Thousands of Ukrainian civilians are detained across Russia and occupied Ukrainian territories, and Russia plans to imprison perhaps thousands more, according to a government document outlining plans to create 25 new prison colonies and six other detention centers in occupied parts of Ukraine by 2026.
In May, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing Russia to send people from "territories under a state of emergency," which includes all of occupied Ukraine, elsewhere, and throughout Russia.
Many civilians were detained for little things like speaking Ukrainian and were often held without charge. Others are charged as terrorists, combatants or people "resisting a special military operation".
Hundreds of them are used by the Russian army for slave labor, for digging trenches and other fortifications, as well as mass graves.
Russia does not recognize the holding of civilians at all. But the prisoners are being exchanged for Russian soldiers, and the UN has said there is evidence that civilians have been used as human shields near the front lines in Russian uniforms, putting them at even greater risk when attacked by Ukrainian forces.
It is difficult to know how many civilians are detained. The Ukrainian government managed to confirm a little more than 1.000 people, but it believes that there are around 10.000 of them. This was estimated based on reports from their relatives and interviews with civilians released and with hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers returned in prisoner exchanges.
(BETA)
The Wagner mercenary group is not participating in military operations in Ukraine in any significant way, the Pentagon said, more than two weeks after the group staged a brief armed insurgency in Russia.
"At this stage, we do not see Wagner forces participating in any significant capacity in support of combat operations in Ukraine," Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said.
Wagner's fighters fought some of the fiercest and bloodiest battles during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but, after the June 23-24 uprising, the fighters were given the option of going into exile, joining regular Russian forces or going home, Britain's agency.
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Wagner was completing the handover of weapons to the regular armed forces of Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has "already lost the war" in Ukraine, his American counterpart Joseph Biden said on Thursday, who believes that Moscow will eventually negotiate under the pressure of the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
"He (Putin) could end the war tomorrow, he would only have to say: 'I resign!' ", said the American president during his visit to Finland, where he is on the occasion of the recent accession to NATO of that Nordic country, a neighbor of Russia.
"But there's no way (Putin) is going to win the war in Ukraine ... He's already lost it," Biden said, pointing to Russia's lack of resources and economic difficulties.
Partner countries promised, during the NATO summit, to send military aid to Ukraine worth more than 1,5 billion euros, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov said.
"The meetings in Vilnius were very productive. Ukraine will receive more than 1,5 billion euros in military aid from its partners," Reznikov wrote on Twitter.
The aid package includes a 700 million euro aid package from Germany, which includes 25 Leopard 1A5 tanks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the delivery of new weapons to Ukraine will not change anything on the battlefield, but will only further escalate the conflict there.
Putin, speaking on state television, also said that tanks given to Ukraine by Western powers would be a "priority target" for Russian forces fighting there, Reuters reports.
He reiterated his opposition to Ukraine joining NATO, saying it would threaten Russia's security.
Director of the Russian state corporation "Rosatom" Alexei Likhachev rejected Ukrainian claims that Moscow's intention was to blow up the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
"You would have to be completely insane to blow up a nuclear power plant where three and a half thousand people work, including a very significant number of people from Russia," Likhachev said, as reported by Reuters.
Likhachev said that Russian intelligence, as well as information from Ukrainian prisoners, indicated that Ukraine actually planned to attack the nuclear plant.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said that the Russian leadership should fear the Ukrainian soldier, not the F-16 aircraft that will be delivered as planned.
"Russia's only threat is the Ukrainian soldier. That's what Putin and his crew should be most afraid of. Ukraine will get the F-16 as planned. Russia has to accept that, despite Lavrov's statements," Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Moscow would consider the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine a "nuclear threat".
Today, Ukraine received cluster munitions from the United States of America (USA), Ukrainian General Oleksandr Tarnavski said.
"We just got it. We haven't used it yet, but it can radically change the situation on the front," Tarnavski confirmed to CNN.
He said that the enemy knows that Ukraine will have an advantage with these weapons.
"They will leave to us that part of the field where it is possible to use it. This is a very powerful weapon, higher authorities will decide where we will use it," said Tarnavski, Radio Free Europe reports.
According to Tarnavski, cluster munitions will not be used in densely populated areas, even if they were occupied by Russian forces.
"The Russians think that we will use it on all areas of the front, which is by no means true. However, they are very worried," said Tarnavski.
The US previously announced that it had received a written guarantee that Ukraine would not use these weapons in populated areas and that demining operations would be carried out after the end of the war.
Washington says that cluster munitions were sent to Ukraine because of a low supply of standard artillery missiles.
US national security adviser Jack Sullivan said on Tuesday that the supply of cluster munitions is temporary.
"Once missile production reaches a level that can meet Ukraine's needs, then there will be no need to send additional cluster weapons," Sullivan said.
(MINE)
At least one person was killed in the third consecutive night of Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, said the mayor of that city, Vitalii Klitschko.
Air defense shot down all 20 drones launched by Russia in an attack on Kiev and the surrounding region, as well as two Kalibr missiles in other parts of the country, the Air Force announced, writes Reuters.
The fires were started in the capital, and the body was found in the historic Podil district, Klitschko said.
A Kalibr missile and several drones were shot down in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine, but a school and about 10 private houses were damaged and are in ruins, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's cabinet announced.
Heavy fighting continued in Ukraine despite the summit, where Zelensky spoke with Western leaders.
Kiev says its forces are advancing on the front lines in the east and south after launching a counter-offensive in early June, but Russian forces still hold swaths of territory in eastern and southern parts of Ukraine.
Ukraine's anti-aircraft units engaged in drone strikes in and around Kiev for the third night in a row, and emergency services were investigating rubble and explosions in three districts, officials said.
The Kyiv military administration announced that falling debris hit the Solomyansky area in the center of the city, and the injured and the resulting damage are being clarified.
At least two people were injured.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said debris from downed drones damaged one floor of a residential building in Darnytskyi district east of the city, injuring two people.
In the Shevchenkovski district further west, a balcony caught fire. Explosions echoed in other Ukrainian regions, including Khmelnytskyi in the west, Mykolaiv in the south and Zaporozhye in the southeast.
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