Day 270: Explosions Rock Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine to Investigate Alleged War Crimes

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Facts

  • Ukraine on Sunday said it will look into Russian allegations of war crimes following the emergence of video footage that appeared to show its forces executing Russian troops trying to surrender. Ukraine’s deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna, however, stated that “it is very unlikely” the edited clips show what Russia claims. Moscow opened a criminal investigation on Friday.1
  • This comes as renewed explosions reportedly occurred around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Sunday, which Russia and Ukraine have exchanged blame for. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has condemned the attacks — which it says likely come from both sides — as 'extremely disturbing.' No critical damage has so far been reported.1
  • Elsewhere, Ukraine will reportedly begin voluntary evacuations from the recently liberated Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, according to an official. This comes in anticipation of a perilous winter following Russian damage to infrastructure.2
  • Meanwhile, on Saturday, Ukraine's prosecutor general Andriy Kostin said that 437 children are among more than 8.3k civilians killed since the start of the war in February. 11k have also reportedly been injured, though the numbers are likely higher, he said. This follows a Nov. 14 UN report stating that 408 children were among 6,557 people killed, and 750 others were among 10,074 injured.3
  • On the ground, three civilians were reportedly killed and 16 others injured in Russian attacks in the last 24 hours, according to Ukrainian officials. The deaths and 11 injuries occurred in Kherson, while one civilian was injured in Dnipropetrovsk and two more each in Kharkiv and Donetsk.4

Sources: 1Al Jazeera, 2CNN, 3New York Times and 4UKRINFORM.

Narratives

  • Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by PBS NewsHour. This invasion is an egregious violation of international law. Putin's ultimate aim is to restore the Soviet empire, even if it takes massive bloodshed and false pretexts such as calling the 2014 Ukrainian revolution after an election a 'coup'. This unprovoked attack is the latest chapter in Putin's Orwellian attempt to rewrite history.
  • Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by National Security Archive. NATO and the US have ignored Russia's security concerns by breaking its promise not to expand eastward in return for German reunification. These concerns are legitimate and taking them seriously would have avoided the Ukraine tragedy.