Quotes of the WEek

Week-ending 13 June 2025

“I don’t think I appreciate before my captivity just how much the Russian penal system reflects the values and methods of the Russian world. It’s not an exception. It reflects the fundamental view of humans as disposable material. If you ‘behave’, you might be treated OK, but you must obey. There is no agency. Even the guards said the same about their civilian lives.That’s a pretty good idea of what Russia wants to bring to Ukraine.”

– Maksym Butkevych [photo Wikipedia]

– Source: Peter Beaumont, ‘Ukrainian held by Russia describes torture, sinister threats and Kafkaesque court process,’ The Guardian, 11 June 2025

Background from The Guardian: The first moments in Russian captivity for Maksym Butkevych saw humiliations that would pale in comparison with what would soon follow. Taken prisoner in the early months of the war in Ukraine in 2022, Butkevych and his fellow soldiers – who had been lured into a trap on the eastern frontline – at first were punched and robbed. “There were a few kicks and punches,” recalls Butkevych, who had been a human rights defender and journalist before Russia’s invasion compelled him to volunteer as a soldier. […] Butkevych’s testimony adds granular detail to a body of evidence – including in reporting by the Viktoriia Project – of Russia’s mistreatment of captured Ukrainians, including show trials, field executions and torture. What happened to Butkevych took place despite a high-profile international campaign to seek his proper treatment and safe release when it was clear he had been captured and was being smeared in the Russian media and threatened with a show trial.

‘As documented in the report, Russian forces are modifying commercial quadcopter drones to scatter antipersonnel mines in and around the city of Kherson, as part of a campaign that has killed dozens of civilians and injured hundreds. Russian military-affiliated Telegram channels show PFM-series antipersonnel mines—also known as “petal” or “butterfly” mines—being fitted onto the drones with a mechanism to allow them to be dropped from the drone. The Russian drone campaign has prevented residents from moving around safely and from accessing essential goods and services. The attacks represent serious violations of the laws of war and have the overwhelming impact of spreading terror among the civilian population and forcing residents to leave Kherson.’

– Mary Wareham, Deputy Director, Crisis, Conflict and Arms Division

– Source: Mary Wareham, ‘Russia’s Drone-Dropped Landmines Threaten Human Lives and Hard-Won Humanitarian Protections,’ Human Rights Watch, 10 June 2025

Background from Human Rights Watch: Russian forces have used more than a dozen types of antipersonnel mines since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, causing thousands of civilian casualties and contaminating vast tracts of agricultural land. The antipersonnel mines have been emplaced by hand, delivered by rockets, and—as a report from my colleagues at Human Rights Watch has documented—dropped from drones. Now some neighboring countries, concerned about Russian aggression, are moving to withdraw from the international treaty ratified by 165 countries that comprehensively bans antipersonnel mines. Russia, China, the United States, and several other countries, are not party to the treaty, but most of Russia’s European neighbors are, including Ukraine.