Ukraine: Russia loses vote to rejoin UN Human Rights Council

European football's governing body UEFA has abandoned a plan to reinstate Russian under-17 teams into international competitions following widespread opposition from member associations.

"The agenda point was withdrawn as no technical solution to allow Russian teams to play could be found," UEFA said of the plan, which had been fiercely opposed not just by Ukraine, but also by the likes of England, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway and Finland, who all said they would boycott games.

"We thank our European partners for supporting Ukraine!" the Ukrainian Football Association wrote on its website. "Russian football remains isolated, where it belongs."

The Russian Football Union has yet to comment, and nor has the German Football Association (DFB), whose representatives had voted in favor of allowing Russian youth teams to return.

The German government has announced €1 billion ($1.1 billion) worth of additional defense aid for Ukraine to help it continue to fend off Russian assaults through the winter.

The new "winter package" consists predominantly of air defense weaponry including an additional Patriot air defense missile system as well as two additional long and short-range IRIS-T guided missile systems and three more Gepard armored anti-aircraft tanks.

"Germany will continue to support Ukraine with what it needs most urgently — air defense, ammunition and tanks," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said, also announcing additional vehicles, weapons and body armor worth more than €20 million for Ukraine's special forces.

In the coming weeks, ten further Leopard tanks, 15 infantry transport vehicles and 20 armored mobile medical units are also due to arrive in Ukraine.

"With this new 'winter package' we are further increasing the operational readiness of the Ukrainian armed forces in the coming months," said Pistorius, who will meet with defense counterparts from the 30 other NATO member states in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

Russia has been defeated in its bid to regain a seat on the United Nations' principal human rights body, losing out by a significant majority in Tuesday's vote to Albania and Bulgaria.

After the UN General Assembly voted last year to suspend Russia in the wake of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow was competing for one of two seats representing Eastern Europe, and hoping to demonstrate that criticism of its actions in Ukraine is predominantly confined to the West.

But it only received 83 votes in the secret ballot to Bulgaria's 160 and Albania's 123.

"UN member states sent a strong signal to Russia's leadership that a government responsible for countless war crimes and crimes against humanity doesn't belong on the Human Rights Council," said Louis Charbonneau of international NGO Human Rights Watch, just days after a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian village of Hroza killed more than 50 people.

Albanian ambassador Ferit Hoxha had said earlier that the General Assembly "has an important choice" to "demonstrate that it is not ready to take an arsonist for a firefighter."

A Russian court has extended once again the pre-trial detention of US reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested over six months ago on spying charges which he denies.

The court dismissed a complaint by Gershkovich against the extension of his detention on Tuesday. The US journalist appeared in court, smiling from a glass box as journalists took photos of him before the closed hearing. A date for his trial has yet to be set.

Gershkovich was arrested on March 29 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. Moscow says he was caught "red-handed," while the White House has described the charges as "ridiculous."

Espionage charges in Russia could carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Gershkovich is the first US journalist to be arrested by Moscow on espionage charges since the Cold War.

The US has stressed that its decision to step up military support for Israel will not affect its ability to continue arming Ukraine.

US NATO envoy Julianne Smith addressed journalists on Tuesday after the Hamas militant group's surprise assault on Israel over the weekend prompted the latter to declare war. Hamas is recognized as a terrorist group in Israel, the US and the European Union.

"I suspect the United States will be able to stay focused on our partnership and commitment to Israel's security while also meeting our commitments and promise to continue supporting Ukraine," Smith told reporters.

In light of the recent flare-up, US President Joe Biden has ordered US ships and warplanes to move closer to Israel, in a show of support from a major ally. The US also sent fresh military aid.

A Wall Street Journal reporter detained on espionage charges in Russia lost an appeal against his arrest on Tuesday.

Evan Gershkovich will now have to remain in jail until at least the end of November unless an appeal is heard in the interim.

Gershkovich was detained in March while on assignment in the city of Yekaterinburg, situated around 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow.

He is the first US reporter to face espionage charges in Russia since the late days of the Cold War.

Court proceedings have been closed because prosecutors say details relating to the case are classified.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday he had arrived in Bucharest for talks with Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis.

"We will discuss further security cooperation, developing aviation and other coalitions, strengthening Ukraine's air defense, the Black Sea security architecture, and our relations with partners," Zelenskyy wrote on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Romania has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine and has allowed cargo ships from the Odesa region to sail through Romanian Black Sea territorial waters onwards to the Bosphorus Strait.

Romania has allowed this despite Russia's warning that it considers any ships leaving Ukrainian ports "legitimate targets."

Ukraine's military said it had destroyed 27 out of 36 Russian attack drones in an overnight wave of attacks, in the south of the country.

The Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram that 27 "Shahed-136/131" drones were downed in southern Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa. The post did not say which targets the other nine drones may have hit.

Reports of Russian attacks have increased since Moscow exited the Black Sea grain initiative, which allowed safe passage of grain from Ukrainian ports.

The 193-member United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday will elect 15 members to the Human Rights Council.

Russia is looking to regain its seat which was suspended last year, following the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia will be up against Albania and Bulgaria for the two available seats allocated to the East Europe region.

Moscow's UN representative, Vassily Nebenzia, has accused Washington of fronting a campaign to prevent a return to the international human rights body.

"The main phobia of our American colleagues today is electing Russia to the Human Rights Council," Nebenzia told a Security Council meeting.

The US and other nations have sent letters to members of the General Assembly urging them to reject Russia's reelection.

US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told the Security Council that Russia's reelection, "while it openly continues to commit war crimes and other atrocities would be an ugly stain that would undermine the credibility of the institution and the United Nations."

kb/sms (AP, Reuters, AFP)