Nfter new protests against the ongoing partial mobilization in Russia for the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Moscow’s fighters to give up. It is better to refuse to be called up for service than to die as a war criminal on foreign soil, Zelensky said in a video message in Russian published on Saturday evening. At the same time he offered that Russian soldiers could voluntarily go into captivity. There they would be treated in a civilized manner.
The head of state addressed the neighbors in Russian for the second time this week – against the “criminal mobilization”. With a view to the high penalties for deserters in Russia, which Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin put into effect on Saturday, Zelenskyy said that nobody would know under what circumstances the soldiers gave up. “If you’re afraid to return and don’t want a prisoner exchange, then we’ll find a way to ensure that, too.”
Kremlin chief Putin wants to draft in around 300,000 reservists to hold the areas still occupied in Ukraine after the Russian army was defeated. Putin therefore ordered partial mobilization on Wednesday – seven months after the invasion of Ukraine. This caused panic among many Russians. More than 2,000 people have been arrested during protests in dozens of cities in Russia since Wednesday.
More than 700 arrested during protests against Putin’s war in Russia
On Saturday, more than 700 people were arrested during new protests in Russia against partial mobilization. The human rights portal ovd.info reported in Moscow in the evening of 747 arrests in 32 cities across the country. It was only about the men and women who were known by name, and significantly more people could be in custody, it said. At least 380 arrests were reported for the Russian capital Moscow alone – and 125 for St. Petersburg.
The Russian police took brutal action against participants in the anti-war protests banned by the authorities. Videos were published on social networks in St. Petersburg showing men in combat uniform and helmets beating demonstrators. The portal ovd.info, citing eyewitnesses, reported that the security forces had used stun guns.
Lavrov: The West wants to split the world and ‘dismember’ Russia
Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov used his appearance at the general debate at the UN General Assembly on Saturday in New York to launch an angry all-out attack on the West. He rejected criticism of the war against Ukraine and the sham referendums in occupied territories. Lavrov accused the West of wanting to divide the world and destroy his country. Referring to the US, the EU and their allies, he said: “They are no longer even embarrassed to openly declare that the intention is not just to inflict a military defeat on our country, but to destroy, dismember Russia. “
Western countries have imposed tough sanctions on Russia and are distancing themselves from its leadership after Moscow’s troops invaded neighboring Ukraine at the end of February. With a view to Western military aid for Ukraine, Lavrov accused the United States in particular of merely using Ukraine as “material in the fight against Russia”.
Moscow’s chief diplomat rejected criticism of the sham referendums now taking place in several occupied eastern Ukrainian regions. The West’s “outburst of anger” was unfounded, he said. The inhabitants of the regions would only take “their land where their ancestors have lived for hundreds of years”. Since Friday, mock referendums have been held in the four Russian-occupied areas of Cherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhia about joining Russia. UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently described a possible annexation of the areas as a violation of international law.
Lavrov once again criticized Western arms deliveries to the attacked Ukraine. Against this background, the USA, NATO and the EU could not claim to be uninvolved in the “conflict”. At a press conference afterwards, he made it clear: “The entire territory of the Russian Federation, which is defined in the Russian constitution and can be additionally defined, is in any case under the full protection of the state.”
What will be important on Sunday
Sham referendums on accession to Russia continue this Sunday in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. Ukraine and the West see a breach of international law in the compulsory votes scheduled until Tuesday. Russia, on the other hand, invokes the “right of peoples to self-determination”. The areas are expected to be annexed and possibly declared Russian territory by Putin as early as Friday (September 30).