Russia-Ukraine live news: Rights groups defiant amid crackdown | Russia-Ukraine war News
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say they lost registration in Russia due to reporting on Ukraine abuses.
- A deadly attack on a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk draws international condemnation and calls for accountability.
- Ukrainian officials say at least 50 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in the attack, which Russia has denied responsibility for.
- Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa is imposing a weekend curfew over what it said was a Russian “missile strike threat”.
- The European Union has formally adopted new sanctions against Russia, including bans on the import of coal, wood and chemicals.
- Russia’s justice ministry has revoked the registration of 15 foreign organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Here are all the latest updates:
‘We will continue to work on Russia,’ HRW says
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has vowed to continue documenting Russian rights abuses after Moscow revoked the rights group’s registration for allegedly violating the country’s “current legislation”.
The New York-based organisation said in a series of tweets there is “little doubt” that Russia’s move is in response to the group’s reporting on the war in Ukraine. It is among 15 groups to have their registrations in Russia revoked.
“We will continue to work on Russia, and we will continue to press for the protection of civilians in Russia’s war in #Ukraine,” HRW said.
BREAKING: Russia’s Justice Ministry has deregistered @hrw, after 30 years in #Russia.
The ministry’s statement referred vaguely to Russian legislation, but there is little doubt the move was in response to our reporting on the war in #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/2hMuheyYPJ
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) April 8, 2022
US believes Russia used short-range ballistic missile: Defence official
The US believes Russia used a short range ballistic missile to strike the Kramatorsk train station, a senior US defence official has said.
“We are not buying the denial by the Russians that they weren’t responsible,” the official said.
The US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon believes Russian forces used an SS-21 Scarab missile in the strike but that the motivation for the attack was not clear.
US supports investigations into Kramatorsk train station attack: White House
The White House has said the Biden administration will support investigations into the attack on the Kramatorsk train station, which authorities say was packed with women, children and elderly people.
Several US agencies had previously pledged to assist in gathering evidence of war crimes in Ukraine.
EU to resume diplomatic presence in Kyiv
The European Union has said it will resume its diplomatic presence in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, after temporarily moving it to Poland.
Matti Maasikas, head of the EU delegation in Ukraine, joined top EU officials visiting the country on Friday and will remain in Kyiv to reopen the delegation and assess conditions for staff to return, the bloc’s diplomatic service said.
Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said the move would enhance the EU’s interactions with the Ukrainian government and help support Ukrainian citizens.
Russians bury dead soldiers as nation admits major losses
Russian families have buried relatives killed in Ukraine at ceremonies with automatic gun salutes and military brass bands.
In the southern garrison town of Vladikavkaz, near the Caucasus mountains, relatives gathered for the funeral of Vitaly Dyadyushko, one of two soldiers buried on Friday in the town’s Vostochnoe cemetery. He left behind four sisters and a mother, said local leader Alexander Kusey.
“He was from a large family, and he was the only one who provided for it. I don’t know how the girls will do without him now, he helped a lot,” Kusey said. “He was not married, he did not have a chance, he was young, very young. It’s a shame when the young pass away before their time.”
Ukrainian official says 67 bodies buried in Bucha mass grave
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has said approximately 67 bodies were buried in a mass grave near a church in Bucha.
Venediktova said that 18 bodies – 16 with bullet wounds and two with bullet and shrapnel wounds – had been located so far. Two were women and the rest were men, she said.
“This means that they killed civilians, shot them,” said Venediktova, speaking as workers pulled corpses out under spitting rain. Black body bags were laid in rows in the mud.
Welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Read all the updates from Friday, April 8 here.
