June 24, 2022

1. The fate of foreign mercenaries

On June 22nd, AFU command evacuated up to 30 wounded and 8 killed American and British mercenaries to prevent their capture by the Russian Armed Forces and the DPR troops in view of the possible defeat of the units from the 14th and the 24th Mechanised Brigades near Nikolayevka (the DPR).

Two former U.S. soldiers, Alexander Druke and Andy Huhne (see photo), captured by the Russian and the DPR military, as foreign mercenaries. On June 21, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the captured American mercenaries “cannot and are not covered by the Geneva Convention,” and did not rule out the possibility of capital punishment against them through the death penalty.

Russia can’t guarantee that the former Americans servicemen that were captured in Ukraine won’t face the death penalty, he said in an interview with NBC television that was aired on June 21st. "I cannot guarantee anything. It depends on the investigation," he said when asked if he could guarantee that the U.S.prisoners of war won’t face the same fate as Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and Moroccan national Brahim Saadoun who were earlier sentenced to death by a court in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

Earlier, the Russian ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, said that London had addressed Moscow about the British ‘soldiers of fortune’ sentenced to death in the DPR, sending an "arrogant" diplomatic note to Russia. The address is wrong, because those mercenaries fought not with Russia, but rather with the DPR, and therefore they are responsible for several criminal acts done vs the DPR and sentenced in accordance with its Criminal Code.

Europa Press agency has reported the death of a 22-year-old Spanish citizen in Ukraine. A young man aged 22 from Manacor, Mallorca, has been killed in action in Ukraine, Europa Press has written, citing sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Spanish country. According to the agency, the Spaniard died on Saturday, June 18. The place of death and details were not specified.

It is a general practice in Donbass: all foreign mercenaries captured in Ukraine are subject to the DPR and the LPR Criminal Codes that are tougher than that of the Russian one that does not provide capital punishment for criminal crimes (having a maximum possible term – life imprisonment).

2. Other developments

Lithuania has illegally blocked the rail transit of some Russian goods to the country’s Kaliningrad Region on June 18, 2022. Kaliningrad Region is a small Russian exclave that borders Lithuania from the north and east, and Poland from the south.

Vilnius explained the move by stating that the goods in question were sanctioned by the EU in connection with the conflict in Ukraine, and therefore can no longer pass through the bloc's territory even if they travel from one part of Russia to another. Among them are crude oil and oil products, coal, metals, construction materials, advanced technology, glassware, some foods and fertilizers, plus alcohol. According to the region's governor, Anton Alikhanov, the ban means that as much as 40-50% of all goods destined for Kaliningrad could be blocked. He said the move was made in “flagrant violation” of international law and is tantamount to “an attempt to place the region in an economic chokehold.”

Lithuania has broken international law by implementing an economic “blockade” of Russia’s Kaliningrad Region, according to leading Moscow Senator Konstantin Kosachev.

One of the bloggers noted at the RT website: ”German nazis blockaded and starved Leningrad from 1941 to 1944. NATO nazis blockaded and starving Kaliningrad in 2022. Like forefathers like sons.” The other one wrote: “'Casus belli': What Kaliningrad blockade means for Russia”.

Russian experts demand in response from the Government a total economic blockade for Lithuania – blocking it both from Kaliningrad Region and from Byelarus.

It is laughable case when European Commission formally shifted the responsibility for limiting the transit of goods to Kaliningrad to Lithuania, and Lithuania it its turn blamed the EU. It is like the Russian folk saying: “Peter blames Ivan, and Ivan blames Peter” (an equivalent in English:”They ping-pong people from Paul to Peter”).

This was reported by RIA Novosti, citing the official representative of the European Commission, Eric Mamer. According to him, Lithuania has compromised the European Commission (EC) by claiming that the decision to impose restrictions on Kaliningrad exports was made jointly with the EC. This is a sovereign decision of the Lithuanian authorities, Mamer claimed.

At the same time Lithuania continued to expand Kaliningrad blockade, and threatens to cut off a gas pipeline “Minsk-Vilnius-Kaunas-Kaliningrad”.

The restrictions imposed on the transit of freight to the Kaliningrad Region by Vilnus have already affected road traffic, officials of the Russian exclave said on June 21^st. “The partial restriction of freight transit also applies to road vehicles passing through Lithuania. Like [goods transported by] rail, these goods can now only be transported by sea,” the press service of the regional Government in Kaliningrad has said.

The Russian government has blasted Vilnius’ move as an “economic blockade,” with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov calling the decision unprecedented, and in “violation of anything and everything.”

The head of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, vowed there would be a response to the ongoing “blockade,” stating that unspecified actions to be taken by Moscow would “have a serious negative impact on the people of Lithuania.” “Of course, Russia will respond to hostile actions. Appropriate measures are in the works, and will be adopted in the near future,” Patrushev told reporters amid a visit to Kaliningrad on June 21st.

3. Food for thought

“I don’t mean to offend anyone, but it’s obvious to everyone that Mario Draghi is no Silvio Berlusconi and Olaf Scholz is no Angela Merkel,” Dmitry Medvedev wrote on social media, comparing the current and former leaders of Italy and Germany. “The political class of people, who embodied powerful political movements and in some cases entire eras, was replaced with puny individuals who call themselves technocrats,” he said.

The Russian official, who now serves as deputy chair of the National Security Council, said he had witnessed the replacement of the old guard personally during his career. Previously, Europeans had the guts to take action and face the music, if they turned out to be wrong. The modern generation may be largely competent at governing, but they don’t have the personality to take personal responsibility, he said.

“They will hide, weasel out, cite instructions, the state of markets or even climate change, but won’t make decisions. Or when they do, they come disastrously late,” he said.

Medvedev said such politicians cannot command respect because of these personal qualities, as evidenced by the treatment they get from Ukrainian officials.

“Could the Ukrainian ambassador call Chancellor [Helmut] Kohl ‘liverwurst’? Would the current president of Ukraine wear a green T-shirt to a meeting with President [Jacques] Chirac? Of course not,” Medvedev said, referring to the former leaders of Germany and France.

“[Former French president] Charles de Gaulle could object to any American president. Who among the Europeans now could do so without their hands trembling? They don’t think about the future. They are limited by their flaccid electoral goals,” Medvedev observed.

Written by Vladimir P. Kozin