WORLD BRIEFING: June 13, 2024

Ukrainian children who were abducted and taken to Russia in the early months of the Kremlin’s 2022 invasion have been put up for adoption by authorities, in one case under a false Russian identity, a Financial Times investigation has found. Using image recognition tools and public records, as well as interviews with Ukrainian officials and the children’s relatives, the FT identified and located four Ukrainian children on the Russian government-linked adoption website usynovite.ru. The findings add to the mounting body of evidence that the International Criminal Court, Ukrainian government officials and legal experts say point to alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russia. One of the children is shown with a new Russian name and age that differs from their Ukrainian government-issued documents. Another child is shown using a Russian version of their Ukrainian name. There is no mention of the Ukrainian background of any of the children. The children were abducted from state care homes and separated from their guardians and relatives in towns across the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine that fell under the control of Russia’s invading army in 2022. They range in age from eight to 15-years-old. The children traced by the FT and whose identities were confirmed with their families by the Ukrainian authorities have ended up in the Tula region near Moscow and in the Orenburg region close to the Kazakh border. One of the children was taken to occupied Crimea. Seventeen additional matches identified by the FT on the adoption website were confirmed as Ukrainian children in a recent New York Times investigation, all of them from a children’s home in Kherson. - FT

A Russian ballistic missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Kryviy Rih on June 12 killed at least eight people and injured at least 21, including children, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. Klymenko announced the updated number of victims on Telegram after initially saying six had been killed. He added that four more people were missing. The attack, which came after a report that the United States will provide Ukraine with another Patriot missile system, damaged an administrative building and an apartment block, Ukraine's Southern Defense military command said on Telegram. Kryviy Rih, a major city in the Dnipropetrovsk region that is President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown, has been the target of Russian air attacks multiple times in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. - BBC

The leaders of the world's most powerful economies are convening today in Italy for crucial policy discussions. A major focus is on Russia and its war in Ukraine, with the G7 set to announce a series of joint initiatives as they look to rebuild alliances and stand up to Russia's aggression. President Joe Biden arrived with over 300 new sanctions aimed at further isolating the country and limiting the Kremlin's revenues. He is also set to sign a long-term security pact with Ukraine, sources tell CNN. The agreement is expected to commit the US for 10 years to continued training of Ukraine's armed forces, more cooperation in the production of weapons and military equipment, the continued provision of military assistance and greater intelligence sharing. - CNN

Russia confirms two deaths of Indian nationals along the Russia-Ukraine frontline but had yet to reveal details of where the bodies are. India has demanded a ‘verified stop’ to any further recruitment of Indian nationals by Russian Army, says Ministry. The matter has been taken up with Kremlin and Ambassador in New Delhi directly - Hindu Times

In closing press conference at the Ukraine Reform Conference in Berlin, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation Devlpmt Svenja Schulze and Ukraine First Deputy Minister & Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko deflected media questions on the resignation of top infrastructure officials, including Mustafa Nayyem, who’s shock resignation earlier this week placed a dark cloud over the conference. Svyrydenko countered that Ukraine was being represented by a large team and that they were working hard. She refused to say whether any of Nayyem’s key three complaints had any merit

Riot police in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters outside Congress, before lawmakers gave an initial approval to budget-slashing reforms in Argentina's Senate on Wednesday. Demonstrators - who say the measures will hurt millions of Argentines - threw petrol bombs and stones, setting one car alight. A number of people were reported injured, with local media describing the scene on Wednesday as a "battlefield". The reform package, proposed by right-wing President Javier Milei to revive the country's flagging economy, includes declaring a state of economic emergency, cutting pensions and watering down labour rights. The measures are opposed by leftist political parties, labour unions and social organisations. - BBC

Thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza have been diagnosed with malnutrition, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said, as Israel continues to severely restrict supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel to the territory. “A significant proportion of Gaza’s population is now facing catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Wednesday. “Despite reports of increased delivery of food, there is currently no evidence that those who need it most are receiving sufficient quantity and quality of food. Tedros said 8,000 children under five years old have been diagnosed and treated for acute malnutrition in Gaza. “However, due to insecurity and lack of access, only two stabilisation centres for severely malnourished patients can operate,” the WHO chief added. Tedros said 32 deaths in the besieged Palestinian enclave have been attributed to malnutrition. - Al Jazeera