World Briefing: December 18, 2024
An international war crimes prosecutor said on Tuesday that evidence emerging from mass grave sites in Syria has exposed a state-run "machinery of death" under toppled leader Bashar al-Assad in which he estimated more than 100,000 people were tortured and murdered since 2013. Speaking after visiting two mass grave sites in the towns of Qutayfah and Najha near Damascus, former U.S. war crimes ambassador at large Stephen Rapp told Reuters: "We certainly have more than 100,000 people that were disappeared into and tortured to death in this machine…I don't have much doubt about those kinds of numbers given what we've seen in these mass graves….We really haven't seen anything quite like this since the Nazis," said Rapp, who led prosecutions at the Rwanda and Sierra Leone war crimes tribunals and is working with Syrian civil society to document war crimes evidence and is helping to prepare for any eventual trials. “From the secret police who disappeared people from their streets and homes, to the jailers and interrogators who starved and tortured them to death, to the truck drivers and bulldozer drivers who hid their bodies, thousands of people were working in this system of killing," Rapp said - Reuters
Russia's security service says a 29-year-old Uzbekistan citizen has been detained over the killing of senior general Igor Kirillov and his assistant in Moscow. Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, head of the Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Defence Forces (NBC), was outside a residential block early on Tuesday when a device hidden in a scooter was detonated remotely. Russian security services said the suspect was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence, according to state media agencies. A Ukrainian source told the BBC on Tuesday that the killing was orchestrated by Ukraine's security service - BBC
A September power outage at a California facility of SpaceX, the space venture of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, caused a loss of ground control for at least an hour during a mission that included the first private spacewalk in history, according to three people familiar with the problem. The spacewalk, part of SpaceX's five-day Polaris Dawn mission, was carried out by private astronauts including Jared Isaacman, a fellow billionaire and longtime Musk partner who is now nominated by incoming President Donald Trump to be administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA. The outage, which has not previously been reported, meant that SpaceX mission control was briefly unable to command its Dragon spacecraft in orbit, these people said. The vessel, which carried Isaacman and three other SpaceX astronauts, remained safe during the outage and maintained some communication with the ground through the company's Starlink satellite network. "Not having command and control is a big deal," one of the people familiar with the problem told Reuters. "The whole point of having mission operators on the ground is to have the ability to quickly respond if something happens." - Reuters
Russia's Rosatom is selling its stakes in uranium deposits in Kazakhstan to Chinese-owned companies as the Central Asian nation looks to avoid any international sanctions against Russian-linked assets and a sign of China's growing influence in the region. Kazatomprom, the world's largest producer of uranium, said Uranium One Group -- a unit of Rosatom -- had sold its 49.98 percent stake in the Zarechnoye mine in the Turkistan region to Astana Mining Company, which is owned by China's State Nuclear Uranium Resources Development Company. Kazatomprom maintains its 49.99 percent stake in the venture. Kazatomprom chief Meirzhan Yussupov told The Financial Times in September that sanctions imposed on Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine made it difficult to sell uranium to Western buyers - RFE/RL
Two Ukrainians Linked From Farm to Table Awarded for Moral and Ethical Leadership
A Ukrainian who farms the land and another who transforms products from the country’s bountiful soil and waters into gourmet dishes are this years’s recipients of the Ukrainian-Canadian award, Light of Justice, which recognizes moral and ethical leadership in Ukraine.
Even after almost three years since Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, farmer Gregory Tkachenko and chef Nika Lozovska have managed to overcome extraordinary circumstances to keep their respective businesses alive.
The two were recognized yesterday at a ceremony at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv.
Tkachenko heads the Naporivske agricultural firm in a village in Chernihiv Oblast. It grows potatoes, cereals and berries and produces dairy products such as craft cheeses. Amid significant damage inflicted by Russian forces, and a short-term occupation, he managed to keep the farming operation going almost without interruption and even managed to expand its operations further. He said his farm served as a sanctuary for civilians who had lost power and had no access to food during the darkest days of Russian occupation.
Lozovska is widely-praised chef who owns one of Odesa’s most popular restaurants, Dizyngoff. The establishment in the center of the southern Ukrainian port city has remained open throughout the war despite nearby rocket attacks, checkpoints, sporadic shortages of certain fresh products, frequent power outages and the loss of staff and customers. Lozovska, described as a symbol of the irrepressible resilience which Odesa is renowned for, has been featured on CNN’s Amanpour, Al Jazeera, Sky News and other global outlets. She frequently collaborates with other chefs to highlight Ukrainian cuisine and wines.
Light of Justice is an annual event which recognizes those, who through their actions, embody moral leadership and set an example for society.
This year, the emphasis was on the resilience of Ukrainian business, which remains the backbone of the country even as the country approaches three years of war that have brought waves of rocket and drone attacks, triggered massive power outages and logistical bottlenecks. Yet Ukrainian entrepreneurs keep innovating - all the while preserving job opportunities, paying taxes and supporting the military. Their contribution is invaluable to a battered, wartime economy: more than 65 percent of small- and medium-sized business continue to work. This year’s award recipients have proven that, even in the darkest times, business can act as a shining light for people.
“We are unbeatable are as a people as we have this unique capability of turning misfortune into life lessons that eventually make us stronger,” Lozovska told a packed audience at the ceremony.
Agriculture and food production is not only a tradition or business in Ukraine, but a way of life for tens of thousands of Ukrainians over the centuries. Maintaining what has become known as the ‘breadbasket of Europe,’ they represent the body and soul of the nation.
“The activities of the award winners demonstrate how moral leadership and commitment to their community can improve things for the better - even under the most difficult of conditions - and this corresponds so incredibly well with the meaning of ‘Light of Justice,” said Bishop Borys Gudziak, Metropolitan of Philadelphia, co-founder of the award, and president of the Ukrainian Catholic University.
He added: “Service is not just a job or an effort, it is a calling. Being a light to others means projecting hope and faith in the future, and extending support.”
This year’s ceremony had the added aspect of remembrance, coming as it does ten years since the death of its founder, Anastasia Shkilnyk. Hence, the selection committee decided to celebrate two Ukrainian artists - Mari Cheba and Vlada Buchko - who’ve brought considerable comfort to Ukrainians at home and abroad through their contemporary songs. They’ve also dedicated much time and effort to supporting Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines. The two performed at the awards ceremony.
The Light of Justice award was established in 2010 by a Canadian of Ukrainian descent, Anastasia Shkilnyk, who passed away in 2014, and Archbishop Borys Gudziak in honor of Anastasia’s father, Dr. Michael Shkilnyk, a lawyer and civic and political activist during the liberation movement in Ukraine in 1917-1920.
Previous recipients include community leaders, environmental activists, writers and journalists, artists, volunteers and many others.
More information in the Light of Justice award, including a list of previous recipients, can be found here: https://justice.ucu.edu.ua/en/
