UK must lead creation of tribunal to punish Russian war crimes, Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska says
Ukraine’s first lady has urged the UK to lead the way in the creation of a special international tribunal to prosecute Russia for aggression against her nation – as she stressed that “just to stop the war is really the first step”.
Speaking to Sky News’ Beth Rigby Interviews programme, Olena Zelenska said Russia is using sexual violence as “a weapon” and that she wants Rishi Sunak’s government and MPs to help “find and punish those who perpetrated the war crimes”.
Ms Zelenska claimed the youngest girl who was raped by the Russian occupiers was four years old and that the oldest survivor was 85.
Promising to raise her wish with the prime minister, Ms Zelenska said: “And, of course, until justice is done, we will not feel safe.”
She continued: “I haven’t had the chance to discuss with the prime minister yet, but I hope that I will do during the visit. So I’ve got the chance to do that and I know that the prime minister discussed it with the president of Ukraine.
“It’s not an immediate solution. It can’t be resolved just by a request. There’s quite a complex number of players here, so that to start to kick-start the process.
“But the key thing is that what we do hope that the prime minister’s leadership will actually prevail and lead to the creation of this.”
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Put to her that the International Criminal Court has only convicted two people for rape in the last 20 years and that it is evidently hard to get justice, Ukraine’s first lady admitted it will be a “battle” – but said if the Ukrainian state and victims fight for justice together, “we will manage together”.
Asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin has any conscience or is “simply a monster”, Ms Zelenska replied: “The second one.”
She also disclosed that she has no direct message for the Russian leader.
“I’ll be very honest with you. I do not want to talk to him directly, ever. I do not want to be in that situation,” Ms Zelenska said.
Probed on how important it is that President Putin faces justice for the crimes he has committed or has asked people to commit in Ukraine, the nation’s first lady stressed that all those complicit in crimes should be reprimanded.
“I think it’s not just one person as Putin, we are talking about collective Putin and we think that, and I think that, the whole collective Putin should be punished,” she said.
Ukraine’s first lady met Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty on Monday
In a deeply personal interview, Ms Zelenska – a mother of two children, the youngest being just nine years old – also described how the war in Ukraine is impacting her own family.
“Well, we do talk a lot about our children. Sometimes I feel they adapt faster than adults. They are much braver than adults. Volodymyr and I try to behave in such a way that they are not worried about us and know that everything is OK.
“I feel we’re doing the right thing. My job is to keep them safe. Unfortunately, right now while we are talking, there is an air raid siren in Kyiv.
“At this very moment, my child is being picked up from school and taken home. And now I worry about whether he [my son] will make it home safely.”
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Russia using rape as ‘a weapon’
Asked about her husband, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ms Zelenska discloses that her children “don’t see their father very often” and that she tries “to give them the confidence and stability that they crave”.
“When they see their father, we try to enjoy every minute. But, of course, we are looking forward to the time when we don’t have to watch the time and count the minutes until we all have to go in different directions,” she added.
Ukraine’s first lady told Sky News it is her country’s “main goal” to ensure peace is restored in the nation and that traditional Christmas celebrations can take place in 2023.
But she said Ukrainians will “warm each other with our hearts” this year, as Russia continues to attack the country’s energy infrastructure including transmission lines, power stations and pipelines.
Ms Zelenska also urged Britons to both “enjoy Christmas” and “wish Ukraine peace as well in your Christmas wishes”.
Ukraine’s first lady later reiterated her call for the UK to become a leader in helping her nation achieve “justice” against Russia as she addressed an audience of MPs and peers that included Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer.
In front of both a Union Jack and a Ukrainian flag, she said: “We need to unite the world community just as it happened in January 1942 to support the special tribunal against the aggression of Russia against Ukraine.”
World
Om Fahad: Iraqi social media influencer shot dead by gunman on motorbike who posed as food delivery rider – report
A well-known Iraqi social media influencer has reportedly been shot dead in her car by a gunman on a motorbike.
Om Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was killed outside her home in Baghdad’s Zayouna district on Friday, according to the AFP news agency, citing security officials.
It appears the unidentified attacker pretended to be delivering food to the victim, one security source said.
Om Fahad, who has nearly half a million TikTok followers, became famous for posting light-hearted videos where she dances to Iraqi music.
Six days ago, she shared footage of herself driving in a car and also posing in front of a mirror. They have each been watched hundreds of thousands of times.
The influencer was sentenced to six months in prison in February last year for sharing videos that a court ruled contained “indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.
A campaign was launched in 2023 by the Iraqi government to clamp down on social media content which broke the country’s “morals and traditions”.
The interior ministry set up a committee to look for “offensive” clips on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, with several influencers being arrested.
“This type of content is no less dangerous than organised crime,” the ministry declared in a promotional video which asked the public to help by reporting such content.
“It is one of the causes of the destruction of the Iraqi family and society.”
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Speaking last year, interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan argued the morality campaign has “nothing to do with freedom of expression”.
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In 2018, gunmen in Baghdad shot dead Tara Fares, who was a model and influencer.
After years of war and sectarian conflict following the 2003 US invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq has returned to some semblance of normality despite sporadic violence, political instability and corruption.
But civil liberties, particularly among women and sexual minorities, are still constrained in a conservative and male-dominated society.
In the nation of ‘Cade Mile Failte’ (a hundred thousand welcomes), the residents of Coolock want to shut the door.
They’ve set up an anti-immigrant camp in the north Dublin suburb, outside a disused factory earmarked to house asylum seekers.
With green, white and orange, they’re staking claim to this ground, their protest tents bedecked with dozens of Irish flags.
Car horns blast every four or five seconds, in response to a large poster reading: “Beep if you support Coolock.”
Their other roadside banners state: “Community concern over 1,000 male migrants being housed in this building” and “Irish lives matter”.
The camp is occupied 24 hours a day, with young men guarding it overnight and residents of all ages during the day.
Two elderly women, two younger women and half a dozen men of various ages were on site when we arrived.
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The camp was marked with a number of Irish flags
Sean Crowe, who describes himself as “a concerned parent”, said: “Coolock’s message is we don’t want them here, we just don’t want them, end of story.
“We have our own gangs and trouble going on that we can’t sort out. The place is bad enough as it is.”
“It’s just going to put more of a strain,” the father-of-one added.
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Asked how he would reply to those who describe protesters as “racist”, he replied: “It’s not about racism.
“It’s about the strain it’s going to put on the community and local amenities around the place.
“That’s all it’s about, concerned parents.”
The camp at Coolock is just one of several that have sprung up across the Republic in the past year.
In several places, like Newtownkennedy in County Wicklow, the tension has reached breaking point, with public order police officers deployed.
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“We fear they’re going to do the same thing here,” said one protestor at Coolock, who wished to remain anonymous.
“If the Gardai [Irish police] attempt to shut down our peaceful protest, all hell will break loose here,” she added.
With the sun shining and the smell of meat cooking on their barbecue, it had a community feel about it.
But they’re fiercely critical of their current government and you can sense that the tension isn’t far beneath the surface.
“Eighty percent of them are crossing the border from Northern Ireland and they knew that would happen,” Sean told me.
“It’s time to close the border” are not words you expect to hear, when Ireland fought hard to keep it open.
World
Family protests outside suspected serial killer’s lair as they wait for news of teenager who went missing 12 years ago
The family of a missing high school student who may have been the first victim of a suspected serial killer in Mexico City have protested at the site where bones were found last week.
The bones were discovered with the belongings of at least six women, police said, and Amairany Roblero’s relatives have been told that evidence was found relating to her 2012 disappearance.
Ms Roblero was 18 when she vanished and, as is often the case in Mexico, her family was left to investigate her disappearance with little help from prosecutors.
Family friend Alejandra Jimenez said: “The prosecutors had the case file but they didn’t ever give any results to her parents.”
Instead, her parents printed flyers and gave them out near her school – the last place she was seen – but they had “nothing, nowhere to start, nor any directions to the end”, Ms Jimenez added.
Friends and family holds images of women who have gone missing. Pic: AP
A suspect, identified only by his first name, Miguel, was detained by neighbours and police last week after he is alleged to have killed a seventh young woman.
He is accused of waiting for a woman to leave her apartment and then rushing inside to sexually abuse and strangle her 17-year-old daughter.
The woman returned to the apartment to see the suspect leaving and she was slashed across her neck before he ran off.
She survived but her daughter died.
Investigators searched a room rented by the suspect and found bones, mobile phones and ID cards belonging to several women in the same block, thought to be mementos.
Miguel is awaiting trial on charges of murder and attempted murder relating to the most recent victims.
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City prosecutor Ulises Lara insisted the suspect was difficult to catch because “he showed no signs of violent or aggressive behaviour in his daily life”.
Ms Roblero’s family and friends were not accepting this, however.
“They (authorities) have all the means to look for missing people,” Ms Jimenez said. “Instead of focusing on their political campaigns, they should help all the women who are looking for their children.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Juan Carlos Gutierrez, a lawyer representing the family of another victim, was also frustrated, asking why no investigation had never been launched in that case, despite missing person reports being filed in 2015.
Ms Jimenez said Ms Roblero’s family had not been told which of the items or remains in the apartment had been linked to her, adding: “This is wearing her parents down physically, mentally.”
Some 2,580 women were murdered in Mexico in 2023, according to the country’s National Public Security System but poorly funded and badly trained prosecutors have failed to stop serial killers over the years.
In 2021 a serial killer in Mexico City killed 19 people but their bodies were only found, buried at his house, after the wife of a police commander became one of the victims.
In 2018 another serial killer in Mexico City murdered at least 10 women and was only stopped after he was seen pushing a dismembered body down the street in a pram.
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