The Telegraph published this video item, entitled “Ukraine’s counter-offensive recaptures parts of Luhansk as Russia retreats” – below is their description.
Russian soldiers who refuse to fight during periods of martial law will face stricter punishment, the country’s parliament has decreed, in a sign the Kremlin may be considering full military mobilisation.
Russia’s State Duma rushed through a bill on Tuesday introducing extra penalties for crimes such as desertion during times of martial law and general mobilisation. It also singled out “voluntary surrender” and looting as separate crimes punishable by imprisonment of 10 years and 15 years, respectively.
The bill, which still needs to be signed off by Putin, is the clearest sign yet that the Kremlin is laying the groundwork for general mobilisation, which up until now it has avoided.
It comes amid a lightning-fast Ukrainian counter-offensive and a mounting Russian manpower crisis.
Meanwhile, Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region said on Tuesday that they will hold referenda on becoming part of Russia from September 23 to 27.
According to a poll by state broadcaster RIA Novosti between 80 per cent and 91 per cent of residents in occupied areas are keen to join Russia. Their integration into Russia would represent a major escalation of the military action in Ukraine.
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About This Source - The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph, known online as The Telegraph, is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was founded by Arthur B. Sleigh in 1855 as Daily Telegraph & Courier.
The Donbas or Donbass is a historical, cultural, and economic region in south-eastern Ukraine, and bordering Russia.
In March 2014, following the Euromaidan and 2014 Ukrainian revolution, the Donetsk and Luhansk “People’s Republics” took control of areas within the region with support from Russia. Russia recognised their independence in February 2022. No other country recognises the independence of the areas.
Before the war, the city of Donetsk (then the fifth largest city in Ukraine) had been considered the unofficial capital of the Donbas. Large cities (over 100,000 inhabitants) also included Luhansk, Mariupol, Makiivka, Horlivka, Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, Alchevsk, Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. Now the city of Kramatorsk is the interim administrative centre of the Donetsk Oblast, whereas the interim centre of Luhansk Oblast is Sievierodonetsk.
Lightning is a giant spark of electricity in the atmosphere between clouds, the air, or the ground. Lightning can occur between opposite charges within the thunderstorm cloud (intra-cloud lightning) or between opposite charges in the cloud and on the ground (cloud-to-ground lightning). (Source: NSSL)
Moscow, on the Moskva River in western Russia, is the nation’s cosmopolitan capital. In its historic core is the Kremlin, a complex that’s home to the president and tsarist treasures in the Armoury. Outside its walls is Red Square, Russia’s symbolic center. It’s home to Lenin’s Mausoleum, the State Historical Museum’s comprehensive collection and St. Basil’s Cathedral, known for its colorful, onion-shaped domes.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician and a former officer of the KGB who has served as President of Russia since 2012, previously holding the position from 1999 until 2008. He was also the Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the south.
Russia spans more than one-eighth of the Earth’s inhabited land area, stretching eleven time zones, and bordering 16 sovereign nations. Moscow is the country’s capital.
The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991 and since 1993 Russia been governed as a federal semi-presidential republic. Russia is a major great power, with the world’s second-most powerful military, and the fourth-highest military expenditure. As a recognised nuclear-weapon state, the country possesses the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.
Ukraine is a large country in Eastern Europe known for its Orthodox churches, Black Sea coastline and forested mountains. Its capital, Kiev, features the gold-domed St. Sophia’s Cathedral, with 11th-century mosaics and frescoes. Overlooking the Dnieper River is the Kiev Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, a Christian pilgrimage site housing Scythian tomb relics and catacombs containing mummified Orthodox monks.
Vladimir Putin is a Russian politician and a former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, previously being in the office from 1999 until 2008. He was also Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.
