In Russia’s Fight Against Ukraine, ‘War Is the Ideology’
NEED TO KNOW
In Russia’s Fight Against Ukraine, ‘War Is the Ideology’
RUSSIA/ UKRAINE
Russia and Ukrainian prisoners of war recently gained their freedom after one of the biggest prisoner swaps so far in the war between the two adversaries. Around 1,200 captured soldiers under the age of 25 were exchanged.
At the event in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region near the Russian border, “emotional homecoming scenes” were tinged with sadness, Reuters reported. Ukrainians at the event held up pictures of loved ones who have gone missing in the war.
“Tomorrow is my birthday,” said Oksana Kupriyenko, a 52-year-old mother who was looking for her son, who has been missing since September 2024. “I was hoping God will give me a gift and return my son to me.”
The exchange was an extraordinary positive result of peace talks that have been occurring between the two sides in Istanbul.
The editors at World Politics Review were gratified that Ukrainian and Russian representatives were meeting at all. “Until just a few months ago, it would have been unthinkable that Kyiv, which is defending its sovereignty against Russia’s illegal invasion, and Moscow, which has not shown any willingness to end that invasion, would directly negotiate,” they wrote.
But the talks have not yielded anything more substantive so far, CNN reported.
Critics might say that Russia’s maximalist demands have always doomed the talks, the Associated Press added. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Ukraine to cede wide swathes of territory, forswear NATO membership, limit its military capabilities, end the emergency declaration that has been in effect since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and hold new elections.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected this plan, which he called an “ultimatum,” according to the Kyiv Independent. He especially would not relinquish his country’s claims to territory now occupied by Russian forces.
The daring Ukrainian attack on airfields in Siberia and elsewhere that destroyed Russian bombers and other aircraft, meanwhile, demonstrated that Russia is not necessarily in a position to dictate terms. Zelenskyy, for example, even contended that the attacks were forcing the Russians to engage in diplomacy.
Putin, however, still has the capacity to send more soldiers into war while launching deadly strikes on Ukrainian cities like Kharkiv, where three people died in an overnight drone attack recently, Sky News noted. Russia has increased its air assaults on Ukrainian cities since its attack on Russia’s airfields.
And even though almost one million Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded, it would be a mistake to think that Russia’s forces are spent, the Economist noted. The navy and air force are largely intact and “Putin is restocking men, arms and munitions at an ‘unprecedented’ pace. Russia plans to have 1.5 million active troops, up from 1.3 million in September; eventually, it could boost forces and kit on the western front by 30-50 percent.”
Putin has no intention of ending the war, the magazine added: “After three years of fighting, war has become an ideology.”
Both sides face domestic pressures that are undercutting their diplomatic positions. The US has been threatening to cut military aid to Ukraine, the Economic Times explained. Whether Europe can replace that lost American aid is an open question.
The Russian economy is also teetering on the brink of ruin as the war takes its toll on civilian consumption and investment. The US and Europe have threatened to expand sanctions on Russian energy that could push it over the edge, the BBC reported.
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Latest Shooting at Gaza Aid Sites Leaves 59 Dead, Hundreds Injured
ISRAEL/ WEST BANK AND GAZA
At least 59 Palestinians were killed and more than 220 injured after Israeli forces opened fire near an aid distribution site in the southern Gaza Strip, where thousands had gathered in a desperate search for food, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The incident was the latest, and one of the deadliest, of the almost daily shootings that have been taking place recently near aid distribution sites in Gaza, the BBC said.
Witnesses and local journalists told the Associated Press that the incident began with an Israeli airstrike near a home, followed by heavy gunfire and tank shelling targeting a crowd waiting for food near a World Food Programme (WFP) site and a community kitchen in Khan Younis.
Many of the victims were taken to Nasser Hospital, the only functioning medical facility in the area, which has been overwhelmed by a large number of casualties, so much so that there are no beds left for them, the BBC added.
Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency and local journalists called the assault unprovoked and a “massacre.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed it had opened fire and there were “several casualties,” adding that it is reviewing the incident.
The incident comes amid growing desperation over the deteriorating aid situation in the Palestinian enclave, with aid officials warning of looming famine.
Israeli-imposed restrictions on the flow of humanitarian supplies – tightened during the 20-month war sparked by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack – have left much of the territory’s two million residents facing acute hunger.
Although some aid convoys have been allowed to enter since Israel partially lifted its blockade in May, distribution has been hampered by lawlessness, logistical chaos, and frequent gunfire near aid distribution points.
Palestinians, human rights groups, and international observers have accused Israeli troops of repeatedly firing at civilians near food convoys and humanitarian centers. IDF officials have acknowledged firing warning shots at individuals they deem suspicious.
Meanwhile, the killings have also renewed criticism of the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private aid initiative launched last month as an alternative to United Nations operations.
The GHF was set up to bypass Hamas, with Israeli officials repeatedly claiming that the Iran-backed group is diverting aid for its military use.
However, the UN and other aid groups have rejected the GHF model, cautioning that it is inadequate, lacks transparency, and violates humanitarian principles by allowing Israel to control who has access to aid.
Some have warned that the new system is part of an Israeli effort to displace Palestinians further south and sideline the UN as Gaza’s main aid provider.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk accused Israel of “weaponizing food” and called for an investigation into the recent shootings.
Uganda Restores Military Trials for Civilians
UGANDA
Uganda’s president signed a new law this week allowing military tribunals to try civilians under certain circumstances – even though the supreme court had ruled such a measure illegal, Africanews reported.
President Yoweri Museveni signed a bill Monday allowing the trials after the Ugandan parliament passed the measure to address some of these issues. Opposition lawmakers boycotted the vote, saying the new bill violated the Supreme Court’s decision in January that these trials were unconstitutional. Judges argued that military tribunals were neither impartial nor competent to carry out judicial functions. The amendment appears to try to address some of the court’s objections.
Before the ruling, civilians could be prosecuted by military tribunals if found with military equipment, such as guns or army uniforms, according to the BBC.
Government and military officials say the new measure is necessary.
“The law will deal decisively with armed violent criminals, deter the formation of militant political groups that seek to subvert democratic processes, and ensure national security is bound on a firm foundational base. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” an army spokesperson wrote on X.
The president added that military tribunals would only prosecute civilians who use guns for political violence, adding that civilian courts were too busy to “handle these gun-wielding criminals quickly.” However, if that were the case, the prior law would have been sufficient, opponents said.
Instead, opponents such as human rights groups have been accusing the Ugandan government of resorting to military courts to persecute political opponents of the president, who has been in power for almost four decades.
Opposition leader Bobi Wine said the law would be used against him and others in opposition. “All of us in the opposition are being targeted by the act,” he told Agence-France Presse.
Human rights lawyer Gawaya Tegulle told the BBC that people can spend years in detention on remand, waiting for decisions from senior military figures, which may never come. Moreover, those who are found guilty by those courts face harsher penalties than they would in civilian courts.
The Uganda Law Society, a professional body representing the country’s lawyers, said it will “challenge the constitutionality” of the amendment.
UK Mulls Decriminalizing Abortion Amid ‘Excessive’ Prosecutions
UNITED KINGDOM
The United Kingdom’s parliament debated proposals on Tuesday on whether to decriminalize abortion amid rising concern that police are using antiquated laws to prosecute women who decide to terminate their pregnancies, the Associated Press reported.
The House of Commons debated two amendments, and passed one, to the broader Crime and Policing Bill in a move that is considered the biggest overhaul of reproductive rights in England and Wales in almost six decades, the Guardian wrote.
The first amendment, brought forward by Labour lawmaker Tonia Antoniazzi and which lawmakers voted in favor of, would end the prosecution of women who take steps to terminate their pregnancies at any point.
The change is important, Antoniazzi added, because police have investigated more than 100 women in the past five years for suspected illegal abortions, including those who had miscarriages and stillbirths.
“This is just wrong,” Antoniazzi said before the debate. “It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money, it’s a waste of the judiciary’s time, and it’s not in the public interest.”
The second amendment, proposed by lawmaker Stella Creasy and discussed by lawmakers, sought to bar the prosecution of medical professionals who help women obtain abortions, and prevent abortion law from being changed by a future parliament. This amendment, however, stalled.
Anti-abortion groups oppose both amendments, saying they would legalize abortions at any stage.
“Unborn babies will have any remaining protection stripped away, and women will be left at the mercy of abusers,” said Alithea Williams, public policy manager for UK pro-life campaign group, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.
If the bill is ultimately passed, women would no longer be prosecuted for terminating their pregnancies but their access to abortion would not change: It would still require the approval of two doctors.
Abortions are legal in England, Scotland, and Wales up to 24 weeks and can also be carried out beyond that under special circumstances, such as when the life of the mother is threatened. Abortion was also decriminalized in Northern Ireland in 2019.
Abortion law was changed during the Covid-19 pandemic to allow women to receive abortion pills by mail and terminate their own pregnancies at home within the first 10 weeks.
However, this has also led to a handful of cases in which women were prosecuted for illegally procuring abortion pills to terminate their pregnancies beyond 24 weeks.
DISCOVERIES
Under the Sea
A great deal of Earth’s volcanic activity takes place on the ocean floor.
However, these events are hard to spot, with only two underwater eruptions ever being observed in real time – until now.
Scientists recently witnessed another active seafloor volcanic eruption that was also the first to be seen to happen along a mid-ocean ridge.
The team was exploring in the research submersible Alvin and caught the eruption while studying the Tica hydrothermal vent off the coast of Costa Rica, Smithsonian Magazine explained.
Hydrothermal vents like Tica are deep-sea openings in the ocean floor that release heated, mineral-rich water, creating the conditions for unique ecosystems to thrive. In late April, scientists found the eastern Pacific waters near Tica exactly as they expected them, bursting with marine life.
The next day, however, the landscape was empty.
“Tica was barren,” Andrew Wozniak, chief scientist of the expedition, said in a statement, shocked by what he found. “Almost completely gone.”
Then the team found hardened lava covering dead tube worms and realized they were witnessing the aftermath of a volcanic eruption.
In the distance, they could see orange sparkles of molten lava being released and hardening when hitting the cool water.
“It doesn’t feel real at the moment, but to be able to observe what we saw and be able to collect samples is really mind-boggling,” said Wozniak. “I’m really excited to see what we can learn about what’s happening down there.”
After some observation and data collection for further research, researchers decided to end the dive.
“We have temperature limits to ensure the safety of the sub and its occupants,” the submersible’s pilot, Kaitlyn Beardshear, said in a statement. “I kept a close eye on the temperature as we were traveling, and it kept climbing higher, until I decided it was a good idea to leave before we reached the limit.”
Now, the team will monitor the vent remotely to learn more about deep-sea volcanism. Also, geologists will attempt to pinpoint the exact location of the eruption, chemists will focus on the change in the vent’s hydrothermal fluids before and after the event, and biologists plan to examine how marine life returns to the area afterward.