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Russia has probably committed crimes against humanity by forcibly transferring Ukrainian civilians in Russian-occupied areas of the country to other regions, Amnesty International said Thursday, according to Agence France-Presse.
It said civilians were moved from occupied Ukraine further into Russian-controlled areas or into Russia, with children separated from their families in violation of international humanitarian law.
Amnesty said it had been told by civilians they had endured "abusive screening processes," known as filtration, which sometimes resulted in arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment.
"Separating children from their families and forcing people hundreds of kilometers from their homes are further proof of the severe suffering Russia's invasion has inflicted on Ukraine's civilians," said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general.
The rights group said it interviewed 88 people, the majority civilians from Mariupol, the Ukrainian Black Sea city seized by Russia after a brutal siege, as well as residents from the Kharkiv, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
"Most, especially those from Mariupol, described coercive conditions that meant that they had no meaningful choice but to go to Russia or other Russian-occupied areas," it said.
Amnesty said that once in Russia, several people said they felt pressured into applying for Russian citizenship, or said their movements were restricted.
U.S. President Joe Biden voiced hope Wednesday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would negotiate "more seriously" to free basketball star Brittney Griner, who was sent to a penal colony just ahead of U.S. congressional elections, Agence France-Presse reported.
Biden appeared to link the case of Griner, whose plight has generated widespread anger in the United States, to Tuesday's midterm vote in which the president's Democratic Party exceeded expectations against the rival Republicans.
"My hope is that now that the election is over that Mr. Putin will be able to discuss with us and be willing to talk more seriously about prisoner exchange," Biden told a post-election news conference.
"That is my intention -- my intention is to get her home, and we've had a number of discussions so far," Biden said.
He did not elaborate but tensions with Russia have soared over the invasion of Ukraine, to which the United States is sending billions of dollars in weapons.
Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said that the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the area is going well, even though there are "difficulties.” During an interview with The Associated Press, Haidai said that Russian troops had "time to prepare" and added that a "huge amount of territory" was mined.
But after the recent advancements by the military, the "brilliant actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are absolutely obvious," he said.
He said the winter will not stop the push-back, adding that it is better "to move forward," even slowly. "We cannot stand still. No one will engage in positional wars," he said.
Berlin is turning a former airport into a temporary refugee shelter with 3,600 beds, as it struggles to put up more Ukrainians fleeing Russia's attacks on their country's vital infrastructure, as well as the winter weather, The Associated Press reported.
While two former terminals of Tegel Airport were already opened for Ukrainian refugees in the spring, Berlin's state government is now racing to fix two big tents on the tarmac with heaters for the winter and has opened a third terminal for the registration of new arrivals and also put up 900 new beds.
Germany has taken in 1 million refugees from Ukraine since Russia attacked the eastern European country almost nine months ago.
In addition, more asylum seekers than in previous years are coming to Germany from countries such as Syria, Moldova or Afghanistan.
The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday that she does not expect the U.S. midterm election to weaken Washington's support for Ukraine given the bipartisan backing for Kyiv since Russia's invasion of its neighbor, The Associated Press reported.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke after she visited a UNICEF center in Warsaw that has become a hub for Ukrainian refugee children and their mothers, offering educational support and therapy.
She said her talks with government and Warsaw city officials included making contingency plans in case the coming winter and power outages create another large exodus of Ukrainians to Poland and other frontline states.