September 24, 2022 Russia-Ukraine News

We’ve wrapped up our live coverage for today. Find CNN’s latest stories on the Russian invasion here, or scroll through the updates below to read more.

Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelensky called the “partial mobilization” process underway in Russia a “mobilization to graves” in his evening address Saturday.

Zelensky claimed that the Russian government does not care who will be mobilized, be it “a?young IT specialist who did not serve at all, or pensioners who served only in the Soviet army.”

He called on drafted Russian fighters to surrender and said his country’s forces would treat them with civility.

“It is better not to take a conscription letter than to die in a foreign land as a war criminal,” Zelensky continued. “It is better to run away from criminal mobilization than to be crippled and then bear responsibility in the court for participating in the war of aggression.”

Some context: Russia’s move to call on some 300,000 reservists comes in the wake of Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive this month and led to anti-war protests in the country.

Activists have raised concerns about ethnic minorities being disproportionately mobilized, and in one region, local officials say Russia mistakenly drafted people who were supposed to be protected from conscription.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov once again railed against the West in remarks at United Nations General Assembly in New York Saturday, claiming that Western countries are intent on destroying Russia.

Lavrov also brought up other global conflicts that the US has been involved in, using an oft-used whataboutism tactic that US officials view as designed to distract and undermine.

Lavrov asked the participants of the General Assembly “to name a country in whose affairs Washington intervened and where life has become better as a result.”?

He claimed Ukraine is “expandable material” in the fight of the West against Russia. He falsely claimed that “the incapacity of Western countries to negotiate and the continued war by the Kyiv regime against their own people left us with no choice” but to recognize two separatist regions of Ukraine as independent and then to send troops in.?

On Thursday, Lavrov was absent from the UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine for all but his own remarks, in which he dismissed the widespread international condemnation and again blamed Kyiv for Moscow’s invasion. Several officials suggested the top Russian diplomat left the room because he did not want to hear the condemnations.

Alexander John-Robert Drueke, one of the Americans released in a prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia, said he is “very happy” to be home after landing at Birmingham International Airport in Alabama.

Drueke and fellow US POW Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh were freed Wednesday and returned to the US Friday after being captured by Russia while fighting in Ukraine.

As they reunited with family and friends, Drueke hugged his aunt, Dianna Shaw, while Huynh hugged his fiancée’s mother, Darla Black.

Drueke, 39, is from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Huynh, 27, is from Hartselle, Alabama.

Asked if he was glad to be back, Drueke responded, “I’m very happy, thank you.”

Shaw also said that Huynh wanted “a particular fast food” — McDonald’s — on his return, and he got a meal this morning in Atlanta. “He was very, very happy,” she added with a laugh.

More background: The two men initially disappeared in June while fighting Russian forces with Ukraine. Their pro-Russian captors, the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, has governed a breakaway portion of Ukraine’s Donetsk region since 2014.

Even after being captured, their families say the men have no regrets about going over to fight with the Ukrainians.

Five British citizens who were held by Russian-backed forces for months were also released as part of the prisoner swap, which was brokered by Saudi Arabia. And three prisoners who are Moroccan, Swedish and Croatian nationals were released in the swap, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks in Moscow, Russia, on September 20.?

Putin signed a law Saturday that would make it easier for foreigners serving in the Russian military to apply for citizenship.

According to the law, which was published on the official state portal of legal information, foreigners serving in the Russian military can now apply for citizenship without presenting a residence permit, as previously required.?

Those foreigners who have signed a contract with the Russian Armed Forces for at least a year will be eligible for the procedure, according to the amendments, made to the law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation.”

The move comes after Putin announced a “partial mobilization” this week, as Moscow seeks to replenish depleted forces after a?successful counteroffensive?from Kyiv. The move is set to change the scope of Russia’s invasion from an offensive fought largely by volunteers to one that embroils a larger swath of its population.

The announcement unleashed a scramble for some Russians, with social media chatter on platforms like Telegram exploding with people frantically trying to figure out how to get seats in vehicles headed to the borders, with some even discussing going on bicycle.

A queue of cars is seen at a checkpoint on the Russia-Georgia border on September 21, 2022.

Related article Traffic jams and desperation at the border as Russians flee Putin's 'partial mobilization'

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed several amendments to the country’s criminal code today, making wartime punishments for various offenses more severe.

Under the amendments, published Saturday on the government’s legal portal, crimes such as refusing to follow the orders of a senior officer during?wartime, during an armed conflict or combat operations — or the?refusal to participate in military or combat operations during such times — may result in jail?terms of up to 10 years.

The punishment for those sentenced to imprisonment for committing especially grave crimes can now be replaced by forced labor or another milder type of punishment only after at least two-thirds of the imprisonment term has been served, the Kremlin statement said.?

The Russian president also signed a law that would punish the violation of the terms of a state contract in the field of state defense, especially?if such violation?caused damage to the state in the amount of at least 5% of the contract price and at least 5 million rubles (about $86,000), as well as failure to fulfill the contract.?

Exemption from punishment is possible “if violations are voluntarily eliminated,” the Kremlin statement says.

Some context: In the wake of Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive this month, Putin and Russian authorities have taken a series of steps to bolster the country’s military and clamp down on dissent at home.

Some 300,000 reservists have been called into military service in what Putin terms a “partial mobilization.”

Nearly 1,500 anti-war protesters have been detained in cities across Russia since the announcement, with some directly conscripted into the military, according to a monitoring group. The punishment in Russia for refusing the draft is now 15 years in jail.

Mikhail Mizintsev attends a meeting in Moscow, Russia, in 2018.

Russia has replaced its deputy defense minister by appointing?Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev?for the post, the?Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement published Saturday.?

“Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev has been appointed to the post of Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, responsible for the logistics of the Armed Forces,” according to the statement.?

Mizintsev replaces the General of the Army Dmitry Bulgakov, who was relieved of his post due to a transfer to another job, according to the statement.?

The Ukrainian military has said Mizintsev led the siege of the eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.?

Mizintsev also previously led?Russia’s National Defense Management Center and headed the “Russian Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response in Ukraine,” according to state news agency TASS.

Mizintsev?was born in 1962 and graduated from the Kalinin Suvorov Military School in 1980, according to TASS. He was appointed chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Center in December 2014, according to TASS.

Some residents of a Russian republic were called to military service this week despite not being eligible for mobilization, such as fathers of underage children, a local official said.

Aisen Nikolaev, the head of the Sakha Republic, shared the news in a Telegram post on Saturday.

“All who were mobilized by?mistake?must be returned back. This work has already begun,” said?Nikolaev, following a meeting?on President Vladimir Putin’s plan to call on some 300,000 reservists to join the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Nikolaev said authorities will support families of those who have begun military service and will issue them a one-time payment of 200,000 rubles (about $3,430). The families will also be exempt from fees in kindergartens.

Activist groups, such as Free Buryatia Foundation, have said ethnic minorities in Russia are being disproportionately mobilized. CNN has geolocated videos of some of these men being mobilized in Russia’s Far East regions.

A lawmaker from Russia’s main ruling political party United Russia,?which backs President Vladimir Putin,?has filed an application to be sent to fight in the “special military operation” — what Russia calls its war in Ukraine — the party’s press service said Saturday in a statement.?

Oleg Kolesnikov, a member of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition, said he has military experience and is a reserve major, according to the statement.?

“I served in the Soviet army in Poland. I was the commander of a self-propelled artillery gun. I graduated with the rank of Foreman, now a reserve Major. And I must do my duty,” he said.

According to the United Russia statement, applications were also received from Dmitry Khubezov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection; Dmitry Sablin, deputy chairman of the Defense Committee; Vitaly Milonov, deputy chairman of the Committee on Family, Women and Children; and?Sergei Sokol,?deputy chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy and Secretary of the Khakass Regional Branch of United Russia.?

The? applications will be considered by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the party said.?

“Several regional and municipal deputies of United Russia are going to join the special military operation, many of them decided to volunteer,” the statement said.

Some background: The announcement comes as protesters demonstrated in cities across Russia against Putin’s declaration of “partial mobilization” this week to support the war in Ukraine. Some detained protesters were directly conscripted into the military, according to a monitoring group.

Experts say Russia’s forces have been?significantly depleted. The announcement would see?300,000 reservists?called up, according to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

In an early sign of how seriously Moscow is ramping up its efforts, the Human Rights Council of Russia has proposed that immigrants from central Asian countries who have had Russian citizenship for less than 10 years will undergo compulsory military service in Russia for a year.

Nearly 1,500 protesters have been detained across Russia since Sept. 21, when President Vladimir Putin announced a “partial mobilization” plan calling more Russians into military service,?according to the independent protest monitoring group?OVD-Info.?

The group said?1,472 anti-mobilization protesters have been detained so far between Sept. 21-24 in cities across Russia, but the number of those detained may be higher.?

Over the last 24 hours, at least?97 people have been detained in eight cities, including?Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Tomsk, Khabarovsk, Ulan-Ude, Krasnodar, Chita and Gatchina,?OVD-Info said.?

Earlier this week, the same monitoring group reported that some protesters were conscripted directly into the military following their arrest.

About 18,550 citizens in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic took part in a referendum organized by Russia-backed?authorities on the first day of voting, a separatist leader told Russian state media RIA Novosti.

The referendums, taking place in four parts of Ukraine under Russian control, have been widely denounced by Western governments as a sham. The European Union has said it won’t recognize the results and has indicated it is preparing a new package of sanctions against Russia.

State media said the?so-called?Central Election Commission?of the DPR?claimed?turnout at the end of the first day of voting in the referendum was 23.64%.

Another Russian official claimed that overall turnout on the first day of voting exceeded 15% in the four regions: the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, RIA reported.

For context: Observers say it seems unlikely that such a rushed process, in areas where many voters live close to the frontlines of the conflict, can be successful or fair. Additionally, because of widespread internal displacement since the beginning of the conflict, voting databases are likely out of date.

Ukrainian Emergency Service members work at a mass burial site in Izium, Ukraine, on September 19.?

Ukrainian officials completed the exhumation of 436 bodies from a mass burial site in Izium on Friday, according to Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv region military administration.

Most of the bodies have signs of violent death, and 30 have traces of torture, Syniehubov said in a Telegram post.

Syniehubov vowed to find out the circumstances of each of their deaths “so that their relatives and friends know the truth and the killers are punished.”

He?thanked?200 individuals — forensic experts, police officers and employees of the State Emergency Service, who he said had been working there every day for their “morally difficult but necessary work.”

Syniehubov also said there are at least three?more?mass burial sites in other liberated areas of the Kharkiv region.

“All crimes of the occupiers will be documented, and the perpetrators will pay for what they have done,” Syniehubov said.

A service member of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) casts his vote during a referendum on joining LPR to Russia, at a military unit in Luhansk, on Friday.

President Joe Biden said the United States will never recognize Russia’s referendums in occupied parts of Ukraine.?

The President said the US will continue to work with allies to “impose additional swift and severe economic costs on Russia.

“The United States stands with our partners around the world — and with every nation that respects the core tenets of the UN charter — in rejecting whatever fabricated outcomes Russia will announce,” the statement said.

Some background: Four Russian-occupied areas began voting Friday in?referendums?on joining Russia, according to their separatist leaders, in a move that raises the stakes of Moscow’s invasion.

The referendums, which are illegal under international law and dismissed as a sham by Western governments and Kyiv, could pave the way for Russian annexation of the areas, allowing Moscow to frame the ongoing?Ukrainian counteroffensive?as an attack on Russia itself.

Erik Mose, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, attends an interview after a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on September 23.

A United Nations panel of experts says their investigation has found evidence that war crimes have been committed during Russia’s war in Ukraine, including cases of rape and torture of children.

The panel said that it had identified two incidents of ill-treatment of Russian soldiers in Ukrainian captivity.

The three human rights experts on the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine traveled to Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy, visiting 27 towns and interviewing more than 150 people.

Speaking at the UN Security Council on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the “increased activity of international justice,” calling it “undoubtedly a put-up job.”

The Commission said “some Russian Federation soldiers” have been responsible for sexual and gender-based violence.

“These acts amounted to different types of violations of rights, including sexual violence, torture, and cruel and inhuman treatment. There are examples of cases where relatives were forced to witness the crimes,” it added.?

M?se also noted that a number of attacks investigated by the panel “had been carried out without distinguishing between civilians and combatants, including cluster munition attacks and airstrikes on populated areas.”

Commission members “were struck by the large number of executions in the areas that we visited,” M?se added.

“Common elements of such crimes include the prior detention of the victims as well as visible signs of executions on bodies, such as hands tied behind backs, gunshot wounds to the head, and slit throats,” he reported. “Some of the victims reported that after initial detention by Russian forces in Ukraine, they were transferred to the Russian Federation and held for weeks in prisons. Interlocutors described beatings, electric shocks, and forced nudity, as well as other types of violations in such detention facilities.”

Residents cast their ballots in controversial referendum in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on September 23.

Four Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine began voting in?referendums?on joining Russia Friday, according to their separatist leaders. The referendums are illegal under international law and dismissed as “a sham” by Western governments and Kyiv.

Here’s what governments around the world are saying:

United Kingdom:

The outcome of “sham” secession referendums in four Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions is “almost certainly already decided,” the UK ambassador to Ukraine said on Friday.

“There will be results publicised of something that didn’t happen. I wonder whether anyone will even be called to vote. They won’t need to. The outcome is almost certainly already decided,” Melinda Simmons?said on Twitter.?

Switzerland:

”Switzerland condemns sham?referendums in parts of Ukraine” the Swiss Federal Council said in a statement on Friday, adding that ”the?referendums currently taking place in Ukrainian territories partially occupied by Russia do not conform with the law and are illegal under international law.”

Condemning the violation, the Federal Council also said it “will not recognize the results of any of these sham?referendums.”

The President of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis clearly stated this position to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York on Wednesday when representatives from countries around the world met for the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, the statement added.

NATO (A US-led alliance)

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the plan to hold so-called ‘referenda’ on joining the Russian Federation in the Ukrainian regions partly controlled by the Russian military,” the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s principle decision-making body said in a statement.??

“Allies do not and will never recognize Russia’s illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea. Sham referenda in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions of Ukraine have no legitimacy and will be a blatant violation of the UN Charter.?NATO Allies will not recognize their illegal and illegitimate annexation,” the council added.??