The UK and 37 other countries formally referred Russia on Wednesday to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over atrocities committed during its war on Ukraine.

A preliminary examination of the situation in Ukraine was opened against Russia in 2014, when the Kremlin annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea. However, on Monday, an ICC prosecutor intended to seek authorization to launch an investigation into Russian attacks in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir “Putin’s military machine is targeting civilians indiscriminately and tearing through towns across Ukraine,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.

“An investigation by the International Criminal Court into Russia’s barbaric acts is urgently needed and it is right that those responsible are held to account. The UK will work closely with allies to ensure justice is done,” Truss added.

The referral made by the UK and 37 other nations will now allow the prosecutor to proceed with an investigation without official judicial approval.

The British government has argued that Russia’s indiscriminate use of force against innocent civilians in its war on Ukraine amounts to war crimes for which Putin should be held accountable.

“As a founder member of the International Criminal Court, the UK is willing to provide the necessary technical assistance to support successful convictions,” said Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab.

“The critical task now is to preserve properly all evidence of war crimes. Any Russian leader or officer carrying out orders that amount to war crimes should know they face ending up in the dock of a court and ultimately in prison,” Raab added.

The referral is the largest in the ICC’s history. The majority of countries who joined the UK were European but also included Georgia in the Caucasus and Colombia in South America./aa

At least 227 civilians have been killed and 525 injured since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the UN’s human rights body said Wednesday.

“In total, from 4am on 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation’s military action against Ukraine started, until 12 midnight on 1 March 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 752 civilian casualties in Ukraine: 227 killed (31 men, 25 women, 6 boys, and 3 girls, as well as 6 children and 156 adults whose sex is yet unknown) and 525 injured (42 men, 33 women, 7 girls, and 2 boys, as well as 19 children and 422 adults whose sex is yet unknown),” the OHCHR said in a statement.

The OHCHR believes the “the real figures are considerably higher,” the statement said.

“Most of these casualties were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and air strikes,” it added.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the European Union, US and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

Many countries are also supplying Ukraine with weapons and have shut their airspace to Russian airlines and banned Russian state-run media.​​​​​​​

Russia and Ukraine are set for a second round of peace talks Thursday. The first round was held Monday./aa

Greece’s discriminatory policy towards its Muslim Turkish minority violates its obligations under European Union law, a European political party said Wednesday.

In a letter to the European Commission, the president of the European Free Alliance (EFA), Lorena Lopez de Lacalle, asked about the steps they would take to ensure that Greece’s Muslim Turkish minority can exercise their right to education without compromising their religious duties, the EFA said in a statement.

The letter, which was sent to European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli, expressed the party’s concern about a recent decree banning minority primary schools in the regions where most of Greece’s Muslim Turkish minority is concentrated from closing early on Fridays to allow their students to attend prayers, according to the statement.

“Preventing school children from attending Friday prayers constitutes discrimination against the Muslim community and (there are) fears that the goal of such a decision is ‘assimilation,’ the statement said.

Against this background, the party said: “Will the commission open an investigation to establish whether the actions of the Greek authorities in this case constitute a violation of their obligations under European law?”

The statement also drew attention to the current situation of Turkish minority schools.

It underlined that the number of schools offering curricula in both Turkish and Greek had declined from 230 to 103 in the last two decades.

“Taken together, these measures suggest a deliberate campaign to undermine the community’s rights both to practice their religion freely and to receive education in their native language.”

Long struggle for rights

A Greek court ruling Wednesday denying an application by the Turkish Union of Xanthi, one of the three most important organizations of the Turkish minority of Western Thrace, to reregister came in response to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) more than a decade ago that Greece has never carried out.

Under the 2008 ECHR ruling, the right of Turks in Western Thrace to use the word "Turkish" in names of associations was guaranteed, but Athens has failed to carry out the ruling, effectively banning the Turkish group’s identity.

Greece’s Western Thrace region is home to a Muslim Turkish community of 150,000.

In 1983, the nameplate of the Turkish Union of Xanthi (Iskece Turk Birligi) was removed and the group was completely banned in 1986 on the pretext that “Turkish” was in its name.

To apply the ECHR decision, in 2017, the Greek parliament passed a law enabling banned associations to apply for re-registration, but the legislation included major exceptions that complicated applications.

Turkiye has long decried Greek violations of the rights of its Muslims and the Turkish minority, from closing mosques and shutting schools to not letting Muslim Turks elect their religious leaders.

The measures violate the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne as well as ECHR verdicts, making Greece a state that flouts the law, say Turkish officials./aa

In Kyiv, the sounds of sirens and explosions ring out all through the day and night.

With no end in sight to Russia’s war on Ukraine, many in the Ukrainian capital are still seeking shelter in what seems to be the safest place: underground.

Subway stations, underground car parks and basements of buildings are brimming with people trying to take cover from the bombs and missiles threatening their lives since last week.

They have all reason to be fearful as, according to Ukrainian authorities, over 2,000 civilians have been killed since Russia launched its war on Ukraine on Feb. 24.

For Anya, 23, a metro station “somehow feels safe” because it is “deep enough underground.”

Her house is just 10 minutes from the station where she has taken refuge for six days now.

There are nearly 800 people who have been using the station as a bomb shelter, she said.

“We can’t hear the explosions down there at all,” she told Anadolu Agency.

“Except yesterday’s blast, the one near the television tower,” she said, referring to a Russian strike on a Kyiv TV tower on Tuesday evening.

According to Ukrainian authorities, at least five people were killed and five more injured when two Russian missiles hit the tower, disrupting some access to news and broadcasts.

“Those who were on the street yesterday were very scared because that television tower is very close to this place,” she said.

Anya and many others use a smartphone application that gives alerts whenever air raid sirens go off in the city.

“People who live nearby try to leave the shelter in the mornings to grab some clothes or take a shower,” she said.

“We always check the notifications before going outside,” she said.

According to Anya, there is no shortage of food or water in their underground shelter.

There were some problems initially as we were “confused” during the first few days of the war, but local businesses have since helped us with food and other essential things, she added.

“In such times, it is vital to have faith and not lose hope,” said Anya./aa

The Pentagon announced Wednesday that it postponed the test of Minuteman III ballistic missile launch amid tensions with Moscow after Russian President Vladimir Putin put nuclear forces on alert.

"In an effort to demonstrate that we have no intention in engaging in any actions that could be misunderstood or misconstrued, the Secretary of Defense has directed that our Minuteman III Intercontinental ballistic missile test launch scheduled for this week to be postponed," spokesman John Kirby said at a news conference.

The US is canceling the planned test "to demonstrate we are a responsible nuclear power," said Kirby. "This is not a step backwards in our readiness, nor does it imply that we will necessarily cancel other routine activities to ensure a credible nuclear capability."

Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces be put on high alert Sunday, a move US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the "height of irresponsibility."

Blinken denounced Putin's "provocative rhetoric about nuclear weapons," saying it is "dangerous, it adds to the risk of miscalculation, it needs to be avoided."

More than 2,000 civilians have been killed since Russia launched its war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to Ukrainian authorities, while the UN Refugee Agency estimates more than 874,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, 498 Russian soldiers have been killed and 1,597 wounded in the fighting.

More than 2,870 Ukrainian soldiers and “nationalists” have also been killed, the ministry said Wednesday./aa

The US is ramping up economic sanctions on Russia and Belarus on Wednesday in retaliation for Moscow's ongoing war in Ukraine.

Belarus, a close Kremlin ally, has allowed Russia to use its territory to stage and launch troops for the assault and is reportedly preparing to send its forces into Ukraine.

The flurry of US penalties being imposed includes an extension of existing technology export restrictions already imposed on Russia to now include Belarus, which the White House said "will severely limit the ability of Russia and Belarus to obtain the materials they need to support their military aggression against Ukraine."

The Biden administration is also imposing sanctions on Russia's defense sector, including blacklisting 22 Russian defense-related entities.

The White House did not specify which firms would be affected by the State Department's forthcoming announcement but said they work in the development of "combat aircraft, infantry fighting vehicles, electronic warfare systems, missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles."

The Commerce Department is further imposing export controls on oil and gas extraction equipment to target Russia's ability to refine fossil fuels and designating entities that support Russian and Belarusian "security services, military and defense sectors."

US President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he is banning all Russian aircraft from US airspace, dealing a blow to Russia's passenger and cargo air operations./aa

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry demanded on Wednesday that Russia "immediately cease its hostilities" in Kharkiv and Sumy and arrange the evacuation of the civilian population, including foreign students, to "safer" Ukrainian cities.

"There are students from India, Pakistan, China and other counties who cannot leave because of the indiscriminate shelling and barbaric missile strikes by the Russian Armed Forces on residential areas and civilian infrastructure," it said in a statement.

The statement said Ukraine "stands ready" to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy "should Russia commit to a cease-fire."

"Attempting to arrange evacuations through cities that are being subjected to Russian bombing and missile strikes is extremely dangerous," it said.

The ministry also "urgently" called on the governments of India, Pakistan, China and other counties whose students "have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression" in Kharkiv and Sumy, to demand from Moscow that it allows the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities.

"The Ukrainian government is committed to providing foreign students with all necessary assistance to enable them to return safely to their home countries," it said./aa

The EU is taking measures on cryptocurrencies that are used to circumvent sanctions on Russia, French Minister of the Economy, Finance and the Recovery, Bruno Le Maire, said Wednesday.

He said the effectiveness of European sanctions has caused significant disruption in the Russian financial system, particularly the removal of seven major Russian banks' operations from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, known as SWIFT, a global financial transactions and payments system used between banks worldwide.

"This has also led to paralysis of the Russian central bank. We managed to localize and freeze a significant amount of assets," he said during a video conference of European economy and finance ministers.

"We have decided in addition to work on supplementary measures to increase further the effectiveness of these sanctions, and to avoid any circumvention of the measures decided by the 27 member states," he said. "We are taking measures particular on cryptocurrencies. Crypto assets should not be used to circumvent the financial sanctions.”

Led by Bitcoin, the crypto market has seen more than 15% increase in value since late Sunday -- the day after US and its allies agreed to remove certain Russian banks from SWIFT.

Many crypto analysts believe that Russian oligarchs could have headed to cryptocurrencies to evade the sanctions.

Le Maire said Europe is also extending sanctions to Belarus.

He said sanctions will be monitored on a daily basis with regard to their implementation, effectiveness and any additional ones if they are needed.

"We want to remain flexible and mobilized," he noted./aa

China said Wednesday it refuses to join US and western financial sanctions imposed against Russia.

"We will not join the sanctions, and we will continue our economic, commercial and financial relations with the respective party," Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said at a news conference.

Guo said China is against unilateral sanctions which do not have a legal basis and do not create a positive effect.

Amid Russia's war against Ukraine, the US, the UK, Canada, the EU and other western allies agreed to impose commercial and financial sanctions against Moscow.

The US and its allies agreed Saturday to remove certain Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT -- a global financial transactions and payments system used between banks worldwide.

More than 2,000 civilians have been killed since the start of the war, according to Ukrainian authorities, while the UN Refugee Agency estimates more than 874,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries./aa

Sanctions on Russia may cause higher inflation and energy prices in Europe, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis said Wednesday.

"Europe's sanctions will naturally have implications and a cost for the EU economy. At this stage, they are difficult to calculate reliably," he said at a news conference.

"As deeper sanctions begin to bite, we could see a number of scenarios. For example, higher inflation, more pressure on energy prices, an adverse impact on financial markets. Growth will continue but it will clearly slow," he said.

Dombrovskis said it is important to keep fiscal policy coordinated across the EU and added high-debt member states should begin to rebuild their fiscal buffers gradually.

Dombrovskis emphasized that Europe is ready and it has the ability to withstand any negative effect from the war between Russia and Ukraine.

He also vowed that Europe will continue to put maximum pressure on Moscow as long as it refuses to halt its aggression./aa