Wars 2022 02/24 Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Saif]

Bringing back Bangladeshis trafficked to Russia's warfront

The disclosure by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine that Bangladeshis were among the nationals of 29 countries trafficked to Russia's warfront with Ukraine is, in a word, shocking. What is further disturbing is the UN Commission's finding that it was the Russian auth

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Bringing back Bangladeshis trafficked to Russia's warfront

File photo


The disclosure by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine that Bangladeshis were among the nationals of 29 countries trafficked to Russia's warfront with Ukraine is, in a word, shocking. What is further disturbing is the UN Commission's finding that it was the Russian authorities which had been coordinating with agents operating in different countries to lure men, mostly from economically vulnerable backgrounds, with offers of well-paid civilian jobs. The Bangladeshi victims were reportedly issued business visas against invitations from a civilian company in Russia. But instead of the promised jobs, the recruits, on arrival, were forced to sign contracts, written in Russian language, with that country's defence ministry. In cases, their passports and phone sets were confiscated before they were rushed to the Ukrainian warfront, often with little training. Many have been killed or gone missing. Evidently, the sequence of events that led to the victims' discovering themselves in a battlefield bear the marks of an organised transnational trafficking network.

The question is, how Bangladesh is going to respond to this grave violation of its citizens' human rights. Since, diplomatically, Russia is no stranger to Bangladesh, there should be room for Dhaka to raise the issue at the highest diplomatic level and ask Moscow why and under whose authority people who went there seeking employment found themselves fighting a war that is no concern of theirs. Since the findings come from an independent UN inquiry and point to the involvement of Russian authorities, Moscow cannot simply wash its hands of the responsibility by blaming unscrupulous recruiting agents. Also, the government should lodge a protest, demand immediate discharge and repatriation of the surviving Bangladeshis, including the injured and disabled and ensure return of the bodies of those killed. It should also press for adequate compensation for affected families.

At this point, it is important to distinguish between one who willingly joins a foreign country's armed forces and someone who is driven by deception or under duress to do so. The UN inquiry has been categorical that the latter are trafficking victims, not mercenaries. That these men have been turned into cannon fodder in a war not of their making is inhuman. The distress of families which have lost contact with their sons or husbands can only be imagined. Under the circumstances, the foreign and expatriates' welfare ministries need to work jointly to establish how many Bangladeshis travelled to Russia on work, business or tourist visas, identify those trapped in military service and contact the families. In cases of capture by Ukrainian forces, consular support through the appropriate international humanitarian agencies also needs to be sought. Meanwhile, the law-enforcement agencies must identify and bring to justice local recruitment rackets and their collaborators, seeking help, where necessary, from international anti-trafficking bodies.

But why are so many young men vulnerable to such monstrous deception? The answer, at least in part, lies in the country's acute unemployment problem and the shrinking opportunities for decent work. Thousands of youths, including educated ones, are ready to borrow heavily or sell family assets in the hope of securing a job abroad. The desperation is exactly what traffickers exploit. Of course, no degree of joblessness can justify trapping an unsuspecting jobseeker and making him a combatant against his will. Still, jailing traffickers or tightening overseas recruitment checks would address only a part of the problem. The government must also create conditions for productive investment, expand skill training and generate employment at home, especially for the youth. So, along with firm diplomatic action to rescue those already trapped, Bangladesh needs a sustained policy to stop its young jobseekers from becoming easy prey to international trafficking networks.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/europe/320125/russian-drone-strike-kills-14-at-ukraine-train-station

Russian drone strike kills 14 at Ukraine train station
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on October 29, 2026, Ukrainian rescuers carry an injured person on a stretcher following an air attack on the railway station in Dnipro, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. | AFP photo.

A Russian drone slammed into a busy platform at a railway station in Ukraine’s Dnipro on Thursday killing at least 14 people in what President Volodymyr Zelensky called a ‘horrific’ attack that demands a response from Kyiv’s allies.

The strike came as Ukraine and Russia strive to uphold a fragile local ceasefire in the ravaged city of Oleshky — under Russian occupation since 2022 and where residents have faced months of food, water and medicine shortages.

The truce was holding into its third day, both countries said, with the Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets announcing that he had ‘set out with the Ukrainian delegation towards Oleshky’ through Belarus and Russia.

But elsewhere, Moscow continued to pummel Ukraine.

The strike at the Dnipro train station hit a platform ‘where a regular commuter train and a regular passenger train were standing’, Zelensky said.

By early Thursday afternoon, Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha said the death toll from the strike had risen to 14.

Another 14 had been wounded, he said, adding that six of them were in severe condition after suffering ‘multiple shrapnel wounds’, including an 11-year-old boy and a man who had ‘both legs amputated’.

Zelensky slammed the attack as ‘horrific’ and insisted that ‘sanctions against Moscow and its war machine must not be eased for as long as this Russian war continues’.

Images released by Ukrainian emergency services showed bodies on the platform, rescuers helping victims to safety and two burnt-out passenger trains with their windows shattered.

French President Emmanuel Macron reacted with outrage to the attack, stressing the need for ‘far more than a localised ceasefire’ like the one in Oleshky.

‘It is intolerable that Russia continues to reject all proposals to this end, choosing instead to pursue escalation and target civilians,’ he said on X.

Russia has fired drones on trains across Ukraine since the first days of its 2022 invasion — destroying hundreds of locomotives and killing several railway workers.

Ukraine’s air force said it had intercepted three jet-powered drones in a daytime attack, but that a fourth evaded its defences and hit the station.

In the aftermath of the attack, Zelensky refreshed his criticism of a deal struck this month between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to ease some sanctions on Russia allowing Moscow to release diesel onto global markets.

‘How many such terrorist strikes has Russia carried out against our people since sanctions were lifted on some Russian oligarchs and the energy sector, instead of de-escalating,’ he asked.

At least six others were killed across Ukraine in separate Russian attacks, according to local officials.

A strike on the city centre of Chernigiv, north of Kyiv, killed two 15-year-old girls and wounded nearly two dozen others, including four children, the head of the city’s military administration, Dmytro Bryzhynsky, said.

A drone also slammed into a multi-storey residential building in the central city of Kremenchuk, killing three and wounding several — including a six-year-old — the local governor said.

Russia has intensified drone and missile attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks, hitting energy sites around major cities in what Kyiv says is a bid to plunge the country into cold and darkness throughout the winter.

The Kremlin earlier this week vowed not to let up in the overall pace of the war even as the sides prepare to restart stalled talks under US mediation.

Zelensky said on Wednesday it would be a ‘huge success’ if the local ceasefire in Oleshky — brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump — allowed for the evacuation of stranded citizens.

Locals trapped there have resorted to hunting and eating pigeons in recent months, former residents in touch with those in the city said.

Russia and Ukraine are to meet next month with US envoys to discuss ways to end Europe’s worst conflict since World War II, with no firm dates set for the talks yet.

Several previous rounds have failed to move the sides closer to a deal.

Russia demands more territory in eastern Ukraine and sweeping military and political restrictions on Kyiv.

Ukraine and its allies say ceding ground to Moscow would be tantamount to a capitulation and leave Kyiv vulnerable to future Russian attacks.​

 

[Saif]

Russia's blockade of Ukraine is a threat to global food security — and Bangladesh should take note

Joint statement by the ambassadors and high commissioners of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain to Bangladesh: Michael Miller, Sarah Cooke, Ajit Singh, Christian Brix Møller, Jean-Marc Séré-Charlet, Rüdiger Lotz...

en.prothomalo.com

Russia's blockade of Ukraine is a threat to global food security — and Bangladesh should take note

Russia has recently stepped up attacks targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. Reuters

At a time when 7.8 per cent of the world’s population faces hunger, one of the world’s most important grain routes is again under attack. Russia is choking off Ukraine’s ability to export food through the Black Sea, the Danube River and overland corridors. Its deliberate strikes on ports, warehouses, inland logistics, shipping and agricultural infrastructure are an assault on global food security, disrupting trade, energy and fertiliser markets.

This is a hard economic and humanitarian fact: when grain cannot leave Ukraine, global markets tighten, prices rise and vulnerable countries pay the price.

The timing could hardly be worse. As Ukraine entered the harvest season in August, attacks on transport routes and export facilities trapped grain, oilseeds and other agricultural products inside the country. Grain exports in August were cut by half compared with 2025. International prices have already reacted. And the pressure may intensify in the months ahead.

In October, Ukraine risks running out of storage capacity. By November, more than 9 million tonnes of grain, oilseeds and meal could remain outside available storage. A harvest capable of feeding millions could instead be left stranded. If farmers are unable to sell this season’s crop, they will have less cash for the next sowing season, reducing future production and compounding the crisis into next year.

That matters in a world where an estimated 645 million people already face hunger. Disruptions to maritime routes, energy markets, trade flows and humanitarian logistics do reverberate far beyond the immediate conflict zone as the concurrent crisis in the Middle East demonstrates. The most exposed countries and communities are the least able to absorb another shock to food prices and supplies.

Bangladesh is one of the countries that should be watching particularly closely. Wheat is this country’s second-most-consumed cereal, and Bangladesh relies on imports for more than 80 per cent of its wheat-based food needs.

That dependence leaves Bangladesh exposed to disruptions in major wheat-producing regions and to instability along global trade routes. It is not a theoretical risk. When the war disrupted supply starting four years ago, Bangladesh felt the consequences quickly through higher import costs and rising domestic prices for wheat and wheat-based foods. Inflation has remained high.

Russia has understood this from the start. Weaponising food insecurity has been part of its broader strategy since the beginning of its full-scale war of aggression. By targeting Ukraine’s export routes, Russia is not only trying to weaken Kyiv. It is also testing how much pressure the rest of the world will tolerate when food becomes collateral damage. Bangladesh is part of the collateral damage.

Ukraine’s role in world food markets explains why this matters so much. Before February 2022, Ukraine supplied 15 per cent of global corn exports, 10 per cent of wheat exports, 15 to 20 per cent of barley exports and fully 50 per cent of sunflower oil exports. It has long extended its agricultural reach deep into Asian markets. A strong harvest is again expected this year. But harvests only contribute to food security if they can reach the ports, the ships and, ultimately, the people who need them.

International efforts to ease the pressure have become a critical alternative route for Ukrainian exports and a lifeline for Ukraine’s economy.

But while overland and river alternatives can mitigate the damage, they cannot substitute for safe maritime navigation on the scale global food markets require. Indeed, freedom of maritime navigation is a global security concern, including to Bangladesh.

Open and predictable international food trade is not an abstract concern but an issue on which responsible partners need to take a stand. That is why we call for an urgent moratorium on attacks against grain export facilities, infrastructure and civilian shipping in the Black Sea. It would protect critical infrastructure, restore some stability to food markets and give farmers, traders and import-dependent governments the predictability they need.

The world must not allow food to become yet another weapon of war. A ceasefire leading to a just and lasting peace is necessary to end the daily suffering of Ukrainians and to stabilise a global food system on which millions depend. If Russia ends its war and stops attacking Ukraine’s trade lifelines, the benefits will be felt far beyond Europe — including in Bangladesh, where food security depends not only on what is grown at home, but on what can safely move across the sea.

*The opinion is written by the ambassadors and high commissioners of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain to Bangladesh: Michael Miller, Sarah Cooke, Ajit Singh, Christian Brix Møller, Jean-Marc Séré-Charlet, Rüdiger Lotz, Antonio Alessandro, Joris van Bommel, Håkon Arald Gulbrandsen and Gabriel Sistiaga Ochoa de Chinchetru.​

 

[Saif]

US approves $2.1 billion Patriot missile sale to Ukraine

Ukraine has long said it urgently needs more missile interceptors to knock down the growing waves of missiles Russia's military fires at the country. The Patriot missile system is the most effective weapon to counter fast-moving ballistic missiles.

en.prothomalo.com

US approves $2.1 billion Patriot missile sale to Ukraine

Reuters

A launcher of a Patriot air defence system of the Ukrainian Air Forces is seen on the ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in an undisclosed location, Ukraine 4 August, 2024. Reuters

The US State Department said on Friday it had approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine for an estimated $2.1 billion, in what would be one of the most significant steps to supply defensive weapons to Kyiv since the start of the second Trump administration.

Delayed missile deliveries have ‌added ⁠to Ukraine's tensions with the US after President Donald Trump announced a diesel deal with Russia and criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for Ukraine's unwillingness to stop attacks on Russian refineries.

Ukraine has long said it urgently needs more missile interceptors to knock down the growing waves of missiles Russia's military fires at the country. The Patriot missile system is the most effective weapon to counter fast-moving ballistic missiles.

On Thursday, a Russian drone strike killed at least 14 people on a crowded rail platform in the Ukrainian ‌city of Dnipro, while 5 died in daytime strikes on two other provincial cities and a late-evening missile strike killed 1 person in the capital Kyiv, officials said.

Zelenskiy said on Monday that Ukraine had been waiting for almost a month for the US to sign off on critical missile supplies, as Russia stepped up attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure.

But despite Ukraine's urgency, it will likely not receive the missile interceptors quickly. Weapons sales typically take years to fulfill, and two people briefed on the US decision said the missiles ( which are yet to be manufactured) are not expected to be delivered until a couple of years into the 2030s.

One of the people said Ukraine's Ministry of Defense is encouraging the Pentagon to bring forward the delivery date, possibly by giving Kyiv missiles already in the US arsenal and backfilling with the new Patriot interceptors.

Ukraine will pay for the missiles with contributions from Canada, Germany and Norway routed through a program called US JUMPSTART, along with national funds financed by the European Union's Ukraine Support Loan, the State Department said in a statement.

The program uses donations from allies to buy weapons, services and training for Ukraine to support its self-defense following Russia's invasion, according to a Pentagon website.

The JUMPSTART program was used in August to buy 3,350 air-launched cruise missiles worth $825 million made by Zone 5 Technologies and CoAspire.

Lockheed Martin LMT.N is the principal contractor for the sale of the Patriot interceptors.

The US ‌has supplied large quantities of weapons to allies while also using munitions in its own military operations in Iran, raising concerns about inventories of key air defense and precision-guided weapons.

In July, the US Army awarded Lockheed a contract worth up to $58.6 billion to produce Patriot interceptor missiles.

Lockheed has said that deal would allow it to follow through on a promise to triple PAC-3 MSE production capacity by the end of 2030 and increase jobs ⁠at its Camden, Arkansas, plant by 50 per cent, to about 1,850 from 1,200. Lockheed previously announced Patriot PAC-3 missile interceptor production would go to 2,000 units annually.

Pentagon negotiators are ⁠pressing contractors to move much faster, with tentative production agreements struck earlier this year at the center of efforts to increase missile output.​