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals. The bill, which passed with overwhelming parliamentary support, seeks to ban same-sex marriage, prohibit adoption by same-sex couples, restrict gender-affirming care, and limit public expressions of LGBTQ+ [...]

The opening days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered a fierce and inspiring response by ordinary Ukrainians. They joined together in a mass uprising to defend their homeland. Under international humanitarian law (IHL), such an act of resistance is known as a “levée en masse” (levée). A levée is a unique category that temporarily [...]

The imperatives are plain. Whatever the trajectory of wars in the region, Israel has a law-based obligation to keep Iran non-nuclear. Immediately and incrementally, therefore, Jerusalem will need to ensure “escalation dominance” during periods of competitive risk-taking. This overriding responsibility concerns both Iran’s sub-state proxies (especially Shiite Hezbollah and Sunni Hamas) and Iran directly. What [...]

Officials in Ukraine reported that Russia launched two drone attacks on the Saint Panteleimon hospital in Sumy on Saturday. The interior minister of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, reported that the first of two drones demolished several floors of the hospital, and the second attack occurred during the evacuation of patients and staff. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of [...]

South Korean Foreign Minister Tae-yul Cho accused Russia of engaging in illegal arms trading with North Korea on Saturday during the 79th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, reiterating that North Korea continues to pose a threat to peace on the Korean peninsula with its ongoing development of nuclear weapons. The Minister [...]

The US Justice Department (DOJ) indicted three Iranian men on Friday, accusing them of orchestrating Iran’s alleged hack-and-leak operation targeting Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. The charges outline a sweeping effort to steal sensitive data from current and former government officials and to undermine trust in the presidential election. According to the indictment, the conspirators fixed [...]

Members of Russia’s State Duma, the country’s legislative authority consisting of 450 members, adopted a bill Wednesday to ban the adoption of children from the Russian Federation by citizens in countries where gender reassignment is permitted, emphasizing the need to uphold “traditional values.” The bill was approved by an absolute majority of the State Duma [...]

United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova, condemned the violence perpetrated by former Russian convicts against women and children upon their return from Ukraine during a press conference on Monday. The Special Rapporteur reported that “an estimated 170,000 convicted, violent criminals” who were recruited to fight [...]

World leaders adopted a “Pact for the Future” at the 2024 UN Summit for the Future on Sunday, affirming their renewed commitments to a number of key international goals. The president of the General Assembly, Philémon Yang of Cameroon, described the summit as “a call to action” that recommits states to “the principles of international [...]