In a career which has spanned four decades, journalist Askold Krushelnycky has seen first-hand the brutality of the Russian regime. But as Ukraine establishes a foothold in Kursk, could the tide finally be turning?

Read the full article here:

Ukraine‘s Foreign Ministry has said Mongolia’s failure to arrest visiting Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, wanted on an international warrant, dealt a severe blow to the international criminal law system.

Putin arrived in Mongolia on Monday for talks likely to focus on a new gas pipeline connecting Russia and China.

An International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued last year against Putin obliges the court’s 124 member states, including Mongolia, to arrest the Russian president and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi said Mongolia’s failure to detain Putin was “a heavy blow to the International Criminal Court and the system of criminal law.

“Mongolia has allowed an accused criminal to evade justice, thereby sharing responsibility for the war crimes,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Ukraine, he said, would work with its allies to ensure Mongolia felt the consequences.

Ukraine urged Mongolia last week to arrest Putin during his visit.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had no worries about any action in connection with the warrant, saying Russia had “a great dialogue” with Mongolia and all aspects of the visit had been discussed in advance.

The ICC warrant accuses Putin of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. The Kremlin has dismissed the accusation, saying it is politically motivated.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said he met his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu on Monday to discuss the situation on the frontline and air defences.

Umerov said on Facebook officials from Ukraine‘s general staff briefed Lecornu on the battlefield situation and the critical needs of Kyiv troops in fighting Russia’s invasion.

Joint defence industries ventures were also discussed, he added.

Russia has said it will make changes to the doctrine that sets out the circumstances in which it might use nuclear weapons.

The current doctrine was set out by President Vladimir Putin in June 2020 in a six-page decree. It states, in part: “The Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to the use of nuclear weapons and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it and (or) its allies, as well as in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation using conventional weapons, when the very existence of the state has been placed under threat.”

As this risk is not defined explicitly, Putin was able to make thinly veiled threats to use Russia’s nuclear arsenal to deter any direct Western response to his despatch of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

Putin’s arms control point man, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, said on Sunday that the planned changes were “connected with the escalation course of our Western adversaries” in connection with the Ukraine conflict. He did not refer to specific events. Public discussion about the nuclear doctrine has been taking place for more than a year and intensified this year after French President Emmanuel Macron floated the possibility – dismissed by NATO alliance partners – that Western troops might be sent to fight in Ukraine.

As children across Ukraine return for the start of the academic year, in the country’s second largest city of Kharkiv they could only do so at an underground school amid Russian bombardment.

Kharkiv’s schools have been teaching children online since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Throughout the ensuing war, the northeastern city has been near the front lines of fighting.

Only one Kharkiv school, purpose-built in May 2024 in an underground metro station, offers in-person lessons.

On Monday, it held the traditional first day of school festivities that are commonplace in Ukraine and other post-Soviet states, with parents bringing bouquets of flowers and children arriving in their best clothes.

“We brought them here because we thought it is safe and our children won’t be afraid of missiles and strikes,” said Tetiana Hubina, a mother of a first-year student starting school.

“They will be safe here,” she said.

A Russian attack on Ukraine‘s northeastern city of Kharkiv on Monday hit a residential area and wounded at least 13 people, local officials said.

The regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said in televised comments that four guided bombs hit garages near residential buildings. City major Ihor Terekhov added that a private house and a sports facility were damaged.

A 60-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man were in a critical condition, Mr Syniehubov said.

The number of strikes at Ukraine‘s second-largest city and surrounding region appeared to drop after Kyiv launched a major incursion into Russia’s western region of Kursk on 6 August.

But in recent days Kharkiv has been pummelled by Russian attacks again.

On Friday, a strike hit a residential building, killing seven people and wounding 97. On Sunday, at least 50 people were injured after Russian missiles struck a shopping mall and events complex.