Russia suffers setbacks as Ukraine braces for tough month on battlefield

Russia suffered political, financial and judicial blows, but Ukraine’s battle on the eastern front remains difficult, too.

Russia has suffered multiple diplomatic and judicial blows during the past week over its war on Ukraine, despite President Vladimir Putin’s high-profile visits to North Korea and Vietnam and Moscow’s claims that it is founding a “Eurasian security architecture that will replace the discredited Euro-Atlantic security arrangements”.

Putin signed a “comprehensive strategic treaty” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 19, incorporating what he said was a defensive alliance. South Korea’s government condemned the agreement. Its national security adviser, Chang Ho-jin, declared that Seoul would reconsider lifting a ban on arms supplies directly to Ukraine. Until now, South Korea has only sold weapons to Ukraine’s allies.

Chang later added that the type of weapons supplied to Ukraine would depend on Russia’s cooperation with North Korea. Putin said it would be a “grave mistake” if South Korea changed its policy of not supplying belligerents.

Russia also suffered judicial embarrassments. The International Criminal Court at The Hague issued arrest warrants on Tuesday for former Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Military Staff Valery Gerasimov, saying that they bore responsibility for attacks on Ukrainian electricity infrastructure. The court said, “There are reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged strikes were directed against civilian objects,” and that “the expected incidental civilian harm and damage would have been clearly excessive to the anticipated military advantage.”

On the same day, the European Court of Human Rights declared that Russia was in violation of several fundamental human rights in occupied territories. These include abducting people, illegally detaining or torturing them, forcing them to obtain Russian nationality, and numerous other violations.