War in Ukraine: 11 Russian drones shot down, international probe requested, Russian guilty… Update on the situation

11 Russian drones shot down

Russia launched 14 drones and five missiles over Ukraine overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, the Ukrainian Air Force said Thursday, citing an air defense system that destroyed 11 drones. The Air Force said on Telegram that Russia had primarily targeted southern Ukraine. Two people were wounded in the attack targeting Odessa, the region’s governor, Oleh Kiper, said on Telegram.

“Despite the effective and successful work of air defense in repelling enemy attacks, an industrial facility in Odessa was unfortunately hit, and civilian infrastructure and residential buildings were damaged”, he said. Reuters was unable to independently verify this information. Russia had no immediate comment.

Zelensky has called for an international investigation

Russia accused Ukraine on Wednesday of shooting down a military transport plane intended for a prisoner swap with 65 Ukrainian soldiers, condemning the act of barbaric terrorism that killed a total of 74 people in the Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine.

Ukraine remained silent on this issue for several hours, needing to take time to clarify the situation. Representatives in Kiev have since neither confirmed nor denied the downing of the Russian aircraft.

An emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council will be held this Thursday, January 25 evening at the request of Moscow. For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an international investigation into the matter on Wednesday evening.

Nationalist Girkin was sentenced to four years in prison

Russian nationalist activist Igor Gerkin was sentenced to four years in prison for inciting extremism this Thursday, months after he sharply criticized President Vladimir Putin and the General Staff for the conduct of the war in Ukraine.

The former FSB (Federal Security Service) officer, who took part in the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and founded a pro-Russian militia in eastern Ukraine at the time, also mentioned the possibility of running as a candidate in the presidential election next March. He was arrested last July after forming a “club of angry patriots” with the aim of protecting Russia from the threat of chaos caused by the military coup in Ukraine.

On July 18, in a message on his Telegram account followed by more than 760,000 people, he personally insulted Vladimir Putin by urging him to transfer power. “Someone really competent and responsible”.

Also known as Igor Strelkov, Igor Gerkin was sentenced in absentia in the Netherlands in 2022 to life imprisonment for his role in the downing of a Malaysia Airlines airliner over eastern Ukraine in 2014, in which 298 people died.

He denied any involvement. Igor Gerkin was sentenced to four years in a penal colony by a Moscow court on Thursday.

Russian woman convicted of killing pro-war blogger Tatarsky

Daria Trepova, a 26-year-old Russian arrested last year in connection with the murder of nationalist blogger Vladlen Tatarski, was sentenced to 27 years in prison on terrorism charges this Thursday.

The young victim was convicted of offering a statuette bearing her image containing a bomb that exploded in the activist’s hand while he was speaking at a cafe in Saint Petersburg in April 2023. Daria Trepova said she was manipulated and believes it. The statuette contained a listening device to gain more information about the war, which she opposed.

At her trial, she said she acted at the behest of a man in Ukraine, whom she knew by the German nickname “Gestalt” (Form), and who, she said, sent her money and instructions for several months after the attack.

Prosecutors charged him “Deliberately acted with the aim of destabilizing the Russian Federation and discrediting special military operations”, the name given by Moscow to the invasion of Ukraine. Daria Trepova’s lawyer also presented her client as a victim, who was sitting a few meters away from Vladlen Tatarsky when the bomb exploded.

Kyiv has never claimed responsibility for the assassination or denied its involvement. Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, called the case “domestic terrorism”.