Ukraine: German FM says no NATO member will be left alone

Russia has denounced the European anti-torture convention and announced its exit from the agreement, which aims to strengthen the rights of persons deprived of their liberty and empowers monitors to visit prisons and detention centers.

On Monday, Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed a law to that effect.

The decision comes after international watchdogs like the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have repeatedly criticized alleged human rights violations by Russian authorities during Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said last month that pulling out of the convention would not "harm" Russian citizens and that Russia "remains committed to its international human-rights obligations."

But two UN special rapporteurs said earlier this month the move to pull out of the treaty "raises red flags about what is going on behind bars" in Russian jails.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree ordering the call-up of 135,000 more men aged between 18 and 30 for military service.

It marks the country's biggest autumn conscription drive since 2016.

The conscripts are expected to serve for a year at a military base inside Russia.

They're not supposed to be deployed for fighting in Ukraine, although there have been reports of conscripted men being sent to the front line.

The annual conscription campaigns are unrelated to mobilization, in which Russian men are drafted to fight during wartime.

But conscripts who have completed military training are more likely to be called up to fight in the future.

The Council of Europe has awarded the prestigious Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize to Ukrainian journalist and human rights activist Maksym Butkevych.  

"I dare to say that I participate in this ceremony, and I receive this honorable award not only in my personal capacity, but on behalf of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians illegally detained by Russia," Butkevych said at the award ceremony in the French city of Strasbourg.

Butkevych is co-founder of the Zmina Human Rights Center and Hromadske Radio.

At the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he volunteered for service in the Ukrainian army despite his pacifist beliefs.

He was taken as a prisoner of war by Russia and remained in captivity for more than two years.

Butkevych was released around a year ago as part of a prisoner exchange.

Hungary has said it blocked access to 12 Ukrainian news websites following a similar move by Kyiv.

"A sovereign country must give a proportional response to an entirely unjustified attack," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff Gergely Gulyas said in a Facebook post, announcing the measure.

The move comes after Ukraine earlier this month blocked various websites deemed to contain pro-Russian views at the request of the security services.

They included eight Hungarian-language portals, among them a popular pro-government news site origo.hu.

The websites now targeted by Hungary are widely read in Ukraine.

One, European Pravda, closely tracks Ukraine's EU accession aspiration and Hungary's efforts to block that.

Hungary's decision marks a further slump in ties between the two neighbors.

Their relations have been fraught since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as Hungarian PM Orban has maintained close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and been skeptical about Western military aid for Kyiv.

A Ukrainian drone attack has killed two people on the outskirts of Moscow, Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the Moscow region, said on social media.

"Last night, air defense forces shot down four drones in Voskresensk and Kolomna," two cities southeast of Russia's capital, he posted on Telegram.

"Unfortunately, a tragedy occurred in Voskresensk: two people died in a fire in a private home — a 76-year-old woman and her 6-year-old grandson," he added.

Overall, the Russian military said it had intercepted 78 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight, most of them over the border regions of Bryansk and Belgorod.

It came a day after a massive Russian drone and missile attack against Ukraine, involving nearly 600 drones and 48 missiles. Most of them were reportedly shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.

Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has warned that Moscow is increasingly becoming a threat to NATO.

Russian President Vladimir Putin "deliberately attempts to undermine European security and the territorial integrity of European nations," he said addressing participants at the Warsaw Security Forum in Polish capital.

"He seeks to provoke NATO member states. He wants to expose vulnerabilities within our alliance," the minister said, adding that NATO has "responded to Russia's provocations with clarity, unity, resolve, and prudence."

"We will not be lured into Putin's trap of continuous escalation. We are keeping a cool head while remaining steadfast and determined," Pistorius stressed.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that any war with Europe could escalate into a conflict with weapons of mass destruction.

"They simply cannot afford a war with Russia," he said of European powers, adding that "the possibility of a fatal accident always exists."

"And such a conflict has an absolutely real risk of escalating into a war using weapons of mass destruction," Medvedev, who is now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, wrote on Telegram.

The governor or Russia's Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said Ukrainian missile strikes overnight had caused power outages and injured at least three civilians in the region.

He added that authorities were working to restore power and hot water.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Gladkov said Kyiv's forces had shelled other parts of the region, which borders Ukraine, and had launched at least 76 attack drones in the last 24 hours.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had shot down 21 Ukrainian drones over Belgorod overnight.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is participating in the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday, where he will take part in high-level talks focusing on European security.

Alongside Pistorius, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans and Estonia's Hanno Pevkur were both due to take part in the talks, as well as European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius.

Pistorius will then travel on to Lithuania, where Germany is deploying a combat brigade to assist with the defense of NATO's eastern flank. The unit, comprising around 4,800 soldiers and 200 civilian personnel, is expected to be fully operational by 2027.

The president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, has welcomed the outcome of Sunday's parliamentary elections in Moldova.

"The people of Moldova have spoken and their message is loud and clear. They chose democracy, reform and a European future, in the face of pressure and interference from Russia," he wrote on X. "The EU stands with Moldova. Every step of the way."

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen congratulated the Moldovan people and said: "No attempt to sow fear or division could break your resolve."

"You made your choice clear: Europe. Democracy. Freedom. Our door is open. And we will stand with you every step of the way. The future is yours," she wrote on X.

Moldova's ruling pro-EU party won the elections with the backing of more than half of voters, according to near-complete results on Monday. The polls were overshadowed by accusations of Russian interference in the former Soviet republic.

Follow DW's live blog for more news and reactions to Moldova's pivotal elections.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on his European partners to join forces to create a joint aerial defense shield to protect themselves against threats from Russia.

"Ukraine proposes to Poland and all our partners to build a joint fully reliable shield against Russian aerial threats," he said in an address to the Warsaw Security Forum delivered via video link.

"This is possible. Ukraine can counter all kinds of Russian drones and missiles and if we act together in the region we will have enough weapons and production capacity."

NATO leaders have said that Moscow has been testing the alliance's readiness and resolve with airspace incursions in Poland and the Baltic states.

Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said no NATO member state would be left to fend for themselves when dealing with what he called Russian provocations.

"Russia wants to test our resolve and to stir unrest. That is dangerous and must be answered clearly and with unity," Wadephul said during a press conference in Warsaw with his Polish and French counterparts Radoslaw Sikorski and Jean-Noel Barrot.

NATO would "protect every inch of our alliance territory — no member state is left alone to deal with these threats," he added.

Prior to leaving for Warsaw, the minister had called for a decisive and well-considered response to Moscow's actions.

"We are standing together, keeping a cool head and not allowing ourselves to be driven into an escalation," he said, referring to  Russian drone incidents in Poland and Denmark.

"At the same time, we are leaving no doubt that we are determined and ready to fend off any threat together," Wadephul said.

On Monday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who is visiting Poland to meet with his Polish and French counterparts, said no NATO member state would be left alone as he called for a decisive response to recent alleged Russian drone incidents in NATO airspace.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed a joint aerial shield with European allies to protect against threats from Russia.

Follow here for the latest updates on Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine.