Story By: Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash
Two men have been arrested for hanging an anti-war banner reading “f**k the war” from a building in Saint Petersburg.
A statement obtained from the press service of the Courts of Saint Petersburg on Wednesday, 8th June, read: “The Dzerzhinsky District Court of St Petersburg brought Dmitry Platon (homeless person) and Igor Kuznetsov to administrative responsibility for committing an offence under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation.”
The statement added that the reason for their arrest have been for placing an “uprising poster with bad words” on 32 Vosstaniya Street in the city of Saint Petersburg, Russia’s cultural capital.
Igor Kuznetsov, an artist whose age was not reported, was given five days of detention after reportedly “admitting his guilt”, while the homeless man, Dmitry Platon, whose age was not reported either, was given 10 days of detention, still according to the statement from the Saint Petersburg courts’ press service.
The press service released a censored image showing the black and white banner, but social media users have also shared uncensored versions showing the text on the banner, which reads “f**k the war” in Russian.
The incident was also reported by Russian state media, which did not report the contents of the banner’s message, merely stating that the pair had been arrested for hanging an obscene message from a building in the city.
Russian troops invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 106th day of the campaign.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has reported that between 24th February and 8th June, Russia had lost 31,500 personnel, 1,393 tanks, 3,429 armoured fighting vehicles, 703 artillery pieces, 213 multiple launch rocket systems, 96 anti-aircraft systems, 212 warplanes, 178 helicopters, 559 tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, 125 cruise missiles, 13 warships, 2,406 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 53 units of special equipment.
Over 1,000 Ukrainian troops captured in Mariupol have been transferred to Russia, according to Russian media.
Satellite imagery has shown significant damage in the key eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, where heavy fighting is ongoing.
The Ukrainian military said that Ukrainian positions had come under “intense fire” around Avdiivka, Novopavlivska and Zaporizhzhia.
It added that storming operations were underway around Slovyansk and that Russia had also intensified its aircraft use around Bakhmut.
The Ukrainian Centre for Strategic Communications (StratCom) said on 6th June that Russian Major General Roman Kutuzov was killed in a battle near Popasna in the Luhansk region. This has now been confirmed by Russian state media.
The United Kingdom and the United States are sending long-range missile systems to Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of more attacks in Ukraine if the West sends long-range weapons.
Russian missiles struck Kyiv on Sunday in the first assault on the Ukrainian capital in weeks.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Russian attacks on the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk has turned them into “dead cities”. But he added that Ukrainian forces could still hold Severodonetsk despite being outnumbered.
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, walked out of a Security Council meeting after his country was blamed by European Council president Charles Michel for triggering a global food crisis.
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution recommending that the European Union grant Ukraine the status of candidate country for EU membership. Some 438 MEPs voted in favour of the resolution, with 65 voting against and 94 abstaining.
