9/25/22

By Aditi Jha

On Wednesday, Putin announced a "partial mobilization" on Russian national television while signing a decree that would send Russians who went through military training to serve in Ukraine. "Only those citizens will be drafted to military service who are currently in the reserve and first of all those who have served in the army, who have certain professions and have necessary experience." He said that he needed a larger force given that the "collective West" were supplying Ukraine with heavy weaponry and "weakening, isolating, and destroying Russia." President Biden commented Wednesday morning at the United Nations General Assembly that "A permanent member of the United Nations Security Council invaded its neighbors, temped to erase the sovereign state from the map. Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations charter. Putin claims he had to act because Russia was threatened. No one threatened Russia. And no one other than Russia sought conflict." He went on to say that the conflict was "a war chosen by one man" and that Russia is "trying to extinguish Ukraine's right to exist." The U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink tweeted that the US "will never recognize Russia's claim to purportedly annexed Ukrainian territory, and we will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes." Protests erupted across Russia, and by just Wednesday night, the police had made over 1,300 arrests throughout the country and at least 500 in Moscow. Since Russia is a member of the UN Security Council, it has been able to veto the UN condemnations of the Ukraine war. And even though Putin said that ordinary citizens wouldn't be drafted, some residents in the Sakha Republic were conscripted "by mistake." The republic's leader, Aisen Nikolaev, said that "All who were mobilized by mistake must be returned back. This work has already begun." The Russian men who are old enough to be conscripted are fleeing the country rather than risking it, and for this reason, there are sold-out flights and long lines of border crossings to neighboring countries. Over 8,500 Russians fled to Finland on Saturday, a 62% increase from a week earlier. Russia has also been adding punishments for soldiers. Russians who desert or don't report for military duty could be imprisoned for up to 10 years. A statement by the Kremlin reads, "The federal law also introduces criminal liability for military personnel for voluntary surrender, as well as criminal liability for looting during martial law, in wartime or in conditions of armed conflict or combat operations."

Protests are being held in Iran and Iranian women are burning their hijabs after Iranian woman Mahsa Amini died on Friday after being arrested Tuesday because she wasn't covering her hair with a hijab, mandatory for Iranian women. Her lungs were filled with blood when she was transferred to the hospital, and she had suffered multiple blows to the head, crushing her brain tissue. Iranian police claim she died of a heart attack, while her parents say the 22-year-old had no history of heart problems at all. Eyewitnesses say that the police beat her to death. The acting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif stated that the UN supports an investigation, saying in a statement that "Mahsa Amini's tragic death and allegations of torture and ill-treatment must be promptly, impartially and effectively investigated by an independent competent authority that ensures, in particular, that her family has access to justice and truth." At least seven people have been killed since the protests in Iran began, and escalation is uncertain.

That's the news for today! Stay safe.