Ukraine and its allies were trying to “impose on us a completely different narrative about Russian aggression,” Lavrov argued. Lavrov was nearly 90 minutes late to the Security Council meeting and appeared to want to leave as soon as he finished his speech. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley, speaking at the post-Lavrov Council meeting, said the UK would support Ukraine all the way and for as long as it takes. He smartly said that Russia tried to “put the blame on those who impose sanctions” and that “every day, the devastating consequences of Russia’s invasion become clearer.” He cleverly said of Lavrov: He has left the room, I am not surprised. I don’t think Mr. Lavrov wants to hear the collective condemnation of this council. “He left the room, I’m not surprised, I don’t think Mr Lavrov wants to hear the collective condemnation of this council,” says Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov left the meeting.https: / /t.co/X3flQUCiPZ 📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/8pymw5lIqw — Sky News (@SkyNews) September 22, 2022 Updated at 18.05 BST Important events Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature Boris Johnson said the UK must be ready to provide “more military aid” and “more financial support” to Ukraine. Speaking in the Commons today, the former prime minister said it was “more vital than ever” that Britain had “the strategic patience to hold our nerve” and ensure the Ukrainians succeed in retaking their territory. Johnson added: If Putin is going to redouble his aggression, then we must redouble our defense of the Ukrainians, and we must be ready to provide more military aid and more financial support.
Jailed anti-war protesters among thousands handed over drafts, rights group says
Thousands of men across Russia have been handed drafts after Vladimir Putin announced a partial military mobilization. First video shows guests in Moscow saying goodbye to crying mothers. Similar scenes unfolded in hundreds of Russian cities and towns today. Some Moscow reservists I spoke to say they are also leaving for training tonight, will probably be frontline in ~2-3 weeks pic.twitter.com/xhBMNT5Oiv — Mary Ilyushina (@maryilyushina) September 22, 2022 Those summoned after the Russian president’s announcement yesterday include Russians detained while protesting in cities across the country, rights group OVD-Info said. A protester in Moscow has been told he faces 10 years in prison for refusing to take a conscription order, it said. In a statement, OVD-Info said: Information was received from 15 police stations that those arrested were served with a summons at the military registry office. Another protester told The Moscow Times that the male protesters were given drafts at the police station. He told the paper: There was a military recruiting officer who gave the arrested draft notices. When the first person was asked to go into a separate room, we didn’t understand what was going on — but when he came back with a clipping, we started crying. Earlier today, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to deny reports that some protesters had received drafts, saying only: “This is not against the law.” Updated 18.08 BST Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk wrote for us today about how Vladimir Putin’s mobilization will make war real for thousands of Russian families and proves that he is failing to hold the front line. Ukrainians feel hope, not fear, he writes. Instead of thinking about Putin’s speech, many Ukrainians celebrated the exchange of 215 Ukrainian prisoners of war that took place on the same day. Among them were fighters from the Azov battalion, members of the national guard, the head of Mariupol’s patrol police and a nine-months-pregnant nurse who had spent six months in prison. Exhausted, thin and wearing the same clothes they were wearing when they were arrested in May 2022, many had the chance to call their relatives for the first time in months. “The best soil in the world,” said one of the fighters, kneeling down and kissing the earth. Read the full story here: Updated 18.02 BST Russians fleeing the partial mobilization ordered by Vladimir Putin will not receive humanitarian visas from the Czech Republic, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said. In a statement obtained by Agence-France-Presse, Lipavský said: I understand that Russians are fleeing from the increasingly desperate decisions that Putin is making. But those who leave their country because they do not want to fulfill a duty imposed by their own state do not meet the criteria to receive a humanitarian visa. Earlier today, German Interior Minister Nancy Feiser suggested that Russian defectors might be able to gain protection in Germany. Updated at 18.03 BST
Lavrov leaves the UN Security Council meeting
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov walked out of a UN Security Council meeting after accusing Ukraine and its Western allies of “impunity” in Donbas. Ukraine and its allies were trying to “impose on us a completely different narrative about Russian aggression,” Lavrov argued. Lavrov was nearly 90 minutes late to the Security Council meeting and appeared to want to leave as soon as he finished his speech. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley, speaking at the post-Lavrov Council meeting, said the UK would support Ukraine all the way and for as long as it takes. He smartly said that Russia tried to “put the blame on those who impose sanctions” and that “every day, the devastating consequences of Russia’s invasion become clearer.” He cleverly said of Lavrov: He has left the room, I am not surprised. I don’t think Mr. Lavrov wants to hear the collective condemnation of this council. “He left the room, I’m not surprised, I don’t think Mr Lavrov wants to hear the collective condemnation of this council,” says Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov left the meeting.https: / /t.co/X3flQUCiPZ 📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/8pymw5lIqw — Sky News (@SkyNews) September 22, 2022 Updated at 18.05 BST Speaking at the UN Security Council meeting, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken accused Vladimir Putin of “destroying” the international order “before our eyes”. Russia’s president had added “fuel to the fire” by announcing mobilization and planning “referendums” in occupied Ukrainian territories and must be held accountable for his actions, Blinken said. We cannot – will not – let President Putin get away with it. Blinken said it was critical to show that “no nation can redraw another’s borders by force,” adding: If we fail to defend this principle when the Kremlin violates it so flagrantly, we send the message to attackers everywhere that they can ignore it, too. Updated at 17.03 BST International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan said there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that crimes within the court’s jurisdiction have been committed in Ukraine. Speaking to the UN security council, Khan said the priorities of the ICC’s investigation were the deliberate targeting of civilian objects and the transfer of populations from Ukraine, including children. Updated at 16.49 BST Piotr Sauer Hours after Vladimir Putin shocked Russia by announcing the first mobilization since World War II, Oleg received his draft papers in the letterbox, ordering him to the local recruitment center in Kazan, the capital of the republic of Tatarstan. As a 29-year-old sergeant in the Russian reserves, Oleg said he always knew he would be first in line if mobilization was called, but held out hope that he would not be forced to fight in the war in Ukraine. “My heart sank when I got the call,” he said. “But I knew I had no time for despair.” He quickly packed all his belongings and booked a one-way ticket to Orenburg, a city in southern Russia near the border with Kazakhstan. Map “I will cross the border tonight,” he said in a telephone interview Thursday from Orenburg airport. “I have no idea when I will set foot in Russia again,” he added, referring to the prison sentence Russians face for avoiding conscription. Oleg said he is leaving behind his wife, who is due to give birth next week. I will miss the most important day of my life. But I’m just not letting Putin turn me into a murderer in a war I don’t want to be a part of. The Kremlin’s decision to announce a partial mobilization has led to a rush among military-age men to leave the country, likely triggering a new, possibly unprecedented brain drain in the coming days and weeks. The Guardian spoke to more than a dozen men and women who had left Russia since Putin announced the so-called partial mobilization or who plan to do so in the coming days. Read the full story here: Updated at 16.36 BST The Finnish government is considering ways to drastically reduce Russian tourism and transit through Finland, the country’s prime minister, Sanna Marin, said. Her comments came after Finland’s border guard said traffic reaching the country’s eastern border had “intensified” overnight after Vladimir Putin ordered a partial military mobilization. Some 4,824 Russians arrived in Finland through the country’s eastern border on Wednesday, an increase of 1,691 compared to the same day last week, it said. Border traffic remained heavy on Thursday but was under control, he added. Inbound traffic at the eastern border increased overnight. Traffic has increased…
