NEWS
Russian Duma ratifies annexation of Ukrainian regions as West rallies
The Russian lower house of parliament ratified the incorporation of four occupied Ukrainian regions on Monday and fast-tracked the relevant legislation as the West rallied further to Kiev’s aid.
More than 400 deputies in the Russian Duma, in a move unrecognised by most of the international community, voted unanimously in favour of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson becoming part of the Russian Federation as well as enacting various laws.
“The laws fully strengthen the main social and economic guarantees of people living in the territories and create a system of legal protection for citizens,” Pavel Krasheninnikov, head of the Duma legal committee, said according to the Interfax news agency.
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Russian citizenship is to be granted to all residents of the occupied regions who apply for a passport and take an oath to the country’s constitution, which will prompt pension payments and health care.
The Russian rouble will be introduced as the currency, but until the end of the year residents will still be able to pay with Ukrainian hryvnia.
By June 1, 2023, new administrative bodies will be created.
President Vladimir Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February, signed the treaties of accession on Friday with the Duma having to approve them.
A similar rubber-stamping by the upper house – the Federation Council – is considered a formality.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was a guest at the Duma and accused the United States of moving against Russia just like Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler once did against the Soviet Union.
“The U.S. has subjugated practically the entire collective West and mobilised it to make Ukraine an instrument of war with Russia – just as Hitler gathered the majority of the countries of Europe for an invasion of the Soviet Union,” Lavrov said.
International condemnation in recent days included several European countries – including Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, and Belgium – summoning the Russian ambassador to condemn Moscow’s illegal land grab.
Meanwhile, the European Union on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding on providing Ukraine with another €5 billion ($4.9 billion) in macro-financial aid.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also said her country was well aware Putin’s threat of nuclear war could be real but would not allow itself to be blackmailed by Moscow.
“We take his words very seriously; anything else would be negligent,” she told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung newspaper.
Ukraine has been backed by massive Western arms and Putin has mentioned the possible use of nuclear weapons in the conflict, with his quest to capture the whole country having stalled.
Further nuclear worries have been exacerbated by fighting near the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. On Monday, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi tweeted that he had “received confirmation” that plant director Ihor Murashov had been “returned to his family” after having been abducted.
On the battlefield, Ukrainian troops again recorded successes in their counter-offensive, advancing against Russian invaders in the east and south.
In the Luhansk region, Ukrainian soldiers have already established themselves near the city of Lysychansk, a military spokesperson for the Moscow-controlled Luhansk separatists wrote on Monday on the Telegram news service.
But the Ukrainian units are nevertheless under constant fire from the Russian army.
Previously, President Volodymyr Zelensky had also confirmed an advance of Ukrainian forces in the southern region of Kherson and the recapture of the local towns of Archanhelske and Myrolyubivka
Faced with stiff Ukrainian resolve, Putin has called for a partial mobilization of new Russian troops. But the mobilization is plagued by organizational problems and a lack of enthusiasm among potential conscripts.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow said first recruits called up as part of the mobilization have been transferred to Donetsk and Luhansk.
“Mobilized servicemen are undergoing their combat training in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the Defence Ministry said on its Telegram channel. It also posted a video showing soldiers conducting live-fire exercises.
But in the Khabarovsk region in Russia’s far east, Governor Mikhail Degtyarev said that half of the “several thousand” conscripts had returned home.
The men in question had been called up for duty even though they did not meet criteria. The governor did not explain how the mistakes could have happened.
The responsible head of the district military office had been dismissed, Degtyarev wrote on Telegram.
Meanwhile Putin loyalist Ramzan Kadyrov said he wants to send three of his underage sons to the war against Ukraine.
Kadyrov, the notorious head of the Russian republic of Chechnya, said that his boys Achmat, Selimchan and Adam – aged 14 to 16 – are ready to put the combat skills they have trained for to the test in Russia’s current “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“And I’m not joking,” he wrote on Telegram. “(…) Soon they will be sent to the front and will be in the most difficult sections of the contact line.” He also published a video showing his sons doing target practice.
At least 300,000 reservists are to be drafted from across Russia to fight in the occupied Ukrainian territories. Hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled abroad to avoid being sent into military service.
In a decisive move, President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate release of all minors detained by police during the recent #EndBadGovernance protests.
The directive, announced by Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris on Monday, underscores the government’s commitment to protecting children’s rights and ensuring justice.
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Idris confirmed that President Tinubu’s directive prioritizes the welfare of detained minors, instructing the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to facilitate their safe reunification with their families.
A committee led by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs will be established to oversee the welfare of the released minors and ensure compliance with the president’s orders.
Additionally, President Tinubu has directed a formal investigation into the actions of law enforcement agencies involved in the arrests.
The president emphasized that any misconduct uncovered during the investigation will result in disciplinary action, affirming his administration’s dedication to accountability within law enforcement.
An ear-tingling tale has emerged from the Oyo State capital, Ibadan, where a yet-to-be-identified male confessed on radio that he sacrificed almost 80 women to his idol over a seven-year period.
He made the confession in Ibadan, while appearing at a Fresh FM radio programme, titled, ‘Opeyemi’ on Saturday.
Famous in the locality, Foko area of Ibadan, where he was born, by his alias, ‘Mistina Orobo’, the now self-acclaimed pastor asserted that the almost 80 women were not part of those he was hired to kill and had eaten.
He was driven to sacrifice the women in the quest to renew his mystical power. He would then indulge in cannibalism after he had taken their blood for sacrifice to his idol.
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In his words, “My idol takes about 73 to 76 women for over seven years. These women are always gotten from the club or other popular places. When I eat people, it is purposely to renew the voodoo in my body. Sometimes, when I’m shot, it won’t penetrate, even when I’m hacked, the machete breaks. The sweetest human parts are tongue, palm, and foot.”
The cannibal then used the mystical powers for nefarious activities including supporting others, including politicians, business people, and high flying career people, like bank managers, in the quest to accomplish ulterior motives.
“I also work for bank managers, politicians, and some other rich men. I’m very popular among them. When I first worked with a bank manager, it was one wealthy man that we killed and the info was supplied in the bank.
“The only person who was left to sign refused to sign, we visited him, made him sign, and killed him aftermath. I charge up to N50 to N80 million to get people killed and we always work as a team. I taught some people to work, some as highway or armed robbers and I usually get my fair share,” he added.
He formally sought anonymity until the right time, and gave graphic details of what he and his boys did to influence outcome of elections in Oyo State.
On his early days, the mysterious man confessed that he has been eating sacrifices since the age of nine as the son of an herbalist, from which he added hired assassin and highway robbery to his trade.
“As a child of an herbalist, I always eat sacrifices in seven different junctions, this was what fortified me before I grew up to become a dreaded hired assassin and sometimes, highway robber,” he confessed.
On how he turned a new leaf, the man said he met Jesus in his dream after he attempted to avenge people who earlier fought with him.
According to him, “I had been killed before but I woke up because of the idol I had at home. The day I went to retaliate those people who fought and killed me. When we got to the first person, I had a change of mind. When we got to the house of the other one, he was drunk, and my boy was about to unleash on him when I begged that he should be spared, since then, I have been sympathetic and have left the wayward life. Now, God has taken over my life.
“I am now in a seminary. I spent four years learning to be a prophet. I am not ready to establish a church. I just want people to know my terrible story. I had sold all three houses and cars I bought while engaging in these acts. I met Jesus in my dream.”
He also stressed that a former lawmaker in the House of Representatives, Temitope Olatoye (a.k.a. Sugar) died because he was in Ghana at that time if not it would have been averted, adding that he had always informed Sugar of the dangers looming.
Recall that Sugar died on March 9, 2019, in the Intensive Care Unit of the University College Hospital, after suffering bullet wounds in the head from shots of suspected political thugs in the Lalupon area of Ibadan.
The public is still wondering at the speed with which the news of his attack spread, the tales in the locality being that Sugar died on the spot.
Tensions flared outside the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) headquarters in Abuja on Monday as a large group of Nigerians gathered to demand the resignation of NNPC Group Managing Director Mele Kyari.
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The protesters, driven by frustration over reported mismanagement and high spending, specifically pointed to $4 billion spent on the refurbishment of the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries—projects that many feel have yielded little return.
More to follow……….
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