Russia is seeking a “short truce” – a proposal rejected by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as it would allow Moscow’s forces to regain strength after a series of battlefield defeats. Officials in Russia have repeatedly said they were ready to participate in peace talks without conditions, but it is unclear whether they have made a formal proposal for a ceasefire, as Zelensky said on Friday. “Russia is now looking for a short truce, a respite to regain strength. One can call this the end of the war, but such a lull will only worsen the situation,” the Ukrainian leader said. “A truly real, lasting and honest peace can only be the result of the complete demolition of Russian aggression.” The United States has said only Zelensky can decide when to start peace talks with Russia, rejecting the idea that he is pressuring Kyiv to negotiate an end to the nearly nine-month war sparked by Moscow’s invasion. General Mark Milley, the top US military officer, said this week that while Ukraine has achieved significant successes on the battlefield, Moscow still controls 20 percent of the country and it is unlikely that Kiev’s troops will force the Russians to leave soon. Ukraine regained control of the strategically important southern city of Kherson last week. It had been occupied by Russian troops since the beginning of the war in late February.
“Disturbing complaints”
Kherson marked the third major counteroffensive since Ukrainian forces pushed back Russian troops near Kyiv in April and recaptured large swathes of territory in the northeast in September. Zelensky said on Monday “investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes” in Kherson. Conflict Monitor, a war crimes research group under Yale University’s School of Public Health, reported recording 226 extrajudicial detentions and enforced disappearances in the southern city. About a quarter of that number were reportedly tortured and four died in custody. Most of the arrests and disappearances were carried out by the Russian military and FSB security service, and half of those seized “do not appear to have been released,” the Conflict Monitor said in a report on Friday. Men of military age – including civil servants, civil society leaders, teachers, law enforcement officers and journalists – made up a large proportion of those detained and disappeared. “These findings highlight a number of disturbing allegations about the treatment of detainees, including allegations of deaths in custody. the widespread use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment… [and] sexual and gender-based violence,” the report said. It cites sources who said that after the capture of Kherson in March, the Russians arrived with lists of names and license plate numbers, targeting people they believed might resist their presence. Crimean Tatars have also been targeted and many have been accused of belonging to what Russia calls a Tatar “terrorist” group. The Conflict Monitor said that while some of those arrested had been released, “many others remain in detention or are missing, their fate unknown to their families” since Russian forces withdrew from the city of Kherson.
