May 20, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Russia on Friday claimed its troops have “completely liberated” the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol — the final holdout of Ukrainian resistance in the otherwise Russian-occupied southern city.

CNN cannot independently verify that all Ukrainian troops have left the steel plant.

Ukraine is yet to confirm Russia’s claims, which, if true, would mark a symbolic military victory for Moscow.

Here’s what you need to know:

The siege of Mariupol: The strategically important port city was one of the first to come under Russian attack after Moscow’s invasion began on Feb. 24. By early March, it had been surrounded by Russian forces, leaving residents facing dire shortages of food and water — and constant bombardment that hit a maternity hospital and a theater where civilians were sheltering.

The plant: By mid-April, most of the last Ukrainian defenders were fighting to hold Russian forces back from the Azovstal steel plant — which had also become a shelter for as many as 1,000 civilians, including some seriously injured who were stranded without medical care.

In late April, Russia claimed it had achieved the “liberation” of Mariupol — which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied, saying soldiers were still resisting in the city.

Evacuation attempts: Evacuations of civilians from Azovstal began on May 1. On May 16, Ukraine’s military said its forces had completed their “combat mission” at the steel plant, with hundreds of soldiers evacuated from the facility.

Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers evacuated from the plant were taken to a pre-trial detention center, while the severely injured were receiving medical treatment, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Ukraine said it expects to carry out an exchange of Russian prisoners of war for the severely injured soldiers.

The situation on the ground: If true, Russia’s claim on Friday would suggest the entire city of Mariupol has fallen to Russian control after nearly three months of brutal fighting.

A spokesperson from the Russian Defense Ministry claimed the “last group of 531 militants surrendered” in the plant. Earlier, the Ukrainian commander of the Azov regiment had issued an order for soldiers to preserve their “life and health … and stop defending the city.”

Videos posted online appear to show the remaining Azov fighters walking out of the steel plant. CNN cannot independently verify the number of fighters left in the plant.

Russian gains: If confirmed, the fall of the Azovstal steel plant means Russian forces are in full control of Mariupol, paving the way for them to establish a land corridor between Russia and the annexed territory of Crimea.

The symbolic victory would also secure a key port on the Sea of Azov for Russia and release Russian troops to fight on the front lines of the war in the Donbas region.

Wimbledon, the third of the four majors on the tennis calendar, is arguably the most famous tennis tournament in the world.

This year, however, the men’s and women’s professional tours, along with the International Tennis Federation (ITF), have opted to strip its ranking points for the grand slam event.

The announcements to remove the ranking points, which were made separately Friday by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the ITF, come following the decision from the tournament’s organizers to ban Russians and Belarusians from playing in this year’s event.

In a statement, ATP said, “Discrimination by individual tournaments is simply not viable on a Tour that operates in more than 30 countries.”

Read the full story:

Wimbledon organizers are standing by the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players despite the WTA, ATP and ITF removing ranking points for the event.

Related article Tennis tours strip ranking points at Wimbledon over decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday called Russian air strikes the epitome of “absolute evil, absolute stupidity,” after the destruction of a cultural center that left at least seven people injured.

Zelensky posted video on Telegram of the airstrike which wrecked the “newly renovated House of Culture,” causing a massive cloud of dust and debris, and also injured at least seven people including a child, in the city of Lazova in the Kharkiv region.

“The occupiers identified culture, education and humanity as their enemies. They do not spare missiles or bombs for them. What is in the minds of people who choose such targets? Absolute evil, absolute stupidity,” he said underneath the video of the strike.

An aerial view of damaged residential buildings and the Azovstal steel plant in the background in the port city of Mariupol, on Wednesday, May 18.

Russia claimed Friday that its troops have “completely liberated” the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. 

In a statement, Russian Ministry of Defense spokesperson Major General Igor Konashenkov said that the “last group of 531 militants surrendered,” referring to the Ukrainian fighters who for several weeks had been resisting the Russian assault on the plant.

Earlier, the Ukrainian commander of the Azov Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Denis Prokopenko, gave the order to stop defending the city of Mariupol and issued a short video message from inside the Azovstal steel plant saying that the top military leadership had “issued an order to preserve the garrison soldiers’ life and health and stop defending the city.”

Konashenkov said the Azov Regiment commander “was taken out of the territory of the plant in a special armored car.”

New video just posted online appears to show the remaining Azov fighters walking out of the steel plant. 

CNN cannot independently verify that all Ukrainian troops have vacated the steel plant.

The $40 billion Ukraine aid bill is being flown to South Korea for US President Joe Biden’s signature, a National Security Council spokesperson confirmed to CNN. 

The bill is “being carried by someone who was already traveling to the region as part of their official duties,” the spokesperson said.

The legislation provides money for military and humanitarian aid, including funding to assist Ukrainian military and national security forces, help replenish US equipment sent to Ukraine, and provide public health and medical support for Ukrainian refugees.

German Ambassador to the US Emily Haber

German Ambassador to the US Emily Haber said that a strategy of interdependence when engaging Russia has now been “pulverized” by the invasion of Ukraine and resulting fallout.

When asked by CNN’s Jim Sciutto whether “Germany fundamentally misread Vladimir Putin” in past years, here’s how Haber responded:

Haber also reiterated that the West needs to be united in its messaging against Russian President Vladimir Putin, because “we know, in effect, probably very little about the inner dynamics of his circle.”

Haber also discussed Germany reducing dependence on Russian energy, saying that the country is working at “breakneck speed” and the result will be “irreversible.”

“We have to reduce our dependence on Russian fossil fuels as quickly as we possibly can. … We are now discussing an oil embargo. And Germany is actually pressing for it. There are other options on the table as well, but all of them designed to make sure we are getting out of that dependence. Gas is a more complicated story, because, other than the oil market, it’s not a global market. But we are diversifying — Germany is — at breakneck speed. We are ordering big contracts of LNG, we are building LNG facility storage … And our intention is to get out of Russian gas, let alone oil and coal, as quickly as we possibly can. We need to end that dependence, and it will be irreversible,” she said.

Germany and Qatar on Friday agreed on an energy partnership that may see Doha start supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Berlin in 2024. Earlier this month, Germany started construction works for its first floating LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven, a city and port located in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany.

A Russian missile destroyed the House of Culture in the Ukrainian city of Lozova on Friday, injuring seven people, including an 11-year-old child, according to Ukraine’s Office of the President.

CNN has geolocated and verified the authenticity of the video, which was shared on Telegram by the president’s office. 

Lozova is located roughly 45 miles (about 73 kilometers), southwest of Izium, a Russian-occupied city in the Kharkiv region.

The missile was seen in the video milliseconds before it destroyed the building. When the missile hit the building, there was a large flash and a smoke plume as it exploded.

The president’s office claimed that the building had been newly renovated. CNN could not independently confirm the injuries that the office said resulted from the missile strike.

The US is expected to keep 100,000 troops stationed in Europe for the foreseeable future unless Russia escalates and threatens Sweden and Finland or NATO members, according to multiple US officials.

The numbers could temporarily increase if NATO carries out more military exercises in the region, and the US could add additional bases in Europe if the security environment changes, the officials added.

The plans are being considered following Thursday’s meeting of NATO’s military chiefs in Brussels, the officials said. The military chiefs are making the recommendations to a NATO defense ministers meeting planned for June, and NATO leaders including US President Joe Biden will meet in Madrid at the end of that month.

The US increased its overall force posture in Europe from about 60,000 troops before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to about 100,000 now, adding troops and military assets to countries along Europe’s eastern flank to support NATO and to further deter Russia. The US contributed thousands of troops to NATO’s Response Force, which was activated for the first time in NATO’s history earlier this spring.

Read the full story here.

Archbishop Paul, second left, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba lay flowers at the Memorial Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine in Kyiv on Friday.

Archbishop Paul, the foreign minister of Vatican City, reaffirmed the Vatican’s “willingness to aid a genuine negotiation process” between Ukraine and Russia in a speech in Kyiv on Friday. 

Speaking alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Archbishop Paul said negotiations were “a just route to a fair and permanent resolution” to the war in Ukraine.

Lamenting the “limitations” of previous attempts at finding a resolution through negotiations, the archbishop said: “Faith in God and in humanity (…) compels us to persevere in the pursuit of peace through prayer, words and deeds and not to succumb easily to the enormous challenges.”

Pope Francis has repeatedly made appeals for peace. The Vatican previously said it is willing to do “everything possible” to assist in reaching a ceasefire and brokering an end to the war in Ukraine. 

Archbishop Paul said the visit to Kyiv, at the invitation of Kuleba, had been planned “for quite some time,” but “obstacles” including health concerns with the Covid-19 pandemic had prevented it until now.

Yuriy Glodan

A Ukrainian man who lost his wife, 3-month-old daughter and mother-in-law in a missile strike on Easter weekend in Odesa said that “it is hard to live.”

Yuriy Glodan was at the grocery store and heard an explosion on the way home, he told CNN’s Sara Sidner.

“I felt immediately something bad had happened. I tried to call my wife. She did not answer,” he said in translated remarks.

When he arrived to his apartment building, which had been struck, he and a bystander immediately tried to start clearing rubble. They, alongside EMS staff, found the bodies of Glodan’s wife and her mother.

Officials told him to leave the scene because there was fear of a building collapse, but he wouldn’t leave until he found the body of his baby daughter.

Glodan’s neighbor, 19-year-old Oleksiy Paradovsky, is in the hospital after suffering burns to 20% of his body.

“I realized that a rocket had hit my place and I started to burn,” he told Sidner. “I thought another minute, and I would definitely turn into ash.”

Shrapnel also had to be removed from his body. He was preparing to work on a commercial supply ship prior to the war, but now he’s just lucky to be alive, he said.

Watch the report and read more about the two men here:

Germany will deliver the first 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine in July, a German defense ministry spokesperson confirmed Friday, adding that the tanks should be fully operational in Ukraine by mid-July.  

At the end of April, Germany agreed to deliver anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine. And in early May, Berlin said it will supply Kyiv with seven self-propelled howitzers.  

Last week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed Germany’s announcement, saying that Berlin has now moved into ”the right direction” following tensions between Kyiv and Berlin.  

Over the past months, the German government has come under pressure from Ukraine and politicians at home for not doing more in providing heavy military equipment to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian attacks.  

Qatari Minister of State for Energy Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi shakes hands with German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck after they signed a new energy partnership between their countries on Friday.

Germany and Qatar on Friday agreed on an energy partnership, which may see Doha start supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Berlin in 2024.

Qatar will become key to Germany’s future energy strategy to diversify away from Russian gas, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, addressing a joint press conference with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Berlin.

“The energy security issue plays an important role for us. Germany will develop its infrastructure to be in a position to import liquefied gas by ship,” Scholz said. 

“It’s a big step, and Qatar plays an important role in our strategy,” the German leader added.

The Qatari emir told journalists at the news conference that he hopes his country will commence to supply liquefied natural gas to Germany in 2024.

The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz shake hands after a joint press conference in Berlin on Friday.

Some background: Germany has been under pressure from Ukraine and other nations in Europe to make progress in weaning itself off Russian energy supplies since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Germany started construction works for its first floating LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven, a city and port located in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany.

France announced on Friday that it launched its first medical evacuation flight from Poland for wounded Ukrainians and child cancer patients. 

In a statement, the French foreign ministry said the flight today evacuated seven Ukrainians wounded in the war, plus three Ukrainian children with cancer and their caregivers. 

The patients will be treated at the expense of France in various hospitals across the country, according to the statement.  

“France remains committed to supporting Ukraine and the populations affected by the consequences of the Russian aggression,” the ministry said.  

Denys Shmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine, speaks virtually at the meeting of G7 Finance Ministers in Koenigswinter, Germany, on May 19.

The finance ministers of Group of Seven (G7) nations have pledged $19.8 billion to support Ukraine’s finances during Russia’s invasion, a statement from the group said on Friday.

In the statement, the G7, an organization of leaders from some of the world’s largest economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US, said the funds will be used to help Ukraine “close its financing gap and continue ensuring the delivery of basic services to the Ukrainian people.”

“We will continue to stand by Ukraine throughout this war and beyond and are prepared to do more as needed,” the group said.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has now entered its 13th week. In the otherwise Russian-occupied city of Mariupol the final holdout of the Azovstal steel plant has become a strong symbol of Ukrainian resistance. Today, an order has been given to stop defending the city, according to the commander of the Azov Regiment inside Azovstal.

Meanwhile, there are “many dead” after a Russian missile strike near Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, who accused Russia of trying to “kill as many Ukrainians as possible.”

Here are today’s latest developments:

Order given to stop defending Mariupol: The commander of the Azov Regiment, Lt. Col. Denis Prokopenko, issued a video message from inside Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant saying that the top military leadership had “issued an order to preserve the garrison soldiers’ life and health and stop defending the city.” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said almost 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered from the plant. CNN cannot independently verify these figures.

Donbas “completely destroyed”: Zelensky said there are “constant strikes on the Odesa region, on the cities of central Ukraine, and the Donbas is completely destroyed.” In the Chernihiv region north of Kyiv on Thursday, Russian missiles hit the village of Desna leaving many dead, Zelensky said. Desna is 40 miles from the border with Belarus.

12 dead in Luhansk: Ukrainian military officials say 12 people were killed in the eastern Luhansk region in the city of Severodonetsk, and 60 properties destroyed by Russian bombardments on Thursday. But they note that Russian forces do not appear to have made any headway on the main front lines in Luhansk and Donetsk in the past day. 

Russian soldier’s trial adjourned: The trial of 21-year-old Vadim Shishimarin was adjourned until Monday after a third day of hearings in his trial for war crimes. Shishimarin pleaded guilty Wednesday to shooting an unarmed 62-year-old civilian in Ukraine’s Sumy region on the fourth day of the war, and said “I’m sorry and sincerely repent.”

Mammoth US aid bill: US President Joe Biden will sign a $40 billion emergency aid package to Ukraine into law while he is in South Korea, an official says. The package was approved by the US Senate on Thursday. The Biden administration also announced another $100 million security package for Ukraine. 

Food export crisis: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he discussed ways to “unblock” Ukrainian food exports with his UK counterpart, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. The blockade on Ukrainian exports was also discussed by Zelensky and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a call Thursday. A failure to open closed ports in Ukraine to ship grain out will bring millions of people to the brink of starvation, according to the World Food Programme.

Biden offers “strong support” for NATO bids: The leaders of Sweden and Finland met with Biden at the White House after they submitted their NATO membership applications on Wednesday. The Biden administration will submit reports to the US Congress on the applications. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again maintained that his country “will say no” to the entry.

US intelligence officials are skeptical that any change in Russian public opinion against the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine – even a dramatic one – would have an effect in persuading Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the conflict, according to multiple sources familiar with the latest intelligence.

Officials also doubt that the war, which many strategists believe has been an unmitigated disaster for Russia’s military, is likely to lead to the removal of Putin from power, at least in the short term.

That assessment reflects the extent to which officials believe Putin has cemented his control over Russia during his more than two decades in power.

Putin is intimately involved in the day-to-day management of the conflict, according to three sources familiar with US and western intelligence, who told CNN that Putin directly participates in decision-making that in most Western armies would be reserved for lower-ranking officers.

“He clearly is his own decision maker. He doesn’t seem to rely even on experts within the government or the cabinet very much,” said a senior NATO official.

Full coverage here:

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets the audience as he attends a concert marking the eighth anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow on March 18, 2022.

Related article US intel skeptical Putin will be swayed by Russian public opinion over war in Ukraine

Pipes at the Gasum plant in Raikkola, Imatra, Finland, on May 12.

Finland’s main gas company, Gasum, said on Friday that Russian gas supplies to Finland will be cut off on Saturday at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET).    

Starting Saturday and during the upcoming summer season, Gasum will supply natural gas to its customers from other sources, the state-owned firm said in a press release.  

Wiljanen went on to say that “provided that there will be no disruptions in the gas transmission network, we will be able to supply all our customers with gas in the coming months.”    

Gasum Vice President Olga Väisänen told CNN on Friday that Finland is also receiving gas through its Balticconnector pipeline via Estonia, but adding that the winter season will be “challenging.”   

On Tuesday, the gas firm said it would not pay for Russian gas in rubles or use Gazprom’s proposed payment scheme for gas. In a statement, the company said negotiations over a long-term gas contract with Gazprom were in dispute, and it was taking Gazprom to arbitration to try and resolve the matter. 

Finland, along with Sweden, have submitted applications to become a part of NATO in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, which sparked security concerns across the region. Russia’s foreign ministry has warned that Russia “will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature” if Finland and Sweden join the alliance. Finland shares an 800-mile-long border with Russia.

Russia last week cut off electricity to Finland.

CNN’s Robert North contributed reporting to this post.

An overview of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, on May 12.

The commander of the Azov Regiment, Lt. Col. Denis Prokopenko, has issued a short video message from inside the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

Prokopenko said that the top military leadership had “issued an order to preserve the garrison soldiers’ life and health and stop defending the city.”

The message implies that those remaining at Azovstal are planning to leave the plant in the near future. There are thought to be several hundred fighters left inside the sprawling complex.

Azovstal was the last holdout in otherwise Russian-occupied Mariupol and became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance under relentless Russian bombardment.

Prokopenko added: “Despite heavy fighting … and lack of supplies, we constantly emphasized the three most important conditions for us: civilians, wounded, and dead. Civilians were evacuated.

The injured have been taken to a hospital in the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic.

“As for the fallen heroes, the process is ongoing. But I hope that in the near future, families and all of Ukraine will be able to bury their soldiers with honors.”

Some background: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday that almost 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered at the Azovstal plant.

In remarks carried by Russian state media, Shoigu said: “The blocking of the Azovstal plant continues … Nationalists are actively surrendering to captivity. At the moment, 1,908 people laid down their arms.”

CNN cannot independently verify these figures.

A destroyed Russian tank in the village of Mala Rogan in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on May 16.

Russia has fired senior commanders who were considered to have “performed poorly” during the initial stages of the Ukraine invasion, an intelligence update by the UK Ministry of Defense (MOD) said on Thursday.

“Lieutenant General Serhiy Kisel, who commanded the elite 1st Guards Tank Army, has been suspended for his failure to capture Kharkiv,” the MOD said on Twitter.

Russian Chief of General Staff Valeriy Gerasimov “likely” remains in his post, but it’s “unclear” whether he retains the confidence of President Vladimir Putin, the statement continued.

The British intelligence update also said that a culture of cover-ups and scapegoating is “probably prevalent” within the Russian military and security system.

“This will likely place further strain on Russia’s centralised model of command and control, as officers increasingly seek to defer key decisions to their superiors,” it added.