Page 33 - RusRPTJan23

Several regions are readying
legislation that would allow the authorities
to fine people and organisations who refuse to carry out the decisions of
the “operative HQs.” Operative HQs are institutions created to implement
Vladimir Putin’s October decrees that introduced martial law in the occupied
territories in Ukraine and various stages of “readiness” in other regions of
Russia. The laws may be consequential as they provide a means for regional
governments to exert further pressure on the residents and the businesses of
their regions. As always, a lot will depend on how strictly these rules are
enacted, but even their existence may have a chilling effect. Both the Kremlin
and regional governments expect discontent to rise in the coming months.
The US Senate has supported a resolution recognizing the Russian Federation's actions in Ukraine as genocide. The US Senate Committee on International Relations adopted a resolution recognizing the Russians' actions in Ukraine as genocide, the US Senate reported. "Crimes committed against the Ukrainian people during Putin's illegal and unprovoked war violate countless international conventions and can only be described as genocide," said US Senator Ben Cardin. The resolution condemns Russia for genocide against the people of Ukraine. The resolution calls on the US, NATO, and EU allies to support the government of Ukraine to prevent further acts of Russian genocide against the Ukrainian people. As well it supports tribunals and international criminal investigations to hold Russian political leaders and military personnel accountable for the war of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
A Moscow court on December 9 sentenced prominent opposition politician Ilya Yashin to eight and a half years in jail for spreading "false" information about the Russian military in his criticism of the Kremlin invasion of
33 RUSSIA Country Report January 2023 www.intellinews.com