The United Nations on Wednesday cited “credible allegations” that Moscow’s forces forcibly brought Ukrainian children to Russia, while Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of profiting from the easing of the grain blockade.
Kyiv, meanwhile, said its forces had recaptured significant areas south-east of Kharkiv in a counter-offensive that experts say could threaten key Russian supply routes.
As Europe braced itself for a winter of reduced energy supplies, the European Commission proposed a range of measures to control skyrocketing energy prices and punish Moscow for invading Ukraine, including a price cap on Russian gas.
“We are facing an extraordinary situation because Russia is an unreliable supplier and is manipulating our energy markets,” warned EU boss Ursula von der Leyen.
“Our unity and solidarity will ensure that we prevail,” she added.
– Abusive “Filter” program –
In Washington and at a UN Security Council meeting, Moscow was accused of forcing large numbers of Ukrainian non-combatants into detention camps and even prisons via a Kremlin-led “filtration program” and removing children from the war zone to be handed over to adoptive parents in Russia .
“We are concerned that the Russian authorities have introduced a simplified procedure for granting Russian citizenship to children without parental care and that these children could be adopted by Russian families,” said Ilze Brands Kehris, UN Deputy Secretary-General for Human Rights, said the Security Council.
She said Russian forces subject Ukrainians in occupied territories to invasive security checks that have resulted in numerous human rights violations.
Some Ukrainians believed to be close to the Ukrainian government or military have been tortured and forcibly removed and taken to Russian penal colonies and other detention centers, she said.
The US State Department said the office of Russian President Vladimir Putin directly directs the resettlement of Ukrainians to Russia and is doing so as part of a plan to annex occupied territories.
“Russia has systematically used the practice of forced deportations before, and the fear and misery it induces for people forced to live under Kremlin control is difficult to exaggerate,” said the foreign ministry’s deputy spokesman, Vedant Patel.
But Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya called the allegations baseless, saying what has been called “filtration” is merely the registration of Ukrainians willingly fleeing the war to Russia.
“As far as we can tell, similar procedures are being used against Ukrainian refugees in Poland and other European Union countries,” he told the Security Council.
– Putin says Europe will take the grain –
Putin accused Europe of exploiting Russia’s lifting of a blockade on Ukraine’s grain exports to help itself while depriving poorer countries of essential food.
Official data collected by a joint center in Istanbul that oversees implementation of the latest grain export deal shows that 30 percent of the grain reaches low- and middle-income countries.
Data compiled on Wednesday showed Turkey receiving 20 percent of the grain, followed by Spain (15 percent) and Egypt (10 percent).
But much of the grain that reaches Turkey and some other destinations is then resold under deals not overseen by the Istanbul center.
“Almost all grain exported from Ukraine is not delivered to the poorest developing countries, but to EU countries,” Putin claimed.
European countries acted as “colonialists,” he said, “once again they simply deceived developing countries.”
“Perhaps we should consider limiting the export of grain and other products along this route?” he said.
A US official dismissed Putin’s statements as untrue, noting that some of the grain sent to Europe was then processed for poor nations.
– Ukraine advances near Kharkiv –
Late Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kiev forces had retaken several settlements in the Kharkiv region, although he refused to name them.
The US War Research Institute, which is following the fighting in detail, said Ukraine’s counterattack was near Balakliya and likely drove Russian forces back to the north side of the Severskyi Donets and Serednya Balakliika rivers.
It appears that Ukrainian forces have also recaptured Verbivka and that Russian forces may have destroyed bridges to prevent Ukrainian fighters from pursuing them, ISW said.
“Russia’s deployment of forces from Kharkiv and eastern Ukraine to southern Ukraine is likely to allow for Ukrainian counterattacks on occasion,” it said.
