Europe

Sept 23 (Reuters) - Ukraine will never forgive Russia for a shameful conflict which has thrown back Russia's development by half a century to Soviet times predating Mikhail Gorbachev, journalist and Nobel Peace laureate Dmitry Muratov told Reuters.

Russia's military campaign in Ukraine has killed tens of thousands, left some Ukrainian cities wastelands and triggered Moscow's biggest confrontation with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

BRUSSELS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - NATO will ramp up its help for Kyiv in response to Russia's "sham" referendums in occupied territories of Ukraine, the alliance's Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Friday.

He spoke as Moscow launched the votes on the four regions joining Russia, in what Kyiv and its allies say is a ruse to annex the territories and escalate the seven-month-old war.

"Our answer, NATO's answer, is to step up support," Stoltenberg told CNN in an interview.

ROME, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin was "pushed" into invading Ukraine and wanted to put "decent people" in charge of Kyiv, former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi has said, drawing fierce criticism just ahead of Italy's election.

The Italian leader, whose Forza Italia party belongs to a right-wing coalition expected to win Sunday's parliamentary election on Sunday, is a long-time friend of Putin and his comments are likely to alarm Western allies. 

STOCKHOLM, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Forty-eight people have been shot dead so far in Sweden this year, making 2022 the deadliest year the country has seen since 2016, the Swedish Police Authority said on Friday.

The previous annual record was set in 2020, when 47 people died of gun-related injuries.

GENEVA (AP) — A team of experts commissioned by the U.N.’s top human rights body to look into rights violations in Ukraine said Friday its initial investigation turned up evidence of war crimes in the country following Russia’s invasion nearly seven months ago.

The experts from the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, mandated by Human Rights Council earlier this year, have so far focused on four regions — Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy.

MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/: The intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat carries maneuvering warheads, the CEO of the JSC Makeyev Design Bureau (an affiliate of Roscosmos) Vladimir Degtyar, has told TASS.

"The Sarmat is equipped with the most advanced maneuvering warheads," Degtyar said.

The missile is unique in terms of its unsurpassed speed, record-breaking range, the highest accuracy and complete invulnerability while penetrating anti-missile defense systems.

MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/: Moscow has banned entry to 87 Canadian nationals as a retaliatory measure, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/: Russia’s envoy to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said EU officials told him as he left Brussels that they want to keep open the communications lines with Russia.

"This doesn’t mean that relations with the EU ended with my departure. No. Even during my final contacts in Brussels, I heard officials express the desire to keep the lines of communication open," he said at a news conference.

"Somehow, apparently, they will go on, although almost every day, they come up with new sanctions or some stupid announcement," the diplomat said.

MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 53,457 over the past day to 20,641,559, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Thursday.

As many as 3,719 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, 13.9% fewer than in the previous day. The number of hospitalized patients declined in 52 regions, while in 30 other regions the figure increased. A day earlier, 4,321 people were rushed to hospitals.

MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/: Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed media rumors there were plans for calling up for military service up to one million men under the current partial mobilization campaign.

"This is a lie," he told TASS.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization plan and signed a ten-point decree. The seventh paragraph has not been officially published. In the document itself, it is marked as "for official use only."