Putin opponents condemn Russia regional elections as farce
Polls have opened in regional elections in Russia, which opposition activists say are a farce, after hundreds of anti-war candidates were barred from running.
Ballots are being held in almost every part of the country at various different levels, from local councils to regional governors.
But only a handful of races will feature a candidate from Yabloko, the only political party in Russia that opposes the war in Ukraine.
Graffiti reading ‘no to war’ in Moscow
The party says it put forward around 350 candidates in total but that only 65 were allowed on the ballot after authorities found irregularities with their paperwork.
“Right now, the authorities want deputies at all levels to be as loyal as possible,” Maria Chuprina, one of Yabloko’s barred candidates, told Sky News.
“Such is the current federal agenda, there shouldn’t be anything that reminds us that Russia is in conflict.”
Maria Chuprina, from the Yabloko party, campaigning
Ms Chuprina attempted to run for a seat in the Moscow City Duma and was required to gather thousands of signatures of support to register her candidacy.
But despite meeting the benchmark, her application was rejected on the basis that it wasn’t filled out correctly.
Some supporters’ details supposedly contained commas and full stops in the wrong place.
“If someone wrote their address differently to how it’s written in their passport, then their signature was considered invalid, even if it was written by a real person,” she said.
“For example, the passport says Number 15, but they wrote No.15, then it’s invalid.”
Ms Chuprina appealed against the decision in court but a judge ruled against her.
“The huge number of documents [that candidates must submit] allows them to come up with any reason they want,” she said.
“This is solely a protective measure so authorities can decide who is allowed on the ballot and who isn’t.”
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Yabloko’s slogan “Za Mir i Svobodu” translates as “For Peace and Freedom”. A second line calls for a ceasefire.
The mere utterance of such words in Russia can result in a prison sentence – there have been countless examples since the start of the war in Ukraine.
So why are some still willing to take the risk?
A military enlistment stand at a metro station in Moscow
“There’s no other way for us,” Nikolay Rybakov, Yabloko’s leader, told Sky News.
“We are on a big train but this train is on the way to catastrophe. We need to stop this train.”
By contrast, the Communist Party, which is portrayed as an opposition group, has been allowed to register more than 3,000 candidates.
But then again, the party supports both the war in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin.
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Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov at a campaign event in central Moscow
“He’s on the same level as King Arthur and the Round Table,” said Roman Ustyuzhanin, a Communist Party candidate in Moscow, when asked how Russia’s president compares with other leaders.
“A personality on a par with Peter the Great. But not Napoleon, Putin is bigger,” he added.
With opposition like that, there’s no need for the Kremlin to worry – the results are a foregone conclusion.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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