Russia’s lower house of parliament, the state duma, has announced that it will vote on withdrawing Moscow’s ratification of the global treaty that bans nuclear tests. The duma plans to hold a first reading on the bill next week, followed by its expected completion two days later. The head of the parliament’s international affairs committee, Leonid Slutsky, stated that all 450 members of the duma would sponsor the motion.
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which has been signed by 187 countries and ratified by 178, was opened for signature in 1996. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently suggested that the duma should consider withdrawing Russia’s ratification to “mirror” the United States’ position. Although Putin did not explicitly endorse resuming nuclear tests, he did not rule it out either.
In other news, the death toll from a missile strike in the village of Hroza in northeastern Ukraine has risen to 59, according to the country’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko. The strike, carried out by Russia, targeted a cafe where people had gathered to mourn a fallen Ukrainian soldier. The victims were all local residents, including pensioners, medics, teachers, and entrepreneurs. This attack marks one of the deadliest instances of civilian casualties during the nearly 20-month-long war.
Meanwhile, Romanian authorities have discovered a crater on their territory, suspected to be caused by a drone that may have exploded upon impact. The crater was found 1.8 miles west of the village of Plauru, near the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The Romanian defence ministry detected a series of drones heading towards Ukrainian river ports and believes that one of them caused the crater. The origin and timing of the drone launch are still under investigation. The incident raises concerns about the spillover of Russia’s conflict in Ukraine onto a NATO member country, especially following recent attacks by Russia on southern Ukraine near the Romanian border.
