UN to mark one year of Ukraine war with vote

Marking one year of war, Ukraine and Russia lobbied countries at the United Nations on Wednesday for backing ahead of a vote by the 193-member General Assembly that the United States declared will "go down in history."

"We will see where the nations of the world stand on the matter of peace in Ukraine," US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the General Assembly.

The General Assembly appeared set to adopt a resolution on Thursday, put forward by Ukraine and supporters, stressing the need to reach, as soon as possible, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in line with the founding UN Charter.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced Russia's invasion and said the Charter was unambiguous, citing from it, "All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state."

Ukraine and its supporters hope to deepen Russia's diplomatic isolation by seeking yes votes from nearly three-quarters of the General Assembly to match - if not better - the support received for several resolutions last year.

They argue the war is a simple case of one unprovoked country illegally invading another, while Russia portrays itself as battling a proxy war with West, which has been arming Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Moscow since the invasion.

"The West has ... brazenly ignored our concerns and continue bringing the military infrastructure of NATO closer and closer to our borders," Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the General Assembly.

Nebenzia said, “Moscow had no other option but to launch what it has called a special military operation on February 24 last year to defend Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine and ensure the safety and security of our country, using military means.

The draft UN resolution, which is non-binding, but carries political weight, mirrors a demand the General Assembly made last year for Moscow to withdraw troops and halt the hostilities. Russia has described the text as unbalanced and anti-Russian and urged countries to vote no.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters Ukraine was exercising its right to self-defense as enshrined in the UN Charter and that when you are sending weapons to Ukraine, you are helping Ukraine to defend UN Charter.

"Russia violated the UN Charter by becoming an aggressor," he said at the United Nations. "When you are sending weapons to them, you are helping to destroy the UN Charter and everything that the United Nations stands for. It's very simple."

The General Assembly has been the focus for UN action on Ukraine, with the 15-member Security Council paralyzed due to veto power by Russia and the United States along with China, France and Britain.

The Security Council has held dozens of meetings on Ukraine in the past year and will again discuss the war on Friday at a ministerial gathering, due to be attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Diplomats say Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is not scheduled to attend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Israeli weapon seen used by Ukrainian unit against Russia

An anti-armor weapon jointly developed by Israel, Singapore and a German company has been seen in use by the Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion against Russian military forces.

In a video released by the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian fighter, ostensibly affiliated with the controversial unit, can be seen firing the portable anti-tank weapon at what appears to be a Russian armored personnel carrier (APC).

As Western countries have undertaken massive arms transfers to Ukraine to support it in its war against Russia, critics such as The Intercept’s Sara Sirota have expressed concern that these weapons could end up in the Azov Battalion, which was integrated into Ukraine’s National Force in 2014.

Anti-tank and armor weapons such as the Javelin, NLAW and MATADOR have been a mainstay of arms transfers to Ukraine. In a March 16, 2022 briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said “Anti-armor and air-defense systems, they are effectively defending the country.”

The German Defense Ministry listed 2,650 MATADORs for purchase by Ukraine, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported in March. Euromaidan Press reported that they had been purchased for €25 million, along with another 2,450 that will be produced.

The recently released video shows that these partly Israeli-developed weapons are now in the hands of the Azov Battalion, which has been widely characterized as a neo-Nazi militia. While CNN and other media analysis have weighed the possibility that Azov has reformed, the group still has prominent neo-Nazis in its ranks and features white supremacist symbols.

The Battalion’s logo still has the Black Sun, a common white supremacist symbol, and the Wolfsangel symbol used by the Nazi SS.

This is not the first time concerns have been raised about Israeli weapons and Ukraine. In February, Interfax Ukraine reported that the Israeli Defense Ministry told Baltic states that it wouldn’t meet requests for third-party transfer of Israeli-made weapons to Ukraine.

In 2018, Haaretz reported that human rights activists filed a petition to the High Court of Justice demanding an end to arms exports to Ukraine over concern they would reach Azov militants.

Haaretz published an image showing an Israel Weapons Industry Tavor sub-machine gun being held by an Azov Battalion soldier. Tavors have also been seen wielded by Ukrainian fighters in the recent conflict, produced under license by Ukrainian company RPC Fort as the FORT-221, according to The Warzone.

The MATADOR, also known in European markets as the RGW 90, is an unguided short-range shoulder-fired anti-armor rocket launcher jointly developed by Israeli government-owned defense firm RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems, Singapore’s armed forces and Defence Science and Technology Agency, and German defense company Dynamit Nobel.

The MATADOR platform was developed for the confined spaces of urban warfare environments and is capable of penetrating the armor of most APCs and light tanks, according to the Singaporean Defense Ministry.

The weapon has a “dual-capability” warhead beyond normal anti-tank weapons, a delay action mode designed to blow open walls and create an entry into buildings. When fighting in urban environments, the ability to avoid entering though doors and windows can mean avoiding ambush or booby traps.

The weapon is “among the lightest in its class,” according to the Singaporean Defense Ministry, and extremely versatile.

According to Dynamit Nobel Defense, the MATADOR is capable of firing smokescreen and illumination munitions in addition to its anti-armor, vehicle and tank functions.

It has a maximum effective range of 500 meters, according to technical specifications published by the Singaporean Defense Ministry.

The MATADOR is in use by several states, including the Israel Defense Forces, where it has seen effective and active service. Among some IDF soldiers, the weapon is considered too expensive to fire in training. The wall opening function is particularly valued by IDF soldiers, who have used it in heavily built-up environments such as the Gaza Strip.

 

Chinese purchase of Iranian oil rises to record level

According to a Reuters report, Chinese purchases of Iranian oil have risen to record levels in recent months, exceeding a 2017 peak when the trade was not subject to US sanctions, tanker tracking data shows.

Chinese imports exceeded 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) for January 2022, according to estimates of three tanker trackers, surpassing the 623,000 bpd peak recorded by Chinese customs in 2017 before former US President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions in 2018 on Iranian oil exports.

One tracker estimated imports amounted to 780,000 bpd in November-December 2022 at an average.

The ramping up of the purchases by the world's top oil importer comes amid talks between Tehran and world powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal that will lift US sanctions on Iranian oil exports. The talks have intensified in recent weeks.

A return of Iranian oil will ease tight global supplies and cool crude prices that have touched US$100/barrel following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Iran is expected to have a strong comeback to the global oil market in case the nuclear deal is revived and the US sanctions on the country are lifted, Bloomberg reported.

According to the report, considering the capacity of Iran’s offshore oil storages, the Islamic Republic will be able to inject millions of barrels of oil into the market as soon as the sanctions are lifted, without the need for boosting the current level of production.

Asian countries including South Korea are likely to be among the first in line to ship in Iranian cargoes.

Bloomberg puts the estimation of the crude oil stored at Iranian stationary tankers at 65 to 80 million barrels, citing the data intelligence firm Kpler.

About four-fifths of the stored crude is condensate, super-light oil that’s a by-product of natural gas extraction. The overall Iranian volume is higher if crude that’s already in transit is included, the report said