“Arrest Warrant From Criminal Court Pierces Putin’s Aura of Impunity“
“The International Criminal Court accused the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, of war crimes and issued a warrant for his arrest on Friday, a highly symbolic step that deepened his isolation and punctured the aura of impunity that has surrounded him since he ordered troops into Ukraine a year ago.
The court cited Mr. Putin’s responsibility for the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children, thousands of whom have been sent to Russia since the invasion. It also issued a warrant for Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, the public face of the Kremlin-sponsored program that transfers the children out of Ukraine.
There is little prospect of Mr. Putin standing trial in a courtroom anytime soon. The International Criminal Court cannot try defendants in absentia and Russia, which is not a party to the court, dismissed the warrants as “meaningless.”
Yet the court’s move carried indisputable moral weight, putting Mr. Putin in the same ranks as Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the deposed president of Sudan, accused of atrocities in Darfur; Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian leader imprisoned for abuses during the Balkans war; and the Nazis tried at Nuremberg after World War II.
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https://archive.ph/u3bfl
I call your disinfo and raise.
MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Russian air defenses intercepted 15 HIMARS, Smerch and Uragan rockets in the past day, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.
“Air defenses intercepted 15 HIMARS, Smerch and Uragan rockets in the past day. In addition, nine Ukrainian drones were destroyed near Novaya Tarasovka in the Kharkov Region, Rubezhnoye and Chervonopopovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and Staromayorskoye, Vladimirovka, Yegorovka and Valeryanovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” he specified.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a total of 402 aircraft, 221 helicopters, 3,457 drones, 414 missile systems, 8,330 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,066 multiple rocket launchers, 4,381 field artillery mounts and mortars, as well as 8,996 special military motor vehicles.
Russian forces hit 89 Ukrainian artillery units in firing positions
“Tactical and army aircraft, together with missile and artillery units of the Russian Armed Forces, hit 89 Ukrainian artillery units in firing positions, as well as enemy troops and equipment in 107 areas. The command post of the 110th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces was hit near the Tonenkoye settlement in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” Konashenkov reported.
Russian forces kill up to 120 Ukrainian troops along Donetsk frontline
“The Southern group of forces, aircraft and artillery units killed up to 120 Ukrainian troops on the Donetsk frontline, destroying two armored combat vehicles, two cars, two Uragan multiple rocket launchers and a D-30 howitzer,” he noted.
Russian forces kill up to 60 Ukrainian troops on Kupyansk frontline
“Artillery units of the Western group of forces hit enemy troops near Dvurechnaya, Sinkovka and Kotlyarovka in the Kharkov Region and Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic,” Defense Ministry Spokesman specified.
According to him, three cars were destroyed on the Kupyansk frontline.
Russian forces kill up to 50 Ukrainian troops along South Donetsk, Zaporozhye frontlines
The general added, that Ukrainian troops were also hit near Novomikhailovka and Ugledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Levadnoye and Orekhovo in the Zaporozhye Region.
“The enemy lost up to 50 troops and two pickup trucks on these frontlines in the past day,” Konashenkov concluded.
Avenger air defense systems came in service with the Ukrainian army The Ukrainian air defense forces have strengthened with the AN/TWQ-1 Avenger self-propelled surface-to-air missile systems.
The footage featuring the Ukrainian military with these systems was published by Ukraine Weapons Tracker analysts.
This is the first footage of the recently delivered American short-range air-defense system.
In total, Ukraine will receive 12 such surface-to-air missile systems from the United States.
The system is designed to hit air targets at altitudes of 0.5-3.8 km and ranges of 0.5-5.5 km.
The US-made air defense missile system is mounted on the chassis of the HMMWV vehicle.
Two containers of 4 FIM-92 Stinger missiles, a 12.7 mm Browning M2 anti-aircraft machine gun and an optical-electronic station are installed on the air defense system.
N/TWQ-1 Avenger air defense missile system of the Ukrainian military. March 2023. Frame from Ukraine Weapons Tracker video
