Four Russian soldiers have described severe brutality within their own ranks during the war in Ukraine, including alleged executions of troops who refused orders. In a BBC documentary, two men said they witnessed commanders shoot soldiers at close range for declining to join assaults described as near-suicidal. One claimed he saw about 20 bodies of comrades executed by fellow troops, a practice reportedly referred to in slang as being ‘zeroed’. Another said he was tortured, electrocuted and humiliated after refusing deployment, and that others were forced into repeated, deadly attacks. The men, now in hiding, spoke from an undisclosed location. Moscow has not released official casualty figures (other sources estimate more than a million) and says allegations of misconduct are investigated, insisting its forces act ‘with utmost restraint’. The accounts could not be independently verified, but they add to growing claims about harsh discipline and heavy losses within Russian units.

Christians in Afghanistan are on the precipice of disaster. Women and children fear the utter brutality of Taliban rule. They are hiding in their homes for fear of what the Taliban will do to them. The Taliban have taken over Afghanistan in a catastrophe of epic proportions. The west is abandoning Afghan Christians, helpless women and children, and U.S. citizens. The Taliban are going door to door looking for Christians to kill and unmarried women to take captive. There are fears of the same genocidal persecution Christians suffered in Iraq and Syria. The American Centre for Law and Justice is mobilising to defend Christians' lives in Afghanistan. It is submitting reports for UN consideration and filing critical demands of the Biden administration (which will likely lead to a lawsuit). It wants international intervention to prevent needless bloodshed and human rights atrocities before it is too late.