News on the war in Ukraine: Arrest warrants for war crimes against high-ranking Russian officials, Putin’s armaments chief warns of consequences

Former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, and military chief General Valery Gerasimov are accused of “directing attacks on civilian objects,” “causing excessive harm to civilians or damaging civilian objects,” and committing “inhuman acts,” a crime against humanity.

The ICC statement added that there were “sufficient grounds to believe that the two suspects are responsible for missile attacks by Russian forces on Ukrainian electricity infrastructure from October 10, 2022 to at least March 9, 2023.”

A shaven-headed Evan Gershkovich appeared in a Russian court this morning shortly before journalists at the start of a trial on espionage charges that the US reporter denies.

The 32-year-old was seen standing in a glass box with his shirt open and his arms crossed.

The Wall Street Journal reporter is accused by prosecutors of collecting secret information on behalf of the US secret service CIA about a company that manufactures tanks for Russia’s war in Ukraine. If convicted, he faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

He, his newspaper and the US government deny the allegations and say he was merely doing his job as a reporter accredited by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The trial is taking place behind closed doors, meaning the media is excluded and no friends, family members or U.S. embassy staff are allowed to support Gershkovich. Such arrangements are common in espionage or treason trials in Russia.

President Vladimir Putin said Russia was open to the idea of ​​a prisoner exchange related to Gershkovich and that there had been contacts with the United States, but that these had to remain secret.

Two key advisers have presented Donald Trump with a plan to end the war in Ukraine that would require Kyiv to sit down for peace talks with Russia or stop receiving more US weapons.

This strategy would only be feasible if the Republican presidential candidate beats Joe Biden to the White House in November. Conversely, Moscow would threaten increased American support for Ukraine if the country refused to participate in the negotiations.

“We are saying to the Ukrainians, ‘You have to come to the negotiating table, and if you don’t come to the negotiating table, the support of the United States will dry up,'” Kellogg told the news agency.

Russia and Ukraine yesterday returned 90 prisoners of war each in the latest of several regular prisoner exchanges during their 28-month conflict. The United Arab Emirates oversaw the exchange as a mediator.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said most of the released soldiers were privates and non-commissioned officers and the exchange was another step in the process of bringing all prisoners home.

“We will bring everyone else back in the same way,” he said in his evening video address. “We are seeking the truth about everyone – where a person is, what condition they are in, what is required for their return.”

He thanked the United Arab Emirates for facilitating the exchange and promised to continue efforts to bring home those still detained.

The last exchange took place on May 31, when each side handed over 75 prisoners of war, with the United Arab Emirates also acting as a mediator. It was the first exchange in nearly four months.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a post on the messaging service Telegram: “As a result of the negotiations, 90 Russian prisoners of war who were in danger of dying in captivity will be returned from the territories controlled by Kyiv.”

It was said that the Russian prisoners were able to return home, “with the United Arab Emirates acting as humanitarian mediator.”

The released Russian prisoners would be flown to Moscow, where they would undergo medical examinations, the ministry said.

Russia said the prisoners brought home yesterday were in mortal danger.

Ukraine said the returnees included soldiers who defended the Azovstal steel plant during a three-month siege in 2022, as well as others who were captured when Russian forces briefly took over the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

The United Arab Emirates said its mediating role was made possible by maintaining good contacts with both sides.

If the West underestimates the determination of Russia – a major nuclear power – this could have “tragic and fatal” consequences, warned Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who is responsible for arms control in Moscow.

Mr Ryabkov said the West had “underestimated Russia’s readiness to stand up for itself and protect its own interests in any situation.” “I do not even want to assume that this underestimation could be tragic and fatal,” he said.

He said Russia has the means to send signals to the West on nuclear deterrence, but there is a risk that the West could make a mistake.

“There is a risk that their side will make a mistake, and we should not underestimate it. We will try to avoid that,” he said. “Our common task is to prevent the world, and especially the multipolar world, from sliding into nuclear chaos,” Ryabkov said.

In a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Shoigu in 2023, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pointed to the risky behavior of Russian fighter pilots that led to the crash of a US drone in the Black Sea near Ukraine.

Relentless Russian attacks on Ukrainian positions defending the strategically important town of Chasiv Yar in the east are disrupting troop rotations and the delivery of some supplies, soldiers in the region say.

After more than two years of war, Russian ground attacks and airstrikes offer little respite to Ukrainian soldiers defending the eastern Donetsk region.

“We work, you could say, without a break,” said a platoon commander who, in accordance with his brigade’s rules, introduced himself only by his first name, Oleksandr. “That’s why no two days are the same. You always have to be ready to work day and night,” he said on Monday.

According to analysts, Russian troops want to exploit their numerical and armed advantage before Ukrainian forces are reinforced by the promised new military aid from the West, which is already arriving at the front.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said it would take some time for the effects of the new Western weapons to be felt on the front lines. In the meantime, it said, “Russian forces are trying to achieve significant tactical and operational successes” before the weapons arrive.

Elsewhere, Kremlin forces continued their shelling of civilian infrastructure with three airstrikes in the northeastern Kharkiv region on Tuesday, local officials said, although no one was injured.

Russia has been bombing Kharkiv in recent months, apparently to divert some Ukrainian forces from defending Donetsk while creating a buffer zone to prevent Ukrainian attacks across the border. Russia has fired 42 glide bombs at the Kharkiv region in the past 24 hours, authorities said yesterday.

The American and Russian defense ministers spoke by phone in a rare communication between the two powers, with the Russian defense minister warning of an escalation of dangers.

The two sides gave very different accounts of the conversation in which Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov warned Washington against arming Ukraine.

The Pentagon said Mr Austin and Mr Belousov discussed the importance of open lines of communication.

Mr Austin initiated the conversation and it was the first such call since March 2023, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters.

However, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Mr Belousov had warned Mr Austin of the dangers. “AR Belousov pointed out the danger of further escalation of the situation due to the continued supply of American weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces,” the ministry’s statement on Telegram said.

This was the first telephone conversation between US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the new Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, who succeeded Sergei Shoigu in May.