Page 19 - UKRRptSept22

terrorism. A draft bill was registered on Aug. 31 in the Ukrainian parliament set to recognize Belarus as a state sponsor of terrorism. If adopted, Ukraine would appeal to the UN, EU, and NATO to join the initiative. Granting Belarusian territory to Russian troops to invade Ukraine and continuous rocket attacks from the country's territory made Belarus a co-belligerent in Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, according to four lawmakers who co-authored the bill. There is no official procedure for recognizing a state as a sponsor of terrorism. The U.S. list of countries sponsoring terrorism includes Iran, Syria, Cuba, and North Korea and entails an arms embargo, trade restrictions and suspension of foreign aid, and secondary U.S. sanctions for the entities that keep trading with the countries recognized as sponsors of terrorism. Russia has not been added to the U.S. list, since secondary sanctions could affect the EU, which continues to trade with Russia.
The EU should be ready to accept Ukraine 'in a few years.' Zbigniew Rau made the remarks at the Forum 2000 conference in Prague. Ukraine has "done everything to earn the title of the country most devoted to European values," Rau added.
2.5 Polls & Sociology
98% of Ukrainians believe in victory in war with Russia. According to a poll conducted by the Center for Insights in Survey Research, 91% of Ukrainians approve of President Volodymyr Zelensky's work. In recent months, support for NATO membership has increased -— 72% of Ukrainians would vote in favour of it if the referendum were held today, the report reads.
Azov Regiment urges world to recognize Russia as terrorist state. “After the public execution of prisoners of war of the Azov Regiment in Olenivka, Russia is looking for new reasons and explanations for its war crimes," the Azov Regiment said in a statement. The Supreme Court of Russia labeled the Azov Regiment as a terrorist organization on Aug. 2. Many of the victims in the attack on the Olenivka prisoner camp in the Russian-occupied part of Donetsk Oblast on July 28were members of the Azov Regiment, a unit within the National Guard of Ukraine, who took part in the defence of Azovstal in Mariupol and were supposed to be part of a prisoner exchange.
Only 7% of Ukrainian refugees do not plan to come back from abroad. Conducted by the Razumkov Center, the study polled 511 refugees dispatched in 30 countries and showed that 36% of respondents expressed their intention to return after being convinced it is safe to stay in the area where they lived. 35% said they would come back immediately after the end of the war and 13% after a year or a few years after the end of the war.
52% of Russians support continuing war against Ukraine. According to a new poll by the Russian Field sociological agency, 38% of respondents were in favour of moving to peace talks with Ukraine.
The authors of the study note that over the period from mid-March to the end of July, the ratio of supporters and opponents of the special operation remained practically unchanged: now 69% of respondents support it, 23% hold the opposite opinion, and another 8% found it difficult or refused to answer.
The survey also showed that 65% of Russians would support a peace treaty
19 UKRAINE Country Report September 2022 www.intellinews.com