Latest: The United Nations Human Rights Council has voted to set up an independent commission of inquiry as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The Human Rights Council has decided to urgently establish an independent international commission of inquiry as a result of #Russia‘s aggression against #Ukraine,” the council said in a Twitter post Friday.
“UN members from all regions around the world joined together at the council to condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in the strongest possible terms,” the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN, Yevheniia Filipenko, said following the vote.
Two countries — Russia and Eritrea — voted against the decision, and 13 member states abstained, including China, Cuba, Armenia, Kazakhstan, India, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
The war in Ukraine enters its ninth day, with the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the largest of its kind in Europe, being bombed by Russian troops, causing concern around the world. After bombing and fire, the Russian took control over the nuclear power plant.
The Ukrainian regional authority confirmed on Facebook that Russian troops had captured the plant and said that staff were monitoring the condition of the reactors to ensure that they could operate safely. The authority also stated that the essential infrastructure was not damaged by the fire and the fighting during the night, as there were no variations in radiation levels.
The leadership of the company that owns the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, attacked and captured by the Russian soldiers, says that the plant’s administration is working now under the threat of weapons. Petro Kotin, the head of the state-owned nuclear power generator Energoatom, said on Telegram that Russian forces “entered the territory of the nuclear power plant, took control of the personnel and management of the nuclear power plant.”
On Thursday, Russian troops arrived in the center of the Ukrainian port of Kherson, the first major accomplishment of the invasion launched last Thursday, and in the capital Kyiv and other large cities, occupation forces continued the destructive bombardment, without significant troop movements, probably due to logistical problems.
A second round of talks took place between Ukraine and Russia, and the only thing agreed upon was the construction of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians, the wounded and the provision of aid and food.
On Friday morning, Ukrainian emergency services confirmed that they had managed to put out the fire and that there are no victims. The radiation level is currently normal, although the fire continues at the installation, said a spokesman for the plant. Kyiv accuses Moscow of resorting to “nuclear terror”.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in the next few hours to discuss the situation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of intentionally firing at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and urged European leaders to “wake up now” and stop Russian forces “before this becomes a nuclear disaster.”
Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of resorting to “nuclear terror” and of wanting to repeat the Chernobyl disaster after the bombing of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which has six reactors and is the largest in Europe. “We warn everyone that no country other than Russia has ever fired on nuclear power plants. It is the first time in our history, the first time in human history. This terrorist state is now resorting to nuclear terror,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement. video broadcast by the Ukrainian presidency. “Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors. If there is an explosion, it is all over. The end of Europe. It is the evacuation of Europe,” he added.
“The Russian army is firing from all sides on the Zaporizhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The fire has already broken out. If it explodes, it will be 10 times bigger than Chernobyl! The Russians must immediately cease fire, allow firefighters to intervene, and establish a security zone! ”warned Ukrainian FM Dmitri Kuleba in his turn.
According to the Ukrainian military, more than 9,160 Russian soldiers were reportedly killed, wounded or captured in the first six days of the Ukrainian war.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba also accused Russian soldiers of rape in Ukrainian cities on Friday. Yet Kuleba did not provide evidence, and Reuters says it could not verify the accusation from independent sources.
Ukrainians take railway stations by storm in desperate attempts to leave Ukraine
Thousands of people from Kyiv, Odessa or Zaporizhia are making desperate attempts to leave the country, taking trains by storm. There are mainly women, children and elderly, as men are confined in Ukraine under the martial law. In Odessa there are also tourists trying to escape, or foreign students who came to study at the city’s prestigious Navy University.
Putin asks neighbors not to escalate situation
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the international community to normalize relations with his country, while claiming it could benefit from sanctions.
“We have no bad intentions, there is no need to escalate the situation, impose restrictions, we fulfill all obligations,” Putin said during a flag raising ceremony of a new Russian ferry, a joint venture between Russia and Turkey.
Kherson, under Russian control
People in the Ukrainian city of Kherson have been subjected to violence by Russian troops, a local resident told CNN on Friday.
The individual warned that the situation inside the city is deteriorating.
A resident of Kherson, the only Russian-controlled city so far, told CNN that in key places, occupants had set up checkpoints and sniper points. He says Russian soldiers are stopping Ukrainian civilians and asks if they will fight on the Russian side or on the Ukrainian side in case of mobilization.
On the other hand, the mayor of Kherson, Ihor Kolayhaiev, asked the people on Thursday to stop the robberies and the theft of food. “The city needs food and other products. I appeal to all owners of supermarkets, department stores, warehouses, grocery stores and all those who find this message useful. The municipality can take care of the distribution of the remaining products. We guarantee that they will get to where they are most expected – hospitals, orphanages, pensioners, the needy, families with many children, disadvantaged social groups, etc.”, said Kolyaev in a post on Facebook.
Melitopol is another Ukrainian city occupied by the Russian troops. Thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets of Melitopol to protest Russia’s war and military occupation.
People marching in the streets and gathering in the city’s central square carried Ukrainian flags, placards and chanted “Shame, Shame” and “Glory to Ukraine.”
The children hospitalized in the largest pediatric hospital in Kyiv moved to the basement
Dramatic moments unfold in Kyiv’s largest hospital for children. The little patients were moved to the basement to be protected from bombing beyond the walls. As Russia’s attack on Kiev intensifies, some of the city’s most vulnerable residents cannot leave. These are children who are ill and are being treated at a pediatric hospital in Kyiv. Closure is therefore not an option for this health unit, even if the fighting and bombing outside continues, according to CNN.
Other developments
Pentagon: 90% of the Russian troops from the border with Ukraine entered the country and want to occupy Kyiv.
The United States has established a new direct military hotline with Russia. “It is critical to take into account the risk of calculation errors”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz asked former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to resign from all positions within large Russian companies
The 77-year-old Schroeder has long been close to the Kremlin leader. He is chairman of the board of Rosneft, Russia’s main oil group, and of the shareholders’ committee of Nord Stream 2, the controversial Russian-German gas pipeline. In principle, in June he would be part of the supervisory board of the Russian giant Gazprom.
Reddit blocks any link it sends to the Russian state press.
As over 80 foreign companies and brands suspended their activity, production in Russia, and the assets of Russian companies and oligarchs are frozen or blocked in banks worldwide, the Russian firms hurry to open accounts in Chinese banks.
Amid the tensions, the Moscow Stock Exchange remains closed for the fourth day in a row.
Moreover, in response to the West’s sanctions and bans over Russian media, the Kremlin also restricted the access of several foreign media, such as BBC, Deutsche Welle or Meduza.
According to the Russian Communications Surveillance Agency’s Roskomnadzor registry, access to the websites of the BBC and German radio and television Dutsche Welle, the independent website Meduza and Radio Svoboda, the Russian antenna of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, the media funded by the US Congress, was “limited” at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office.
Facebook and several independent media outlets were partially inaccessible in Russia on Friday as authorities tighten their grip on critical voices.
Russia responds to economic sanctions, companies’ withdrawal
The Russian government has prepared three scenarios for companies that decide to leave Russia in the context of the unprecedented sanctions imposed by the West against the country’s economy led by Vladimir Putin.
The first is for the company to continue to operate in Russia and to comply with its work obligations to its employees, said Russian first vice-president Andrei Belousov.
The second option, according to him, is to transfer the shares of foreign shareholders to Russian partners with the subsequent possibility of returning to the Russian market.The official said that the third scenario under consideration, the one in which the company leaves the Russian market, closes the economic units and dismisses the employees, is considered by the Moscow government a “deliberate de facto bankruptcy”.