World

Moscow began its mandatory troop call-up Thursday to try to bolster a stumbling war effort in Ukraine, with authorities saying thousands had volunteered even as Russian men fled the country to avoid being forced to fight.

Amateur footage posted on social media since President Vladimir Putin ordered the mobilisation of reservists on Wednesday purported to show hundreds of Russian citizens across the country responding to military summons.

The call-up came as Moscow-held regions of Ukraine are to vote in coming days on whether to become part of Russia in referendums that have been called an unlawful land grab by Kyiv and its allies. 

Moscow took these steps after Ukrainian forces seized back most of the northeastern Kharkiv region, which has been seen as a possible turning point in the seven-month war that had fallen into stalemate.

The Russian military said Thursday that at least 10,000 people had volunteered to fight in 24 hours since the order, but men also rushed to leave Russia before they were made to join.

Flights out of Russia to neighbouring countries, mainly former Soviet republics that allow Russians visa-free entry, are nearly entirely booked and prices have skyrocketed, pointing to an exodus of Russians wanting to avoid going to war.

“I don’t want to go to the war,” a man named Dmitri, who had flown to Armenia with just one small bag, told AFP. “I don’t want to die in this senseless war. This is a fratricidal war.”

Military-aged men made up the majority of those arriving off the latest flight from Moscow at Yerevan airport and many were reluctant to speak.

The Armenian capital has become a major destination for Russians fleeing since war began on February 24, drawing fierce international opposition that has aimed to isolate Russia.

Looking lost and exhausted in Yerevan airport’s arrivals hall, 44-year-old Sergei said he had fled Russia to escape being called up.

“The situation in Russia would make anyone want to leave,” he told AFP.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Russians to resist Putin’s partial mobilisation during his daily address on Thursday evening.

“Protest. Fight back. Run away. Or surrender” to the Ukrainian army, he said. “You are already complicit in all these crimes, murders and torture of Ukrainians. Because you were silent. Because you are silent.”

More than 1,300 people were arrested during anti-mobilisation demonstrations across Russia on Wednesday, a monitoring group reported.

– Annexation ‘vote’ –

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday demanded Putin be held to account as he faced Russia in a Security Council session in which the United Nations catalogued abuses in Ukraine.

“We cannot — we will not — let President Putin get away with it,” Blinken said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov — whom Blinken has refused to meet individually since the February invasion — lashed out at Western accusations.

“There’s an attempt today to impose on us a completely different narrative about Russian aggression as the origin of this tragedy,” Lavrov told the Security Council.

The confrontation on the diplomatic stage escalated as Kremlin-installed officials in Ukrainian regions controlled by Moscow’s forces vowed on Thursday to press ahead with annexation polls this week.

Four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine — Donetsk and Lugansk in the east and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south — announced that they would hold the votes over five days, beginning on Friday.

Western leaders convening in New York this week unanimously condemned the ballots. 

Speaking at the United Nations, US President Joe Biden accused Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of “shamelessly” violating the UN Charter with a war aimed at “extinguishing Ukraine’s right to exist as a state”.

– Nuclear threat –

The integration of the war-scarred regions into Russia would represent a major escalation of the conflict, as Moscow could then try to say it was defending its own territory from Ukrainian forces.

After the votes were announced by his proxy officials in Ukraine, Putin announced that Russia would call up some 300,000 reservists to bolster the war effort and cautioned that Moscow would use “all means” to protect its territory.

Former Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev said in a statement on social media that those means included “strategic nuclear weapons”. He predicted the voting regions “will integrate into Russia”.

For most observers, the results of the concurrent votes are already a foregone conclusion and were rushed because Ukrainian forces were making sweeping gains in a counter-offensive to recapture the east.

The referendums are reminiscent of a similar ballot in 2014 that saw the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine annexed by Russia. Western capitals said the vote was fraudulent and hit Moscow with sanctions in response.

Election officials in the Donetsk region, partially controlled since 2014 by Moscow-backed separatists, said voting would take place door-to-door for the first days. But it would only be possible in polling stations on the final day, Tuesday.

Moscow began its mandatory troop call-up Thursday to try to bolster a stumbling war effort in Ukraine, with authorities saying thousands had volunteered even as Russian men fled the country to avoid being forced to fight.

Amateur footage posted on social media since President Vladimir Putin ordered the mobilisation of reservists on Wednesday purported to show hundreds of Russian citizens across the country responding to military summons.

The call-up came as Moscow-held regions of Ukraine are to vote in coming days on whether to become part of Russia in referendums that have been called an unlawful land grab by Kyiv and its allies. 

Moscow took these steps after Ukrainian forces seized back most of the northeastern Kharkiv region, which has been seen as a possible turning point in the seven-month war that had fallen into stalemate.

The Russian military said Thursday that at least 10,000 people had volunteered to fight in 24 hours since the order, but men also rushed to leave Russia before they were made to join.

“I don’t want to go to the war,” a man named Dmitri, who had flown to Armenia with just one small bag, told AFP. “I don’t want to die in this senseless war. This is a fratricidal war.”

– Annexation ‘vote’ –

Military-aged men made up the majority of those arriving off the latest flight from Moscow at the Armenian airport and many were reluctant to speak.

Yerevan has become a major destination for Russians fleeing since war began on February 24, drawing fierce international opposition that has aimed to isolate Russia.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday demanded Putin be held to account as he faced Russia in a Security Council session in which the United Nations catalogued abuses in Ukraine.

“We cannot — we will not — let President Putin get away with it,” Blinken told the Security Council in a special session as leaders met at the United Nations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov — whom Blinken has refused to meet individually since the February invasion — lashed out at Western accusations.

“There’s an attempt today to impose on us a completely different narrative about Russian aggression as the origin of this tragedy,” Lavrov told the Security Council.

The confrontation on the diplomatic stage escalated as Kremlin-installed officials in Ukrainian regions controlled by Moscow’s forces vowed on Thursday to press ahead with annexation polls this week.

Four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine — Donetsk and Lugansk in the east and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south — announced that they would hold the votes over five days, beginning on Friday.

Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-installed head of Kherson, which fell early into the Russian invasion, said the referendum would go ahead in his region regardless of the criticism.

“The date has been set. We have the green light. Voting begins tomorrow and nothing can prevent this,” he told Russian state-run media.

“People have been waiting and they’re demanding that this vote is held soon,” he added.

Western leaders convening in New York this week unanimously condemned the ballots. 

Speaking at the United Nations, US President Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “shamelessly” violating the UN Charter with a war aimed at “extinguishing Ukraine’s right to exist as a state”.

– ‘Anyone would want to leave’ –

The integration of the war-scarred regions into Russia would represent a major escalation of the conflict, as Moscow could then try to say it was defending its own territory from Ukrainian forces.

After the votes were announced by his proxy officials in Ukraine, Putin announced that Russia would call up some 300,000 reservists to bolster the war effort and cautioned that Moscow would use “all means” to protect its territory.

Former Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev said in a statement on social media that those means included “strategic nuclear weapons”. He predicted the voting regions “will integrate into Russia”.

For most observers, the results of the concurrent votes are already a foregone conclusion and were rushed because Ukrainian forces were making sweeping gains in a counter-offensive to recapture the east.

The referendums are reminiscent of a similar ballot in 2014 that saw the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine annexed by Russia. Western capitals said the vote was fraudulent and hit Moscow with sanctions in response.

Election officials in the Donetsk region, which has been partially controlled since 2014 by Moscow-backed separatists, said that voting would take place door-to-door for the first days. But it would only be possible in polling stations on the final day, Tuesday.

Putin’s move this week to call up reservists for Ukraine sparked small protests across Russia, resulting in more than 1,300 people being detained.

Flights out of Russia to neighbouring countries, mainly former Soviet republics that allow Russians visa-free entry, are nearly entirely booked and prices have skyrocketed, pointing to an exodus of Russians wanting to avoid going to war.

Looking lost and exhausted in the arrivals hall of the airport in the capital of Armenia, 44-year-old Sergei said he had fled Russia to escape being called up.

“The situation in Russia would make anyone want to leave,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Bermudians covered storefronts and stocked up on candles, food and water while Hurricane Fiona churned towards the Atlantic island Thursday as a powerful Category 4 storm, after leaving a trail of destruction across the Caribbean.

The Bermuda Weather Service said the center of Fiona was forecast to pass more than 110 miles (180 kilometers) to the west of the British territory on Friday morning at around 5:00 am (0700 GMT), but with a storm of that strength and size, residents were taking no chances. 

“This storm is going to be worse than the last one,” Richard Hartley, owner of the Torwood Home store in the capital, Hamilton, told AFP as he and his wife covered the shop’s cedar-lined windows with metal sheets. 

“The wind is going to come straight in from the south. So this corner is very exposed to the winds,” he explained.

Fiona is a Category 4 hurricane, the second highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the storm was packing maximum sustained winds of near 130 miles per hour, with higher gusts.

Hurricane force winds extend more than 70 miles from the storm’s eye, and tropical storm force winds up to 200 miles, the NHC said.

A hurricane warning was in effect in Bermuda Thursday morning, with the NHC predicting up to four inches (10 centimeters) of rain and “large and destructive” waves and storm surge. 

The British territory of some 64,000 people is no stranger to hurricanes — but it is also tiny, just 21 square miles and one of the most remote places in the world, 640 miles from its closest neighbor, the United States.

That means there is nowhere to evacuate to when a big storm hits.

“You have to live with it because you live here, you can’t run anywhere because it’s just a little island,” said JoeAnn Scott, a shopworker in Hamilton.

Bermudians try to “enjoy it as it comes,” she said. “And pray and pray. That’s what we do, pray and party,” she added with a laugh. 

– Construction ‘built to last’ –

Because of the island’s isolation, preparations are taken seriously even when widespread damage is not expected.

Many of the boats docked at Bermuda’s Dinghy Club and Yacht Club were taken out of the water earlier in the week, outdoor furniture at homes and restaurants was taken inside, and the storm shutters bordering windows on most houses were checked. 

Public schools will be closed on Friday, and the government announced that buses will stop running later Thursday afternoon. The Royal Bermuda Regiment was on standby to help with clearing operations.

In addition to laying in supplies of candles and food, some Bermudians were also drawing buckets of water from the tanks at the side of their homes.

There is no fresh water source on the island, so all buildings have white, lime-washed roofs that are used to catch rainwater that is directed into tanks as the main water supply. It is then pumped into homes using electricity. 

Bermuda, whose economy is fueled by international finance and tourism, is wealthy compared to most Caribbean countries, and structures must be built to strict planning codes to withstand storms. Some have done so for centuries. 

“The construction is really built to last, and we don’t see the devastation ever that the Caribbean has experienced over the years,” shop owner Hartley’s wife, Elaine Murray, said.

Fiona killed four people in Puerto Rico earlier this week, according to US media, while one death was reported in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe and another in the Dominican Republic. 

President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico, a US territory that is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria five years ago.

In the Dominican Republic, President Luis Abinader declared three eastern provinces to be disaster zones.

Farther north in Bermuda, residents continued to watch Fiona closely in case the storm veers further east in the coming hours — but islanders were calm. 

“I’ve been through a lot of hurricanes, so no, I’m not worried,” said resident Rochelle Jones.

But if things do go wrong, Bermudians will “all come out together and we help each other,” she said. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday demanded President Vladimir Putin be held to account as he faced Russia in a Security Council session in which the United Nations catalogued abuses in Ukraine.

“The very international order we’ve gathered here to uphold is being shredded before our eyes,” Blinken told the Security Council in a special session as leaders met at the United Nations.

“We cannot — we will not — let President Putin get away with it,” he said.

Blinken accused Putin of adding “fuel to the fire” with recent steps including calling up reservists and planning referendums in Russian-held Ukrainian territory just as Kyiv made strong gains on the ground.

The top US diplomat said it was critical to show that “no nation can redraw the borders of another by force.”

“If we fail to defend this principle when the Kremlin is so flagrantly violating it, we send the message to aggressors everywhere that they can ignore it, too.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov — whom Blinken has refused to meet individually since the February invasion — lashed out at Western accusations.

“There’s an attempt today to impose on us a completely different narrative about Russian aggression as the origin of this tragedy,” Lavrov told the Security Council.

He accused Ukraine of “Russophobia,” including through its imposition of Ukrainian language rules.

“The United States and their allies with the connivance of international human rights organizations have been covering the crimes of the Kyiv regime,” Lavrov said.

France, the current head of the Security Council, called the session to highlight the quest for accountability in Ukraine.

“There is no peace without justice,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told reporters. 

Opening the session, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the UN rights body has seen “a catalog of cruelty — summary executions, sexual violence, torture and other inhumane and degrading treatment against civilians and prisoners of war.

– ‘Echoes of Nuremburg’ –

“All these allegations must be thoroughly investigated, to ensure accountability,” he said, without directly pointing the finger at Russia. 

“Perpetrators must be held to account in fair and independent judicial proceedings. Victims and their families have a right to justice, remedy and reparation,” Guterres said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, addressing the General Assembly on Wednesday, demanded a special tribunal and “punishment” for Russia over its invasion and abuses.

Highlighting evidence from Ukraine was Karim Khan, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, which announced an investigation into possible war crimes just days after Russia invaded its neighbor in February.

“In my view the echoes of Nuremburg should be heard today,” he told the Security Council Thursday, referring to the German city where Nazi war crimes trials were held.

Khan has traveled to Ukraine and visited the town of Bucha, where the discovery of dozens of bodies in the streets and in mass graves horrified the world.

Moscow at the time dismissed the atrocities as fake, and on Thursday Lavrov said Ukraine’s efforts to blame Russia for war crimes was a “propaganda operation.”

But Khan pushed back, telling the Security Council: “When I went to Bucha, and went behind St. Andrew’s church, the bodies I saw were not fake.”

Ukraine’s representative at the meeting, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, urged “solidarity and unity” of UN member states to help Kyiv fight Russian aggression.

“The best way to prevent more Russian atrocities from happening is to provide Ukraine with more necessary weapons,” he told reporters.

Russia before the war forged closer ties with China. But the United States has welcomed what it sees as a cautious tone by China, which has not supplied significant military supplies to Moscow.

“The priority is for the parties to resume dialogue without preconditions,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the session.