Putin has threatened to double punishment for deserting Russian soldiers amid escalating protests over partial mobilization
Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy has offered to treat deserting Russian soldiers in a “civilized
manner,” according to reports.
Zelenskyy made the appeal to
Russians who run away or surrender at the frontline amid Russian President
order doubling the punishment to deserters, a BBC report says.
Zelenskyy was speaking in Russian,
his first language, after Putin issued a partial mobilization of 300,000 extra
troops.
The report said Russian human
rights organization OVD-Info reported that 700 people were arrested on
Saturday, while more than 1,000 were detained earlier in the week. Unsanctioned
rallies are banned under Russian law.
Zelenskyy urged Russians to
surrender to Ukraine rather than risk being tried as a war criminal after the
conflict.
‘Better to surrender’
Ukraine will treat deserters in
line with international conventions and will not return anyone to Russia if
they feared repercussions, he added.
"It is better to surrender to
Ukrainian captivity than to be killed by the strikes of our weapons," he
added.
The new law that President Putin
signed on Saturday means Russians who “desert, refuse to fight, disobey orders
or surrender now face 10 years in prison.”
The Russian president's moves
are reportedly seen as a bid to regain the initiative lost after the setbacks
on the battlefield.
Hundreds have been arrested as protests
have raged against the mobilization.
Undemocratic referendums
Self-styled referendums on joining
Russia are continuing in four regions of Ukraine: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and
Zaporizhzhia. The move has been condemned widely by Ukraine had the West as
undemocratic amid reports of locals being intimidated into voting.
The votes would pave the way for
Russia to annex the four regions.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov said that any regions voting to join Russia would
receivehis country's protection, and be bound by all laws and doctrines of Russia.
While annexation would not be
recognized internationally, it could lead to Russia claiming that its territory
is under attack from Western weapons supplied to Ukraine, escalating the war
in Ukraine drags on global economy into 2023, OECD says
Recession
clouds gather in Germany, Europe's largest economy
In
Tokyo, Harris calls US-Japan alliance 'a cornerstone'
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AsUkraine worries UN, some leaders rue what's pushed aside
