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Nato chief says best way to honour Navalny is to ensure Russian defeat in Ukraine
Nato secretary-general Jens Stolenberg said he believes the best way to honour the memory of Alexei Navalny is to ensure a Russian defeat in the Ukraine war.
Speaking to Radio Free Europe in Brussels, Stolenberg said: “I strongly believe that the best way to honour the memory of Alexei Navalny is to ensure that president Putin doesn’t win on the battlefield, but that Ukraine prevails.”
Navalny died in a penal colony in the Arctic Circle last week. Western leaders have held Russian president Vladimir Putin directly responsible for his death, with US president Joe Biden calling it “yet more proof of Putin’s brutality”.
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The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak said the UK and its allies were considering all options to respond to the death of Alexei Navalny, reports PA.
During Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions session (PMQs) Sunak told the House of Commons:
The whole House will join me in sending our deepest condolences to the family of Alexei Navalny. He died for a cause to which he dedicated his whole life, freedom. And to return home knowing that [Vladimir] Putin had already tried to have him killed was one of the most courageous acts of our time.
Together with our allies we are considering all options to hold Russia and Putin to account and this morning we sanctioned those running the prison where Alexei Navalny’s body still lies.”
Leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer told MPs Putin had stolen “the future and democracy of the Russian people”. Speaking during PMQs, the Labour leader said:
Can I join with the prime minister, I was glad to hear what he just had to say, because I’m sure the whole House will join in sharing our disgust at the death of Alexei Navalny, who as the prime minister said died because of his efforts to expose the corruption of the Putin regime.
It is a reminder that Putin has stolen not just the wealth but also the future and democracy of the Russian people.”
Russian capture of Avdiivka prompts departure of elderly in nearby towns - Reuters report
Russia’s capture of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine has alarmed people in nearby towns and many are now leaving for safer areas after hunkering down for months from constant hostile fire, reports Reuters.
Most of those fleeing are elderly. Having watched districts turn into rubble, they now see the 1,000 km (600 mile) frontline in the nearly two-year-old war moving ever closer.
According to Reuters, in many cases barely mobile, they have help from an evacuation charity called East SOS, but it is still not easy.
In the town of Selydove, Maryna Batrak, bundled up against the cold, is helped down the stairs and loaded into a minibus waiting in the courtyard to take her to a train station in the town of Pokrovsk.
“They have reached Nevelske,” Batrak says of Russian forces, referring to a town to the east. “Another 20-30 km and that’s it. They will destroy us too. Have you seen how those cities were wiped off the face of the earth?”
Batrak’s apartment was destroyed. She lists the local toll of two years of war – schools, kindergartens, a college, a maternity hospital, all in ruins.
Valentyna Kitush, who exchanged a tearful embrace with neighbours as she boarded the van, said Avdiivka’s fall – after it endured Russian attacks since October – was the last straw.
“The shelling has intensified. And after our troops left Avdiivka, it will now get even worse,” she said. “They are bombarding and destroying everything. Shall I wait till they destroy us? I’ve made up my mind. I’m leaving.”
The capture of Avdiivka indicated a change of momentum in the stalemated war as the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine neared. It was Russia’s biggest battlefield victory since its forces captured Bakhmut in May 2023 and president Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday Russian troops would push further into Ukraine.
UK imposes sanctions on heads of Arctic penal colony where Navalny died
The UK on Wednesday imposed sanctions on six individuals in charge of the Arctic penal colony where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died last week, reports Reuters.
Those sanctioned, including the head and five deputy heads of the penal colony, will be banned from the UK and have their assets frozen, UK foreign secretary David Cameron said.
“It’s clear that the Russian authorities saw Navalny as a threat and they tried repeatedly to silence him,” Cameron said in a statement. “Those responsible for Navalny’s brutal treatment should be under no illusion – we will hold them accountable.”
The UK is the first country to impose measures in response to the politician’s death, which has been widely blamed on the Kremlin by western countries, the UK Foreign Office said, according to the Press Association (PA).
Vadim Konstantinovich Kalinin, who allegedly oversaw the brutal prison camp where Navalny was kept in solitary confinement for up to two weeks at a time, is among those sanctioned, according to a statement from the department on Wednesday.
Five others have also been targeted for “activity that violates the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the right to life”, the UK government said. They are:
Lt Col Sergey Nikolaevich Korzhov
Lt Col Vasily Alexandrovich Vydrin
Lt Col Vladimir Ivanovich Pilipchik
Lt Col Aleksandr Vladimirovich Golyakov
Col Aleksandr Valerievich Obraztsov
“No one should doubt the oppressive nature of the Russian system, said Cameron. “That’s why we’re today sanctioning the most senior prison officials responsible for his custody in the penal colony where he spent his final months.”
Finland says it has launched almost 800 investigations into potential sanctions busting activities on its border with Russia
Lisa O'Carroll
Finland has said it has launched almost 800 investigations into potential sanctions busting activities on its border with Russia in the two years since Russian president, Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
Director of enforcement of the local customs authority says it has detected almost 30,000 “discrepancies” in goods traffic with nearly 3,000 targeted. Some of its investigations have resulted in court cases with one ongoing trial involving allegations against a logistics company, now on the EU sanctions list, of transporting drones to Russia.
The scale of its customs investigations comes as Brussels agrees its latest round of sanctions against Russia including several companies outside Europe suspected of helping to circumvent the prohibitions on sales of products or components that could aid the Kremlin’s military machine. These including technology that can be put to dual use such as micro chips or even heavy farm machinery that could be used for digging trenches.
But the growing list of blacklisted exports has made it a challenge to police. Sami Rakshit, director of enforcement at the Finnish customs authority, said:
We have constantly sought new enforcement measures to prevent circumvention of sanctions.
In customs enforcement and in our crime prevention, we have uncovered several attempts of sanctions circumvention where, for example, forged customs documents have been used or where there have been attempts to obscure the ownership structures of businesses and the actual countries of destination for the goods transports. Diverse transport routes and modes of transport are also used when attempting to circumvent sanctions.”
Since February 2022, the Finnish say they have looked at 29,000 suspicious export transactions, with operations targeting more than 2,800 freight movements. They have launched 780 investigations, nearly 100 of which are classed as “aggravated regulation offences”.
Exports from Finland to Russia have been decimated because of sanctions. Customs authorities said in December 2021 there were 955 companies selling across the border. That has now fallen to just 98.
The border with Russia has recently been closed because of irregular migration which the Finns believe was orchestrated by Russia from St Petersburg. It has meant train and shipping transport are now the focus of sanctions enforcement in Finland.
'We must keep degrading Putin’s war machine', says Ursula von der Leyen on latest EU sanctions against Russia
The EU on Wednesday announced new sanctions ahead of the second anniversary of Russia’s war on Ukraine, officials said.
The fresh round of measures – the 13th since Russian president Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion – overall targets nearly 200 officials and entities mainly from Russia involved in the conflict, reports AFP.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the agreement by the EU’s 27 countries and said it would further cut “Russia’s access to drones”.
“We must keep degrading Putin’s war machine,” von der Leyen wrote on X.
I welcome the agreement on our 13th sanctions package against Russia
⁰We must keep degrading Putin's war machine.
⁰With 2000 listings in total, we keep the pressure high on the Kremlin.
⁰We are also further cutting Russia’s access to drones. https://t.co/AfSxsEUB8x
Multiple diplomats said the new sanctions included adding three mainland Chinese firms to a list of companies that EU businesses were banned from dealing with. The firms – the first in mainland China to be targeted by the measures – were accused of involvement in supplying sensitive military technology to Russia.
Firms in Turkey and India were also included, as the EU increasingly targets third countries for helping Moscow circumvent its sanctions.
As part of the new package, diplomats said the EU also imposed an asset freeze and visa ban on North Korea’s defence minister Kang Sun Nam for the supply of ballistic missiles to Moscow.
The EU has imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia in the two years of its war and has so far put about 2,000 officials and entities on its blacklist, say AFP.
Polish police said on Wednesday they were investigating a banner at a farmers’ protest calling on the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to get Ukraine “in order”, which sparked anger in Kyiv, reports AFP.
Farmers in Poland have been protesting what they say is unfair competition from cheaper imports from their eastern neighbour, an issue that has already soured ties between Warsaw and Kyiv.
During fresh protests on Tuesday, farmers in Gorzyczki, southern Poland unfurled a banner saying “Putin, get Ukraine, Brussels and our government in order” along a Soviet flag fixed to a tractor.
The picture of the banner was widely circulated on social media, prompting angry reactions from Ukrainian users.
“The banner and the flag were seized by the police during the proceedings,” a spokesperson for the local police told AFP. “The person who was driving the vehicle was identified. Criminal investigations are ongoing,” she added.
Officers have launched an investigation into promoting a fascist or totalitarian regime and inciting hatred, she added – an offence that carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison.
In recent protests, Polish farmers have blocked roads to the border and dumped Ukrainian grain from trucks and freight cars.
Poland’s ties with Ukraine have become increasingly strained over the border blockades staged by farmers, only weeks after Warsaw managed to quell a similar two-month blockade by Polish truckers.
On Wednesday, Poland’s minister in charge of the secret services, Tomasz Siemoniak, denounced the “scandalous” banner as a “provocation”.
“These are shameful words that absolutely do not correspond with the position of the state or the feelings of our citizens,” Siemoniak told Poland’s Radio Zet.
Latest EU sanctions against Russia includes extensive section on the illegal abduction of Ukrainian children to Crimea, Belarus and Russia
Lisa O'Carroll
The latest round of EU sanctions against Russia includes an extensive section centring on the illegal abduction of Ukrainian children to Crimea, Belarus and Russia.
On the draft list that was approved by EU representatives were a series of men and women said to be directly involved.
Among those named were Inna Varlamova, described in the sanctions as “the wife of Sergei Mironov", who is a member of the Russian State Duma and the leader of the ‘Just Russia – For Truth’ party in the Duma.” She is said to have changed the name and birthplace of one of the children.
“Together with her husband, Varlamova adopted a child who was kidnapped from an orphanage in Kherson, a Ukrainian city which fell under Russian illegal occupation. Varlamova personally travelled to the Kherson region and illegally transported two children to the Russian Federation. For one of the children, the last name was changed to Mironova and her place of birth was changed to Podolsk, Russia, instead of Kherson, Ukraine.”
Another listing: “Marina Peschanskaya is the Ombudsman for Children’s Rights in Sevastopol in Russian- occupied Crimea. In her role, she has personally been involved with the illegal transportation of children from an orphanage in Melitopol to Sevastopol. Regarding the illegal transportation of Ukrainian children, she has justified the positions of Maria Lvova-Belova,”
Several Belarussians are listed including Olga Volkova who is described as “one of the key persons involved in the forcible deportation of Ukrainian children to Belarus and their subsequent illegal adoption by Russian and Belarusian families”.
Belarussia was accused of taking over 2,400 Ukrainian children, according to research by Yale University last year.
Also on the draft list was Dmitriy Demidov, described in the document as “one of the key persons involved in the forcible deportation of Ukrainian children to Belarus and their subsequent illegal adoption by Russian and Belarusian families”.
The sanctions list also describes in detail the attempt to reprogramme children with a number of patriotic military schools mentioned where students of 6-18 meet soldiers from the frontline, are encouraged to send them cards and letters of support and learn how to handle drones. Among the play activities are battle games.
Czech foreign ministry summons Russian ambassador over Navalny's death - news agency reports
The Czech foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador over the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, CTK news agency said on Wednesday, reports Reuters.
There has been no further information reported by Reuters so far.
Russia is biggest security threat to Nato-hopeful Sweden, security service says
Russia is the main international security threat to Sweden, and foreign enemies may try to exploit an elevated risk of extremist violence from Islamists and the far-right, the Swedish Security Service said on Wednesday, reports Reuters.
“We must all learn to live with the serious security situation,” Charlotte von Essen, head of the Security Service, told a news conference, unveiling an annual report into threats facing the country which abandoned centuries of neutrality and applied to join Nato since Russia invaded Ukraine.
“Above all Russia, but also China and Iran continue to constitute the biggest threat to Sweden and they are working and to a certain extent also working together to change the current security system,” she said.
Last August, the agency raised its terrorism threat level assessment to four from three on a scale of five, after several incidents in which individuals in Sweden and neighbouring countries burned Korans, outraging Muslims and triggering jihadist threats, say Reuters.
In a statement accompanying its report, the Security Service said threats from both the far right and Islamist groups could be stirred up or exploited by Sweden’s enemies abroad.
“Foreign powers can use violent extremists and other types of organisations and individuals as proxies to conduct security-threatening activities deniably,” it said.
The Security Service’s head of operations, Fredrik Hallstrom, told the news conference that as increasing numbers of Russian spies had been expelled from the west, Moscow was changing its tactics and “using more opportunistic methods”.
Sweden’s Nato bid has yet to be approved by member state Hungary whose parliament may vote on it next week. Nordic neighbour Finland, which has a long border with Russia, joined last year.
