Europe should open up to fleeing Russians, says European Council president
Charles Michelthe president of the European Council, urged Europe to show “openness to those who do not want to be instrumentalized by the Kremlin”, according to Politico.
The remarks came after Michel’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, and comes ahead of a key meeting of EU ambassadors on Monday as part of the EU’s Integrated Political Crisis Response (IPCR). EU, reports Politico.
In principle, I think that … the European Union [should] welcome those who are in danger because of their political opinions. If people in Russia are in danger because of their political opinions, because they do not follow this crazy decision of the Kremlin to start this war in Ukraine, we must take this into account.
He added: “I agree on the idea that we must very quickly cooperate and coordinate because it is a new fact, this partial mobilization.”
The law was approved by the houses of parliament earlier this week.
","elementId":"c3746376-59b2-4762-83e4-e85cabdeabd6"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1664027357000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"09.49 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1664027525000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"09.52 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1664027525000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"09.52 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"09.52","title":"Russian troops refusing to fight now face 10 years in prison","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Sat 24 Sep 2022 09.52 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Sat 24 Sep 2022 01.37 EDT"},{"id":"632ee3e18f0822acf24f5cff","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"On Saturday, Iran’s ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, “advised” Ukraine to “refrain from being influenced by third parties who seek to destroy relations between the two countries”, Reuters reports.
","elementId":"83b76734-2510-449b-b904-6cd4b17727e0"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"The statement comes after Ukraine downgraded diplomatic ties with Iran on Friday, and stripped its ambassador of his accreditation over what it called Tehran’s “unfriendly” decision to supply Russian forces with drones.
","elementId":"421d838f-ec7c-46df-a986-eab8497fedd9"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Military authorities in southern Ukraine said in a previous statement they had shot down the Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles over the sea near the port of Odesa.
","elementId":"def4fafa-3e45-479f-8bff-7700cb07c549"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Ukraine and the United States have accused Iran of supplying drones to Russia, something Tehran has denied.
","elementId":"5b2c8c8e-06ed-4fb3-b5eb-e4b514f1e21d"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1664017377000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"07.02 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1664017943000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"07.12 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1664017636000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"07.07 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"07.07","title":"Iran regrets Ukraine decision to downgrade diplomatic ties over reported supply of drones, says foreign ministry","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Sat 24 Sep 2022 09.52 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Sat 24 Sep 2022 01.37 EDT"},{"id":"632edabb8f0891514fe7b5b8","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"The number of border crossers from Russia into Finland has doubled in recent days compared to last week, Satu Sikanen, the regional mayor for south Karelia in Finland, told BBC News on Saturday.
","elementId":"e42afd28-5fb4-47c4-a191-adb09cc87e0e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Yesterday, Finland’s president and the ministerial committee proposed significant restrictions on issuing visas to Russian citizens and entry to the country, said Sikanen. The number of issued visas has already been decreased, she added.
","elementId":"a510a580-a684-4493-a143-2394fe19556b"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"n","elementId":"6411f237-29d4-42cd-ad00-9f28cb15b9dc"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1664015035000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"06.23 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1664015954000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"06.39 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1664015617000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"06.33 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"06.33","title":"Number of people crossing Russia-Finland border doubles, says regional mayor","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Sat 24 Sep 2022 09.52 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Sat 24 Sep 2022 01.37 EDT"},{"id":"632ed8668f0894f47d8a4a5b","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"“This is a serious situation of course for our region, but I want to underline we have strong border guards, we have strong defence forces and Finland is joining Nato so we are safe.
n
Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, has urged Europe to show an “openness to those who don’t want to be instrumentalised by the Kremlin”, according to Politico.
","elementId":"e0c99fc9-4a7c-49e8-801b-4974650e33e9"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"The remarks came following Michel’s address at the United Nations general assembly in New York on Friday, and come ahead of a key meeting of EU ambassadors on Monday within the framework of the EU Integrated Political Crisis Response (IPCR), Politico reports.
","elementId":"239a88e2-8e9d-4eb7-adfa-5dd06b56067a"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"n","elementId":"ca593a12-1f21-4e47-8941-677f219e38c1"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"In principle I think that … the European Union [should] host those who are in danger because of their political opinions. If in Russia people are in danger because of their political opinions, because they do not follow this crazy Kremlin decision to launch this war in Ukraine, we must take this into consideration.
n
He added: “I agree on the idea that we should very quickly cooperate and coordinate because this is a new fact — this partial mobilisation.”
","elementId":"d0800f1a-8540-49bd-9013-4e205e9b6b27"}],"attributes":{"pinned":true,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1664014438000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"06.13 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1664015986000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"06.39 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1664014840000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"06.20 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"06.20","title":"Europe should open to fleeing Russians, says European Council president","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Sat 24 Sep 2022 09.52 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Sat 24 Sep 2022 01.37 EDT"},{"id":"632ecf6f8f0894f47d8a4a22","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Hours after the Kremlin shocked Russia by announcing the first mobilisation of at least 300,000 troops since the second world war has led to a rush among men of military age to leave the country.
","elementId":"a99c4f50-b596-4046-b124-38b4c1bbe55f"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"The line at the border between Russia and Georgia is approximately 10km long, according to the BBC, where people have reportedly been waiting more than 20 hours to cross.
","elementId":"faf133ab-dcc7-4a4f-842c-0290c60cb665"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Options to flee are limited, people fleeing previously told the Guardian. Earlier this week, four of the five EU countries bordering Russia announced they would no longer allow Russians to enter on tourist visas.
","elementId":"b6415cb9-0d46-4f56-ae61-22321ed18f80"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"“I will be driving across the border tonight,” said a 29-year-old sergeant in the Russian reserves, Oleg, on Thursday. “I have no idea when I’ll step foot in Russia again,” he added, referring to the jail sentence Russian men face for avoiding the draft.
","elementId":"350a561b-6974-479e-8357-504f85995190"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1664012143000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"05.35 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1664012582000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"05.43 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1664012530000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"05.42 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"05.42","title":"Queue at Russian border stretches 10km as people flee","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Sat 24 Sep 2022 09.52 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Sat 24 Sep 2022 01.37 EDT"},{"id":"632eba7a8f0891514fe7b4d5","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Russian forces launched new strikes on Saturday, targeting infrastructure facilities, Zaporizhzhia city’s administrative head, Oleksandr Starukh, said via his Telegram channel.
","elementId":"7404d0b2-73f2-41a1-9a92-e91e768e9a6b"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"One missile hit an apartment building causing a fire, killing one person and injuring seven others.
","elementId":"09806074-f1c8-4b54-9f60-d2b32aeb224d"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1664006778000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"04.06 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1664007926000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"04.25 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1664007436000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"04.17 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"04.17","title":"Russia strikes Ukraine as “referendums” are under way in occupied areas","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Sat 24 Sep 2022 09.52 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Sat 24 Sep 2022 01.37 EDT"},{"id":"632ea2858f0891514fe7b462","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Russian forces are probably trying to attack dams in Ukraine in order to flood Ukrainian military crossing points amid Russian concerns about battlefield setbacks, UK intelligence says.
","elementId":"cfa4d0c0-3d2c-49aa-9a83-1c4a32752509"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"The Ministry of Defence said in its latest daily briefing that the strikes were “unlikely to have caused significant disruption to Ukrainian operations due to the distance between the damaged dams and the combat areas”.
","elementId":"4f2bac71-a1f0-46a2-ba0c-d0b5fff7ba94"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"It said Russian forces struck the Pechenihy dam on the Siverskyi Donets River with ballistic missiles or similar weapons on Wednesday and Thursday after striking a dam near Krivyy Rih in central Ukraine the previous week.
","elementId":"2498b4ad-82ea-407a-ae2b-ebd3a2d703f0"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"n","elementId":"055ac61c-2a63-4d23-9870-29b1fd0083dc"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TweetBlockElement","html":"Ukrainian forces are advancing further downstream along both rivers. As Russian commanders become increasingly concerned about their operational setbacks, they are probably attempting to strike the sluice gates of dams, in order to flood Ukrainian military crossing points.
n
n","url":"https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1573552903821959168","id":"1573552903821959168","hasMedia":false,"role":"inline","isThirdPartyTracking":false,"source":"Twitter","elementId":"e51e6c63-daaa-4db0-95a4-e5514d884e42"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1664000645000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"02.24 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1664009026000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"04.43 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1664002310000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"02.51 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"02.51","title":"Russian commanders 'increasingly concerned' by setbacks, says UK MoD","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Sat 24 Sep 2022 09.52 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Sat 24 Sep 2022 01.37 EDT"},{"id":"632e7ce98f0894f47d8a4830","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 24 September 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) September 24, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/di4bgNrfIF
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/co6ys1K5zT
Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, said that in the town of Starobilsk, the population was banned from leaving and people were being forced out of homes to vote in the “referendum”.
","elementId":"48b0d9aa-967f-49a6-b317-6b66f0f02b60"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"In the town of Bilovodsk, a company director told employees voting was compulsory and anyone refusing to take part would be fired and their names given to security services, he said.
","elementId":"69822e05-ccd4-45d1-a436-ff35cd1dc879"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Reuters could not immediately verify reports of coercion.
","elementId":"22eda6c9-62d4-4e90-b505-eaca84be0bc6"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1663997867000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"01.37 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1664005141000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"03.39 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1663997932000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"01.38 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"01.38","title":"Luhansk town forced to vote, says governor","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Sat 24 Sep 2022 09.52 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Sat 24 Sep 2022 01.37 EDT"},{"id":"632e6d388f0891514fe7b33b","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Adam Fulton and here’s a summary of the latest key developments as it approaches 8.40am in Kyiv.
","elementId":"361e9bdc-d538-408b-aecc-b5109f45204d"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"- n
The UN has said its investigators have concluded that Russia committed war crimes in Ukraine, including bombings of civilian areas, numerous executions, torture and horrific sexual violence. The team of three independent experts had launched initial investigations looking at the areas of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy regions, where they were “struck by the large number of executions in the areas that we visited”, and the frequent “visible signs of executions on bodies, such as hands tied behind backs, gunshot wounds to the head and slit throats”.
n Long lines of vehicles continued to form at Russia’s border crossings on the second day full day of Vladimir Putin’s military mobilisation. The president’s announcement of the first mobilisation since the second world war has led to a rush among men of military age to leave the country, with some men waiting more than 24 hours or resorting to using bicycles and scooters to skip the miles-long queue of traffic jams. Traffic into Finland across its south-eastern border with Russia continues to be busy, the Finnish border force said.
n Finnish ministers on Friday evening announced that the government would prohibit Russian tourists from crossing its borders over the next few days. “The aspiration and purpose is to significantly reduce the number of people coming to Finland from Russia,” president Sauli Niinistö told state broadcaster Yle.
n The United States is prepared to impose additional economic costs on Russia in conjunction with American allies if Russia moves forward with Ukraine annexation, the White House said on Friday. Russia has been planning what the US has described as sham referendums in portions of eastern Ukraine in what is seen as a step toward annexing these territories.
n So-called referendums are under way in areas of Ukraine occupied by Russian troops, with residents told to vote on proposals for the four Ukrainian regions to declare independence and then join Russia. The polls in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces are due to run until Tuesday and appear to be a thin attempt to provide cover for illegal annexation of the regions by Moscow.
n Some residents are ignoring the vote, Andriy Yusov, a Ukrainian defence intelligence official, told CNN. Ukraine’s state security service has claimed the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, held by Russian-backed separatists, planned to allow teenagers aged under 18 to cast their votes.
n The “referendums” have been widely condemned in the west as illegitimate. Britain’s ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, described the “sham referenda” as “a media exercise” by Russia, for whom the outcomes have been “almost certainly already decided”. Nato described the “referendums” as Moscow’s “blatant attempts at territorial conquest” and said they have no legitimacy. G7 leaders said they would never recognise the “sham” referendums in a joint statement.
n Ukraine said on Friday it had shot down four Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones used by Russia’s armed forces, prompting president Volodymyr Zelenskiy to complain that Tehran was harming Ukrainian citizens. Ukraine and the US have accused Iran of supplying drones to Russia, something Tehran has denied. Zelenskiy had asked his foreign ministry to respond to the use of Iranian equipment, spokesperson Serhii Nykyforov said.
n Russia will continue its communication with the United Nations about a deal to export grain from Ukrainian ports but says concrete results are needed, Tass news agency cited a senior official as saying on Friday. It also cited the deputy foreign minister, Sergei Vershinin, as saying Russia had a positive assessment of the UN’s efforts to resume the export of Russian fertilisers.
n Ukraine’s armed forces said it has liberated another settlement in the Donetsk region and improved their positions around the eastern town of Bakhmut. The village of Yatskivka in Donetsk region is now in Ukrainian hands, according to Oleksii Hromov, deputy head of the operations directorate of the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces.
n China’s foreign minister has told his Ukrainian counterpart that the “sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected”. The meeting between Wang Yi and Dmytro Kuleba took place on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York, and was the first since Russia invaded Ukraine. Kuleba said Wang had “reaffirmed China’s respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
n
Key events
Russian troops who refuse to fight now face 10 years in prison
A new law signed by President Vladimir Putin on Saturday says Russian troops who refuse to fight, desert, disobey or surrender to the enemy could now be sentenced to up to 10 years, officials say. Russian media.
The law was approved by the chambers of parliament earlier this week.
Russia has announced the replacement of its highest-ranking general in charge of logistics as part of a mobilization campaignreports AFP.
“Army General Dmitry Bulgakov has been removed from his post as Deputy Minister of Defense” and will be replaced by Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, the Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday via Telegram.
Mizinstev60, had previously been sanctioned by Britain for his role in the siege of Mariupol, a Ukrainian port city seized by Russian forces in May.
As leaders discussed the war in Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), some leaders complain that other issues are being sidelined.
The Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhariwhile briefly addressing the ongoing conflict in Europe, said the war made it more difficult “to address the recurring issues that feature in the deliberations of this assembly every year,” AP reports.
Among them he cited: inequality, nuclear disarmament, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the more than one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in limbo in Bangladesh.
Buhari was not the only one to worry, according to AP, the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, said a recent trip to Africa made him reflect on how the West deals with other conflicts.
He asked the assembly:
Were we as resolute during the tragedies of Syria, Libya, Yemen? And didn’t the West return to “business as usual” after the wars in the Congo and the Horn of Africa? While condemning the invasion of Ukraine, do we give equal weight to the fight against mercenaries who seek to destabilize the Sahel and threaten many other states in Africa?
Responding to criticisms raised by other leaders, the US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas Greenfieldswore it wasn’t, AP reports:
Other countries have expressed concern that while we are focusing on Ukraine, we are not paying attention to what is happening in other crises around the world.
A former UN official and current secretary general of an international aid group called the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egelandtold AP: “The world is managing to focus on one crisis at a time.”
But I cannot, in those many years as an aid worker or a diplomat, remember a time when the focus was so heavily on one conflict while the world elsewhere was collapsing.
Here are the latest photos from Ukraine and Russia:
Members of the French National Assembly have asked the president of the lower house of the French parliament to create a commission to investigate alleged Russian funding of political parties.
In a letter to Yael Braun-Pivet, MPs said the decision was prompted by the recent declassification of US intelligence services showing that Russia had paid hundreds of millions of euros to foreign political parties for the purpose of influence the elections, reports Reuters.
The eight deputies, from French President Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche party, also noted a loan from Russian banks still repaid by Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party.
MPs wrote:
These facts clearly suggest a Russian desire to influence French public debate… they justify the establishment of a commission of inquiry to establish whether French political parties – and which ones – have benefited from Russian funding.
The cable, signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and released earlier this month, cited a new intelligence assessment of Russia’s covert global efforts to support pro-Moscow policies and parties.
Vladimir Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine must be taken seriously, the EU’s foreign policy chief has said.
Josep Borrell warned that a “dangerous moment” had been reached in the invasion as Russian troops faced several setbacks.
“It’s definitely a dangerous moment because the Russian military has been pushed into a corner, and Putin’s reaction – threatening to use nuclear weapons – is very bad,” he told the BBC.
A diplomatic solution that “preserves the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Ukraine must be found, he added.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Dmitry Bulgakov, who has been in charge of military logistics since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, has been removed from his post.
Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Management Center which oversaw the Russian siege of Mariupol, has been appointed to replace him, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Telegram.
Bulgakov’s demotion is widely seen as punishment for failed military operations across Ukraine.
Here are the latest photos from Ukraine:
Iran regrets Ukraine’s decision to downgrade diplomatic ties over drone supply, Foreign Ministry says
On Saturday, Iranian ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani “advised” Ukraine to “refrain from being influenced by third parties who seek to destroy relations between the two countries”, Reuters reports.
The statement comes after Ukraine downgraded diplomatic ties with Iran on Friday and stripped its ambassador of credentials over what it said was an “unfriendly” decision by Tehran to supply drones to Russian forces.
Military authorities in southern Ukraine said in an earlier statement that they shot down the Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles over the sea near the port of Odessa.
Ukraine and the United States have accused Iran of supplying drones to Russia, which Tehran has denied.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has condemned “bogus referendums” in which residents of four regions were asked to vote on proposals to declare independence and join Russia.
“The world will react absolutely rightly to pseudo-referendums – they will definitely be doomed,” he said in his evening speech on Friday. Russian news agencies said voting in Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia began Friday morning, with polls conducted door-to-door except for September 27, when people could vote in person.
