Archive November 1, 2025

In a protest against Rio state governor Claudio Castro’s resignation, hundreds of protesters have marched through one of the favelas that were the target of the most recent police raid.

The protesters’ vocal voices were heard on Friday in Vila Cruzeiro, a part of the Penha complex of favelas that were assaulted, as they gathered to protest the police operation that killed at least 121 people, including four police officers.

On Tuesday, about 2,500 police and soldiers stormed the crowded, low-income neighborhoods known as the Complexo de Alemao and Complexo da Penha favelas in Rio de Janeiro, killing the notorious gang Comando Vermelho (Red Command) in the Complexo de Alemao and Complexo da Penha.

The officers drew retaliation from gang members, causing chaos in the city, with the aid of armored vehicles and helicopters.

Capturing gang leaders and halt Red Command’s territorial expansion were the stated goals. In recent years, the organization has grown in control of the city’s favelas and other locations.

Authorities initially claimed only 64 people had died, but residents discovered numerous bodies in a nearby wooded area the following day.

As they gathered in Vila Cruzeiro, where residents had laid out dozens of dead bodies days earlier, activists, and grieving mothers who lost their sons in previous operations, expressed their anger.

The right-wing governor of Rio de Janeiro received a lot of the support, with protesters calling him an “assissassin.”

Stop the massacres, Castro, out with us! protesters chanted and demanded that the governor resign or that he be imprisoned.

“Favelas isn’t public policy,” says the statement. Monica Benicio, a member of the local council, called it a massacre.

Castro argued that the operation was a “success” against “narco-terrorists,” claiming that those killed were drug users who opposed police. Of the 99 suspects so far, 42 had outstanding arrest warrants, according to the state government, and 78 had long-running criminal histories.

At the protest on Friday, there was a sign that read, “120 lives lost is not a success,” and another that read, “Castro has blood on his hands.”

Many also criticized the location of the bodies’ bodies. Several bodies were reportedly found with puncture wounds or tied up, while others were not.

Rights groups and the UN condemned the death toll, which was the highest level ever recorded during a Rio police operation. Human Rights Watch called for Brazilian authorities to conduct “a prompt, thorough, and independent investigation of each of the killings” and denounced the “disastrous operation.”

Castro is required to provide detailed details about how the operation was carried out in Brazil, according to the Supreme Court and lawmakers. A hearing with Castro and the heads of the military and civil police is scheduled for November 3 according to Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Castro claims that the government of leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is anti-crime, saying Rio de Janeiro has abandoned Rio in its fight against gangs.

The G7 energy ministers, which include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, stated in a statement that Russia’s attacks “continue to have devastating social, environmental, and economic consequences on the Ukrainian people.”

According to the statement, “Russia’s recent attacks on Ukraine’s natural gas infrastructure have put communities and human lives at risk,” as well as weakened civilian infrastructure and Ukrainian people’s energy security.

The G7 stated that it continues to support Ukraine’s energy sector’s recovery “through direct financial assistance, credit facilities, risk insurance, policy and resource alignment, as well as setting conditions for long-term private sector investment.”

In recent weeks, Ukraine has accused Russia of repeatedly attacking its population’s suffering in preparation for the bitterly cold winter months.

Following a string of Russian attacks on energy facilities in the country’s central, western, and southeast on Thursday, which left seven people dead, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said “the goal is to plunge Ukraine into darkness.”

On the eve of winter, Svyrydenko said, “Russia continues its systematic energy terror. It is striking at the lives, dignity, and warmth of Ukrainians.”

She continued, “We need more air defense systems, tougher sanctions, and maximum pressure on the aggressor” in order to stop the terrorism.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized what it claimed were “targeted strikes” by Russian forces on Ukrainian nuclear power stations on Friday.

It stated that “deliberate strikes on civilian energy facilities that directly affect the safe operation of nuclear installations are a grave violation of international humanitarian law.”

Following the attacks on Thursday, Kyiv announced nationwide restrictions on the supply of electricity to retail and industrial customers, and some regions also experienced disruptions to water and heating systems.

Three Ukrainian nuclear power plants were forced to reduce output as a result of the assault, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi warned that “the threats to nuclear safety continue to be very real and ever-present.”

He continued, “I call for maximum military restraint in the area of nuclear facilities.”

Moscow denies that it is attacking people who are civilians. It asserts that Ukraine’s strikes were merely an attack on Russian civilian infrastructure.

Moscow and Kyiv frequently accuse one another of attacking one another’s energy centers and engaging in military exercises that compromise the safety of Ukraine’s four active nuclear plants.

As fighting rages nearby, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was taken over by Russian forces in the first few weeks of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, has become a major concern for the IAEA.

The Zaporizhia-based administration, which was installed in Russia, announced on October 23 that it had restored external power to the plant and repaired a damaged high-voltage line.

Since September 23, when its last external power line was severed in attacks that each side blamed on the other, it has been without external electricity for 30 days and relying on backup diesel generators.