May 26, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

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

Russia’s intensified offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region reflects “an obvious policy of genocide,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Thursday.

“The current offensive of the occupiers in Donbas can make the region uninhabited,” Zelensky said. “They want to burn Popasna, Bakhmut, Lyman, Lysychansk and Severodonetsk to ashes. Like Volnovakha, like Mariupol.”

In cities closer to the Russian border like Donetsk and Luhansk, Russian forces “gather everyone they can to fill the place of those killed and wounded in the occupation contingent,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky said putting pressure on Russia “is literally a matter of saving lives” and that every delay, dispute or proposal to “appease” Russia leads to “new killed Ukrainians” and new threats to everyone on the continent.

Nine people, including a five-month-old baby, were killed in Kharkiv on Thursday amid “dense shelling” on residential areas near the city center, according to Oleh Synyehubov, head of the Kharkiv region military administration.

Among those killed was “a family who was simply walking down the street — a man was holding his five-month-old baby in his hands, whom he died holding. (The) mother of this baby is severely wounded and is now in the hospital,” Synyehubov said.

He also described the artillery used, and said the targeting of residential areas in Ukraine’s second-largest city could only be for the purpose of “terrorizing” local residents.

“The enemy shelled with MLRS SMERCH and URAGAN and with artillery, modification of which is being established now by our military experts. According to the available data. the shelling was conducted from the North of the oblast, where our troops are holding their positions and slowly pushing the enemy away to the borders. This was a solely residential area, so the aim of this shelling could only be terrorizing the local residents,” he said.  

The official added that it was the Shevchenkivskyi and Kyivskyi districts of Kharkiv that were “densely shelled.” He said in addition to those killed, 19 were injured, among them a nine-year-old child.

“As of now our armed forces holding their positions firmly and there is no question about possible seizure of Kharkiv city,” he said.

Ukraine’s most urgent need is for multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to counter Russian superiority in heavy weaponry, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

The military situation in the eastern regions is “as dire as people say — even worse than people say,” Kuleba said Thursday in Twitter live Q and A from Poland.

The only response that would work, he said, was with “more heavy weapons. Without these, we won’t be able to push them back.”

He called Washington’s decision on this “crucial.”

CNN has learned that the Biden administration is preparing to step up the kind of weaponry it is offering Ukraine by sending advanced, long-range rocket systems as they become the top request from Ukrainian officials, according to multiple officials.

The administration is leaning toward sending the systems as part of a larger package of military and security assistance to Ukraine, which could be announced as soon as next week. 

In addition to the foreign minister, other senior Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have pleaded in recent weeks for the US and its allies to provide the MLRS. The US-made weapon systems can fire a barrage of rockets hundreds of kilometers — much farther than any of the systems Ukraine already has — which the Ukrainians argue could be a gamechanger in their war against Russia.

Another system Ukraine has asked for is the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS, a lighter wheeled system capable of firing many of the same types of ammunition as MLRS.

Russia has in recent weeks pummeled Ukraine in the east, where Ukraine is outmanned and outgunned, Ukrainian officials have said.

The Biden administration wavered for weeks, however, on whether to send the systems, amid concerns raised within the National Security Council that Ukraine could use the systems to carry out offensive attacks inside Russia, officials said.

The issue was at the top of the agenda at last week’s two meetings at the White House where deputy Cabinet members convened to discuss national security policy, officials said. At the heart of the matter was the same concern the administration has grappled with since the start of the war — whether sending increasingly heavy weaponry to Ukraine will be viewed by Russia as a provocation that could trigger some kind of retaliation against the US.  

Ukraine is already believed to have carried out numerous cross-border strikes inside Russia, which Ukrainian officials neither confirm nor deny. Russian officials have said publicly that any threat to their homeland would constitute a major escalation and have said that western countries are making themselves a legitimate target in the war by continuing to arm the Ukrainians. 

Another major concern inside the Biden administration had been whether the US could afford to give away so many high-end weapons drawn from the military’s stockpiles, the sources said. 

Read the full report here.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been processed through a series of Russian “filtration camps” in eastern Ukraine and sent into Russia as part of a systemized program of forced removal, according to four sources familiar with the latest Western intelligence — an estimate far higher than US officials have publicly disclosed.

After being detained in camps operated by Russian intelligence officials, many Ukrainians are then forcibly relocated to economically depressed areas in Russia, in some cases thousands of miles from their homes, and often left with no means of returning, sources said.

Although some Ukrainians have voluntarily entered filtration camps to try to escape the fighting by entering Russia, many have been picked up against their will at check points and in bomb shelters. After spending an average of around three weeks at the camps — where sources and eyewitnesses say they are held in inhuman conditions, interrogated and sometimes tortured — some are sent across the border into Russia and given state documentation. 

From checkpoints in Rostov and other Russian towns, many Ukrainians are then relocated to far-flung corners across Russia, the sources said. In some cases, Ukrainians have been sent to Sakhalin Island, a distant spit in the Pacific Ocean on Russia’s far east — 10,000 miles from the Ukrainian border. If they are fortunate, sources tell CNN, Russia will provide housing in residential areas and perhaps a Russian SIM card and a small amount of money.

Others are simply dropped off with nothing and expected to survive on their own. Still other Ukrainians are stuck in filtration camps inside Russia, close to their own homes, with no way to leave, other sources added.

Taken together, western intelligence reporting described by CNN sources offers new details that go beyond scattered eyewitness accounts from the region and paints a disturbing picture of a comprehensive resettlement process.

Claims of cultural genocide: It’s all part of Russia’s effort to cement political control over occupied areas, sources say — in part by eliminating Ukrainians believed to be sympathetic to Kyiv and in part by diminishing the Ukrainian national identity through depopulation and what some human rights activists term “cultural genocide.” It’s an indiscriminate system that Russia has employed before, notably during both Chechen wars.

Intelligence officials believe all Ukrainians entering Russia are being processed through these filtration camps. Top US diplomats have already publicly condemned the practice and said these actions constitute war crimes.

“Ukrainians do not necessarily have to be thrown on a back of a truck but many are put in a situation where they don’t have a choice: You get on the bus and go to filtration and then to Russia or you die in the shelling,” said Tanya Lokshina, Europe and Central Asia associate director for Human Rights Watch. “These are forced transfers forbidden under the laws of war.”

Russia’s Ministry of Defense did not respond to requests for comment.

It’s difficult to confirm precise numbers, and officially, Western estimates vary from tens of thousands to 1 million people. 

But even the more conservative estimates hint at a massive program of forced dislocation on a staggering scale. And even as US officials have publicly cited much lower numbers, the sources say that in reality, it’s clear that at least hundreds of thousands of people have been pushed through the camp system and sent to Russia.

Late last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russian armed forces are “doing everything to prevent deaths among the civilian population. Since the beginning of the special military operation, more than 1.37 million people have been evacuated from the dangerous regions of the people’s republic, as well as from Ukraine to Russia.” 

Read the full story here.

Ukraine’s armed forces have acknowledged that Russian forces have made further advances in Donetsk region — capturing one district within 10 miles (about 16 kilometers) of the important town of Bakhmut.

In an operational update Thursday, the armed forces’ general staff said that while several Russian efforts to advance had been thwarted, “in the directions of Pokrovsky and Klynove, the enemy has partial success, capturing the village of Midna Ruda.”

Midna Ruda is some 10 miles (about 16 kilometers) southeast of Bakhmut, which has come under heavier artillery fire in the last week. Bakhmut is on a key resupply route for Ukrainian units on the frontlines, which would potentially be cut off by further Russian advances. 

“In the Donetsk direction, the enemy is shelling our troops, launching missile strikes, conducting surveillance, and increasing air support,” the general staff said.

The general staff also said that other Russian efforts to push west towards the Donetsk region border had been repulsed. It said the Russians continued to bombard Ukrainian troops south of the town of Lyman, much of which fell into Russian hands Tuesday. Video Wednesday showed the Russian flag flying above the town’s municipal offices. 

According to the Ukrainians, Russian efforts to advance into Donetsk from the north continue to be frustrated. The front lines in the area have changed little in recent weeks. The general staff said that “with the support of artillery, the enemy carried out an offensive in the direction of the village of Bohorodychne, had no success, and retreated to previous positions.”

Further east, as Ukrainian forces cling onto defensive positions around Severodonetsk, the general staff said Russian forces had enjoyed “partial success” in making slight advances on the ground.

Meanwhile in the south: The general staff said that Russian units in the Zaporizhzhia region were being reinforced by Soviet-era T62 tanks, which appear to have been brought out of storage.

Separately, the Ukrainian military released video and quotes from soldiers operating the US M777 howitzers. They praise its accuracy and range, with one saying, “The enemy feels the effectiveness of our artillery every day and every hour. We are doing everything possible and impossible to surpress and eliminate the enemy and give our infantry a chance for a counter-offensive to liberate our territories.”

Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has said that the town of Lyman in Donetsk region has fallen to the Russians, “according to unverified reports.”

“The Russian army — this must be checked — captured it,” Arestovych told Ukrainian television. 

In a rare admission, Arestovych also said: “The way they captured it shows that there is still a talented commander who correctly organized the operation, which shows the increased level of operational control and tactical skill of the Russian army.”

CNN’s Kostan Nechyporenko contributed reporting to this post.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi held a telephone call on Thursday and discussed the situation in Ukraine and the issue of global food security, according to readouts of the call from both the governments. 

The Italian readout released following the call said the discussion between the two leaders focused on the situation in Ukraine and “efforts to find a shared solution to the ongoing food crisis and its serious repercussions on the poorest countries in the world.” 

The Kremlin in its readout said that Putin emphasized that Moscow is ready to make a “significant contribution” to avoid the food crisis through the export of grain and fertilizers, if the West lifts “politically motivated restrictions” on Russia. 

“Noting the groundlessness of accusations with the supply of agricultural products to world markets, Vladimir Putin drew attention to the fact that the difficulties that have arisen are related, among other things, to disruptions in the operation of production and logistics chains, as well as the financial policy of Western countries during the coronavirus pandemic. The situation was aggravated due to anti-Russian restrictions imposed by the United States and the European Union,” the Kremlin statement said. 

Putin also informed Draghi about the “ongoing work to establish a peaceful life in the liberated cities of Donbas,” the Kremlin said, adding the Russian leader also gave “fundamental assessments of the negotiation process frozen by Kyiv.”

“When discussing energy security issues, the intention of the Russian side to continue to ensure uninterrupted supplies of natural gas to Italy at prices fixed in contracts was confirmed,” it said. 

Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin visited Kyiv — as well as the cities of Irpin and Bucha — Thursday and meet with local residents and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

She announced plans for additional support for Ukraine, including an increase in arms deliveries.

After hearing testimonies about alleged atrocities committed by Russian soldiers, Marin emphasized that Finland supports Ukraine and the International Criminal Court bringing the perpetrators to justice, according to a Finnish government statement, and that there will be “no room for impunity.”

During the visit, Marin strongly condemned Russia’s actions in Ukraine, calling them “a blatant violation of the UN Charter and international law,” the statement said.

“It is important for the European Union to be united, bold and determined in the face of Russia’s invasion,” Marin stressed, adding that “it is important to create concrete steps for Ukraine to become an EU Member State.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing sanctions from the West have sent oil prices skyrocketing, lifting gasoline and diesel prices in the United States to unprecedented levels. Natural gas prices also have climbed around the world.

After the West imposed tough penalties on Russia, Putin warned that “unfriendly” nationswould need to pay for crucial Russian shipments of natural gas in rubles instead of euros. Following payment disputes, Russia has turned off the flow gas to Finland, Bulgaria and Poland.

“I wouldn’t trust them,” US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told CNN in response to a question about whether Russia will ever again be considered a reliable energy supplier. “They have to prove they are a reliable partner and they’re certainly not doing that.”

“They are weaponizing energy, which is another reason why as a nation, we should move to energy sources that cannot be weaponized,” Granholm said while speaking from a General Electric wind turbine testing facility in New Orleans.

Of course, Russia could argue that the West is also weaponizing energy. The United States and other countries have banned imports of Russian oil, natural gas and coal, while Europe is debating similar steps.

Keep reading here.

Brent crude oil climbed on Thursday to the highest level since late March, signaling more pain for drivers filling up at the gas pump.

Brent, the world benchmark, jumped 2.8% to $117.25 a barrel in recent trading. Brent hit an intraday high of $117.39 a barrel, the highest since March 28. 

Investors are watching nervously as European officials attempt to reach an agreement on phasing out Russian oil, a step that would further scramble energy flows. 

“Oil prices keep grinding higher and it’s tough to see how that doesn’t continue if an oil embargo is put into place,” said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst for the Americas at data and analytics firm Kpler.

Oil prices remain significantly below the recent peak set in March during the initial shock after Russia invaded Ukraine. Brent topped out at $139.13 a barrel in early March, while US oil hit $130.50 a barrel. 

“We have an orderly march higher, rather than some panic-induced price spike,” Smith said. 

Gas prices are at record highs, though they have begun to level out. The US national average for regular gasoline edged higher on Thursday to a fresh record of $4.60 a gallon, according to AAA. That’s 30% more expensive than the day before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Russian forces have lost “nearly about 1,000 tanks” and “well over 350 artillery pieces,” as well as “almost three dozen fighter bomber fixed-wing aircraft and more than 50 helicopters” so far in the ongoing war in Ukraine, a senior US defense official told reporters Thursday.

Still, with all of that loss, the US assesses that Russians “still have the … majority of their capability left to them,” the official added. “They have invested an awful lot of their hardware and their personnel in this fight, and the Ukrainians have suffered losses, the Russians have suffered losses.”

“Russians do have a superiority here in terms of number of assets they can apply to this fight in terms of people, and equipment and weapons, and we just have to bear that in mind,” the official added.

There are now 110 operational Russian battalion tactical groups (BTGs) inside of Ukraine, which is an increase from 97 BTGs the US assessed were inside of Ukraine as of May 9, a senior US defense official told reporters Thursday. That is an increase of about 13 BTGs in about two and a half weeks. 

“The largest contingent remains in the south. But the western grouping, the central grouping and the eastern grouping each have roughly the same number of BTGs inside Ukraine,” the official said.

Russian forces have made “some incremental gains” in their push towards Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the official added, “not a lot but some incremental gains.”

Around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, the US assesses that Ukrainians have “continued to push Russian forces further away” in a range of “a few kilometers to more than 10 kilometers within the Russian border,” the official said, “so no major change there.”

Meanwhile, 85 of the M-777 howitzers that the US has provided to Ukraine over the course of the last three military assistance packages are “forward,” meaning they are being used on the frontlines of the war, the official told reporters Thursday. 

Out of the 209,000 155 mm projectiles that were promised to Ukraine from the US, 190,000 of them have been transferred to Ukraine, the official added. 

Nine of the 11 total Mi-17 helicopters the US promised to Ukraine have been transferred to Ukraine. The last two helicopters will arrive either “later this month or very early in June,” the official said.

US and NATO allies continue to train Ukrainian soldiers on US and NATO weapons systems outside of Ukraine, the official added. 419 Ukrainians soldiers have completed M-777 howitzer training, about 30 Ukrainians have completed the basic howitzer maintenance course, and another 17 have completed the more advanced 14-day maintainer course for the Howitzer systems, the official continued.

About 20 Ukrainian soldiers are completing the second iteration of the training on the Phoenix Ghost Unmanned Aerial Systems, or drones, that the US provided to Ukraine, the official added. 

The US is “also helping facilitate training” for Ukrainians on coastal defense missiles now that Denmark has agreed to contribute Harpoon launchers and vehicles to Ukraine, the official said.

“Some training that needs to be done on how to use the Harpoon was not designed for coastal defense, it was designed for anti-ship warfare, ship-to-ship warfare, so this is a relatively new application of the missile, and therefore we know they’re going to need a little bit of training on that,” the official said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed peace proposals that would “appease” Russia in a speech Thursday to the parliament of Latvia. 

“There are people — and many of them among the powerful of this world — who believe that not all nations matter, who believe that a nation can simply be forgotten to try to keep peace,” Zelensky said. “Even the temporary peace, even the illusory one. Even peace at the cost of tens of thousands killed, hundreds of thousands deported, or millions deprived of their homeland. They are OK with that. Peace at the cost of the lives of others. But this should not be normal.”

Zelensky’s remarks follow remarks from former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who appeared to suggest at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that peace negotiations should be aimed at “status quo ante” boundaries that preceded the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 — in essence, conceding Crimea and parts of the Donbas to Russia. It also comes amid reports that Italy has concocted its own embryonic peace plan.

“Now we hear again that Russia should be given what it wants,” Zelensky said. “That supposedly it is necessary to accept that some nations may be deprived of part of their foreign policy rights, because certain — as they say — ‘historical force’ wants it. There are quite serious talks about drawing some dividing lines along the body of a sovereign state in order to allegedly ‘appease’ the aggressor. And allegedly concessions, concessions and concessions again are needed — of course, at the expense of the state, which was attacked, so that the aggressor allegedly mercifully stops.” 

In his remarks to the Latvian parliament, the Ukrainian president urged additional sanctions on Russia, particularly on its powerful energy sector exports. 

“It is necessary not only to finally agree on the sixth sanctions package against the Russian Federation, including the embargo on oil, oil blends and petroleum products,” he said. “But also prepare the seventh sanctions package, with even more powerful restrictions on Russia for terror against Ukraine. Just like Latvia, the whole of Europe must restrict Russia’s energy weapons. Fully.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed China for defending Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, saying that defense “should raise alarm bells for all of us who call the Indo-Pacific region home.”

“Even while Russia was clearly mobilizing to invade Ukraine, President Xi and President Putin declared that the friendship between their countries was, and I quote, ‘without limits,’” Blinken said in a speech on the Biden administration’s policy towards China at George Washington University.

He emphasized that the US is not seeking a conflict or a new Cold War with China.

“Our task is to prove once again, that democracy can meet urgent challenges, create opportunity, advance human dignity, that the future belongs to those who believe in freedom and that all countries will be free to chart their own paths without coercion,” said Blinken. “We are not looking for conflict or a new Cold War. To the contrary, we’re determined to avoid both.”

“Even as President Putin’s war continues, we will remain focused on the most serious long-term challenge to the international order – and that’s posed by the People’s Republic of China,” he added. 

Grain shortages around the world caused by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine are “being felt on the African continent,” the nominee to be the next top US general overseeing the US military presence in Europe, Gen. Christopher Cavoli, told lawmakers Thursday.

Cavoli, who currently serves as commander of US Army Europe-Africa, said he saw the impacts of the grain shortage on a recent trip to Kenya.

“There was a significant impact there already. We know that in other countries such as Tunisia, the prices have skyrocketed for basic foodstuffs. So there is food insecurity in Africa that is being provoked by the shortage of grain,” Cavoli said.

While the shortage is being experienced in Africa, this will “largely be a European concern, because of the close connection between African security issues and European security issues,” he added.

Some countries, like Germany and Romania, are already starting to try to alleviate the problem, Cavoli said. 

Romania has “made the port at Constanța available,” Cavoli said, but that port will only allow “about 90,000 tons” of grain a day through, while there’s about 22 million tons of grain backed up, he added.

The German national railroad agency, Deutsche Bahn, also recently announced a new plan called the Berlin train lift to “dedicate trains to pulling wheat right out of Ukraine into western Europe,” Cavoli said.

“Poland has established a new border crossing regime with Germany to facilitate that. So I think some efforts are taking place, much more remains to be done, senator,” he told lawmakers. 

He also addressed the NATO bids of Finland and Sweden, saying they will bring “quite a lot of capability and capacity” to the alliance if they join.

Cavoli is nominated to succeed the current US European Command Commander Gen. Tod Wolters.

Russian forces are applying a wide array of weapons across several fronts in eastern Ukraine as they try to break down stubborn Ukrainian defenses, which are outnumbered and outgunned, according to Ukrainian officials.

Several of those officials describe the situation as “very difficult” and admit Ukrainian units may have to fall back in some places.

In recent days, Ukrainian officials say, the Russians have combined short-range ballistic missiles, multiple-launch rocket systems, heavy artillery and tanks in a remorseless bombardment of towns and cities in Luhansk and Donetsk regions still under Ukrainian control.

The National Police of Ukraine said that civilians were killed in attacks on 13 settlements in Donetsk, with several towns not previously targeted suffering damage. Russian forces seem to be broadening the number of towns they are shelling as they try to destroy Ukrainian defenses and supply lines. 

Their chief objective appears to be taking Sloviansk, which has seen an increase in shelling in recent days. Mayor Vadym Liakh said half the city is now without water, and there will be “no gas supply until the heating season.”

A growing number of Ukrainian officials describe the military situation in dire terms, although Russian advances on the ground have been modest.

Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of Ukraine’s parliament who is on the National Security Committee, described the situation as “difficult.”

He told Ukrainian television that “the hottest spots are Severodonetsk and Lysychansk. The enemy is trying to encircle our troops.”  

The twin cities in Luhansk are almost entirely destroyed, but Ukrainian troops are still present. Nearly 15,000 civilians are estimated still to be in Severodonetsk.

According to the Institute for the Study of War’s latest battlefield assessment, “Russian forces may need to conduct a ground offensive on Severodonetsk in upcoming days to maintain their pace after committing a significant portion of personnel, artillery, aviation, and logistics to the front.”

Venislavskyi said that if the Russians could break Ukrainian resistance there, “their next targets are Bakhmut, Soledar,” towns that are further west.

In particular, regional officials say that the highway linking Bakhmut and Lysychansk — a resupply route for Ukrainian forces — is under constant attack.

“The enemy partially controls Lyman and goes to the outskirts of Severodonetsk. The situation in this operational area will be very difficult in the coming days,” he said.

He also suggested that additional Russian forces were being brought in, saying “the enemy continues to accumulate reserves near Izium to attack Sloviansk and Barvinkove.”

“The enemy is sending units from the Primorsky Krai, the Far East, and Siberia to Ukraine. Battalion groups are formed, loaded on the railway and sent to Ukraine,” Venislavskyi said. 

Serhiy Haidai, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, said the “Armed Forces have been defending for the fourth month now. Our defensive positions are destroyed by the enemy every day.”

“Luhansk region, the part that is under the control of Ukraine, is very small in terms of territory. Therefore, the Russians will try their best to take it. For them, this is the easiest way to win at least some intermediate victory. … Our forces are gradually moving to more fortified positions,” he said.

Haidai is one of several Ukrainian officials to stress that the defenses in the east are vastly outnumbered.

“It takes time for [Western] weapons to reach us. They must pass from the west to the east of Ukraine. One or two howitzers will not change the position; we will simply lose them. Therefore, we need to wait and regroup,” Haidai said.

He also acknowledged the probability that Ukrainian forces would have to fall back.

“Perhaps we will have to leave one more two settlements. But we need to win the war, not the battle,” Haidai said.

Rostyslav Smirnov, an adviser to the minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, told Ukrainian television that “the advantage of the Russians in [terms of] personnel is eight to one,” and the advantage in equipment more than twice that.

Two captured Russian soldiers pleaded guilty in Kotelevsky court in Ukraine’s Poltava region on Thursday to “violating laws and customs of war conducted with preliminary group conspiracy.”

Oleksandr Bobykin and Oleksandr Ivanov are accused of firing Grad rockets from Russia’s Belgorod region towards Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on Feb. 24.

According to the case details made public on the court website, the men fired artillery and damaged “objects of civil and critical infrastructure, including private homes” in Kazacha Lopan and Veterynrne in the Kharkiv region. The soldiers were captured by Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region, according to the court memos. 

The court is due to deliver a verdict on May 31.

At least four people have been killed and seven more wounded in shelling of regional centers in the Kharkiv area, according to Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the regional military administration. 

In a message posted on his Telegram channel on Thursday, Syniehubov urged residents to stay in shelters during the ongoing exchanges of fire between Ukrainian and Russian forces.

“The most intense fighting is happening in Izium region. The Russian forces are trying to improve their strategic positions in the Izium area and renew their offensive on Sloviansk,” he said. 

Syniehubov added that a number of other towns have been shelled in the last 24 hours, including Pyatyhatky, Balakliya, Tsyrkuny and the Chuhuyiv area.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed Finland and Sweden’s applications to join NATO in a phone call on Thursday.

According to a Élysée Palace readout of the call, Macron stressed to Erdogan “the importance of respecting the sovereign choice of these two countries” which he maintained was “the result of a democratic process” and “a reaction to the evolution of their security environment.”

Erdogan has voiced his opposition to Finland and Sweden joining the military alliance, claiming that their alleged sheltering of Kurdish “terrorist organizations” should bar them from entry. 

The Turkish president told Macron that “Sweden and Finland’s contacts with individuals and so-called organizations under the control of the terrorist organization PKK/YPG would not be compatible with the spirit of alliance under NATO,” according to the Turkish Directorate of Communications readout of the call.  

The two leaders also addressed the food security crisis, focusing particularly on the “urgent need to enable the export of Ukrainian grain,” according to the Élysée. 

“They discussed the various possible ways to transport crops out of Ukraine, identified in conjunction with the United Nations, and agreed to remain in contact in order to find a solution quickly,” the Élysée said. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Eurasian Economic Union partners to choose “natural” partners and neighbors over other “well developed” economies on Thursday.

Putin spoke via video link at the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) forum opening in Bishkek. He added there are more than 180 projects worth $300 billion on the EAEU forum agenda.

EAEU is an economic union of post-Soviet economies initiated by Russia in 2015 to create a single market for Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

It’s impossible to “switch off” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “imperialist” aims, the German Chancellor said Thursday.

In his closing speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Olaf Scholz said that the horrors in Ukraine cannot be ignored. 

“It keeps us up at night … will it expand beyond the borders of Ukraine?”

He said Putin will only seriously negotiate peace if his army can’t break Ukrainian defensive forces, with neither Ukraine nor the European Union accepting peace dictated by Putin. 

Scholz’s comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky criticized Henry Kissinger’s remarks after the former US Secretary of State appeared to suggest that Ukraine agree to give up much of the Donbas and Crimea. Zelensky on Wednesday compared Kissenger’s views to appeasement of Nazi Germany in 1938.

Meanwhile, Scholz said that NATO “will not become a party to this war,” as that would put nuclear powers in opposition to each other. He added that Germany will welcome Sweden and Finland into NATO with “open arms.”

Earlier, Scholz spoke of the war’s impact on the international community, stressing “we cannot let Putin win this war, and I firmly believe he will not win it.”

He added that his country would be ready to defend itself at all times in light of Russia’s actions.

Russia plans to take the whole of Ukraine, with the capital of Kyiv being its main target, according to city mayor Vitali Klitschko.

It is clear that Russia is not carrying out a “special operation” but rather a “genocide” in Ukraine, Klitschko said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.

He warned that Ukraine is not only defending its own sovereignty, but that of all like-minded nations.

“We defend not just our families, we defend all of you,” said Klitschko. “We defend you because we have the same values.”

The war is a danger to Europe and the whole world, Klitschko said. He made a plea for “fast decisions” from other leaders on sending Ukraine more defensive weapons, which he says they need quickly.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has spoken out against Russia’s “bullying” and “atrocities” in Ukraine during a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday.

Truss used an address to the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to speak out against Russian maneuvering in the Balkan nation, and urged partners to continue to rally behind Ukraine.

“As Russia meddles here, Putin’s troops are committing atrocities just 700 miles away in Ukraine. The people of Ukraine need our support,” said Truss.

“They need that support from the whole of Europe, from the whole of the free world. We need to back the people in their brave fight for their country,” she added, urging allies not to compromise with or appease Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We have seen Russia’s bullying tactics – just this week flagrantly saying they will let Ukrainian grain flow only if sanctions on them are lifted,” said Truss.

“That is trying to hold the world to ransom, and it must not succeed. So now it is about digging deep, not backsliding,” she added.

“Democracy and freedom must prevail over autocratic aggression,” said Truss. “Putin must lose in Ukraine. Putin’s aggression must never succeed in Europe.”

Germany is working “flat out” to end its reliance on Russian gas imports, the country’s Chancellor said Thursday, adding there was “no doubt” that both Berlin and the European Union would end their dependence on energy imports from Moscow.

Russian oil could be completely phased out by the end of the year, Olaf Scholz added during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

He said Germany was looking towards liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and alternative sources of supply.

The EU is following the “same path,” Scholz said. However, Ukraine is asking for maximum sanctions against Moscow, including an immediate ban on Russian oil and trade. 

This restructuring will have an impact on EU economies, which is already being felt by a rise in energy prices, he warned.

Some background: Germany was one of Russia’s largest importers of oil last year.

Before the Ukraine crisis, an $11 billion undersea pipeline – Nord Stream 2 – was being built to deliver gas from Russia to Germany.

In February, when Russia invaded, Germany halted its approval of the pipeline, leaving the 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) pipeline empty since its completion in September 2021.

Russia says that “illegal actions” by the West are causing problems with grain supplies in Europe, after the Kremlin was accused of obstructing grain exports from Ukraine.

“We absolutely reject these accusations,” presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists Thursday. “On the contrary, we blame countries of the West for taking a number of illegal actions that have led to this ‘blockade.’”

Asked whether this meant Western sanctions need to be lifted in order for grain supplies to resume, Peskov said: “They must cancel those illegal decisions that prevent the charter of ships, the export of grain, etc.”

Earlier this week, the head of the UN World Food Programme called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to reopen blocked ports in Ukraine to prevent a global food crisis.

And European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has accused Putin of “weaponizing” food supplies in his invasion of Ukraine by confiscating grain supplies and machinery, as well as blocking exports from ports in the Black Sea.

Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, wheat supplies from Russia and Ukraine accounted for almost 30% of global trade. 

Russian attacks on the key city of Severodonetsk continue Thursday, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned that the war in Ukraine puts at risk the “system of international cooperation that was forged after two world wars.”

Here’s the latest on Russia’s war in Ukraine:

Russian troops attacked more than 40 towns in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions Wednesday, according to Ukraine’s Joint Forces Task Force, indicating the scale of a major Russian offensive in the Donbas region.

“During the day, on May 25, Russian troops fired on 41 settlements in Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” the statement on Facebook Thursday read. “As a result of enemy shelling, 6 people were killed and 12 were injured.”

According to the statement, Russian fire destroyed or damaged 52 high-rise and private residential buildings and other civilian facilities, as well as railway lines and agricultural buildings. 

Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian rescuers had evacuated about 760 people from areas of active combat, the statement added.

The Ukrainian cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk are under Russian assault amid an offensive in the eastern Luhansk region, the Office of the President of Ukraine said in an update Thursday. 

Severodonetsk – an industrial city situated across the Siverskyi Donets river from Lysychansk – has been under heavy shelling, and the statement said the Impulse Research and Production Association and 11 high-rise buildings in the city had been destroyed.

Oleksandr Striuk, head of the Severodonetsk military administration, said in a radio interview Thursday that the connection between Severodonetsk and Lysychansk had been “complicated” because of Russian shelling of a bridge between the two cities.

The enemy hasn’t stopped shelling residential neighborhoods for the past one-and-a-half weeks, Striuk said.

“12,000 – 13,000 people remain in the city. People are hiding in shelters and basements. The city is under constant fire.”

Striuk added that communication was limited and that 90% of Severodonetsk’s housing stock had been damaged or destroyed.

The fall of Severodonetsk – the last major city in the Luhansk region under Ukrainian government control – would be a major setback for Kyiv.

“The situation is difficult, especially in the Donetsk operational district,” said Fedir Venislavskyi, a Ukrainian lawmaker and member of the parliamentary Committee for National Security, Defense and Intelligence. 

“The hottest spots are Severodonetsk and Lysychansk,” he said, adding that Russian soldiers were trying to encircle Ukrainian troops before next targeting the cities of Bakhmut and Soledar.

“The enemy partially controls Lyman and is going to the outskirts of Severodonetsk. The situation in this operational area will be very difficult in the coming days,” Venislavskyi said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned that Europe and the international community are at a critical point, and said the world has changed since the Ukraine war began.

“The world is at a turning point,” said Scholz during a special address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, adding that, not only is Ukraine at risk, but also the “system of international cooperation that was forged after two world wars.”

The war was a “thunderbolt,” but the prospect of Russia “capturing Ukraine seems less likely than it did at the beginning” of the invasion, said Scholz, citing the fierce resistance by Ukrainian troops and help from the international community.

Moscow has failed in its military objectives so far, but succeeded in uniting the international community and fast forwarding Ukraine’s plan to join the European Union, he added.

“We cannot let Putin win this war, and I firmly believe he will not win it,” said Scholz.

He added that Germany will equip its army so it’s ready at “all times” to defend itself “under the new conditions” dictated by Russia.

Germany is in the process of changing its constitution to make this happen, hoping to make more than $105 million available to modernize its armed forces, he added.

“It is the security of our country that is at stake,” he said. “We are sending an unequivocal message to our allies that you can rely on Germany.”

Russia slashed interest rates on Thursday as a resurgent ruble — buoyed by robust oil and gas revenues — takes some of the heat out of inflation.

The Russian Central Bank cut interest rates from 14% to 11%, after inflation slowed to 17.5% in May compared to 17.8% in April, said the bank, which is now forecasting that annual inflation will decrease to 5–7% in 2023 and return to 4% in 2024.

The bank raised interest rates to 20% as the Russian economy was hit by Western sanctions, but the latest move means they are now almost the same as before the invasion of Ukraine, when they stood at 9.5%.

“External conditions for the Russian economy are still challenging, considerably constraining economic activity,” said the bank. “Financial stability risks decreased somewhat, enabling a relaxation of some capital control measures.”

Reacting to the decision, William Jackson, chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, said that additional rate cuts and easing of capital controls seem likely.

“The key point is that high oil and gas revenues are providing policymakers with a lifeline, allowing them to row back emergency economic measures,” said Jackson.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the economy was “withstanding the impact of sanctions” despite a gloomy outlook.

“Despite all the difficulties, the Russian economy is withstanding the impact of the sanctions, and withstanding it quite well,” Putin said in a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

“Yes, it’s not easy. Everything that happens requires special attention from the economic bloc of the government. On the whole, these efforts are having a positive effect,” said Putin.

Some background: In late April, Russia’s Central Bank said the Russian economy was expected to shrink by 8-10% in 2022, noting a decline in economic activity in March after the imposition of international sanctions on Russia.

Earlier the same month, the World Bank predicted that Russian GDP would shrink by 11.2% in 2022. 

Western sanctions imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are making life difficult for the Kremlin, but they are also affecting the global economy.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has compounded the Covid-19 pandemic – a crisis upon a crisis – devastating lives, dragging down growth and pushing up inflation,” according to a blog from the International Monetary Fund published Monday.

The United Nations’ under secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs plans to visit Moscow in early June to discuss the situation in Ukraine, a spokesman for the Russian mission to the UN said Wednesday, according to Russian state-run news agency TASS. 

Martin Griffiths plans to visit Moscow to “continue dialogue he began during his previous visit to Moscow,” and “to discuss the entire spectrum of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine,” spokesman Fyodor Strzhizhovsky said.

Griffiths’ previous visit to Moscow last month was an attempt to facilitate a “humanitarian ceasefire,” having been charged with meeting both parties in the conflict by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Strzhizhovsky added that the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Rebeca Grynspan will visit Moscow to discuss the export of Russian fertilizers.

In recent months, the price of fertilizer – an essential for farmers to hit their production targets for crops – has risen due to issues with exports from Russia. Output from Europe has also declined due to the surging price of natural gas, a key ingredient in nitrogen-based fertilizers.

Norway’s Yara – one of the world’s largest fertilizer makers – has reduced export due to the surge in natural gas prices, cutting down the amount of ammonia and urea output from their plants in Italy and France.

According to TASS, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said on Wednesday that the resolution of the food problem “requires a comprehensive approach,” calling for the lifting of sanctions on Russian exports and financial transactions.

The Portuguese government has authorized the sale of Chelsea FC, the London football team owned by Roman Abramovich, a Russian businessman and Kremlin ally.

Abramovich is subject to sanctions by the UK government and has seen his assets frozen.

He put the club up for sale in early March following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying at the time that it was “in the best interest of the club.”

Abramovich has Portuguese citizenship and, due to sanctions, the government in Lisbon was required to approve the sale.

“Portuguese authorization is a result of the guarantee given by British authorities that proceeds from the sale will be used for humanitarian ends, without benefiting directly or indirectly the club owner, which is on the European Union sanctions list,” the government said in a statement Wednesday evening.

“The national position has the assent of the European Union,” the Portuguese executive added.

The UK government has already permitted the sale, which will end Abramovich’s almost two decades as owner of the club. 

And on Tuesday the English Premier League announced that its board had approved the sale of the club.

The deal, worth more than $5 billion, will see an ownership group led by Todd Boehly take control.

Boehly has invested in a portfolio of sporting franchises, including stakes in the MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.

“Fierce battles” are taking place around the strategically important city of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials. It comes as Russian forces intensify efforts to take full control of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, parts of which have been controlled by Russian-backed separatists since 2014.

Here’s the latest on Russia’s war in Ukraine:

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky has made a blistering attack on former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who suggested on Tuesday that peace negotiations should be aimed at creating borders along the “line of contact” in Donbas as it existed on the eve of the Russian invasion.

Kissinger was speaking by video link to the Davos Forum.  

In a video message Wednesday, Zelensky said, “No matter what the Russian state does, there is someone who says: ‘let’s take into account its interests.’ This year in Davos, it was heard again. Despite thousands of Russian missiles hitting Ukraine. Despite tens of thousands of Ukrainians being killed. Despite Bucha and Mariupol, etc. Despite the destroyed cities. And despite the ‘filtration camps’ built by the Russian state, in which they kill, torture, rape and humiliate like on a conveyor belt.
“Russia has done all this in Europe. But still, in Davos, for example, Mr. Kissinger emerges from the deep past and says that a piece of Ukraine should be given to Russia.”

In his remarks, Kissinger said of the conflict that: “Negotiations need to begin in the next two months before it creates upheavals and tensions that will not be easily overcome. Ideally, the dividing line should be a return to the status quo ante,” apparently suggesting that Ukraine agree to give up much of the Donbas and Crimea.

“Pursuing the war beyond that point would not be about the freedom of Ukraine, but a new war against Russia itself,” Kissinger said.

Zelensky compared Kissinger’s views to appeasement of Nazi Germany in 1938.

Zelensky called those who advise that Ukraine give something to Russia, the “‘great geo-politicians,’ do not always want to see ordinary people. Ordinary Ukrainians. Millions of those who actually live in the territory they are proposing to exchange for the illusion of peace. You always have to see people.”

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned a move by Moscow that makes it easier for Ukrainians in some Russian-occupied regions to obtain Russian citizenship.

“Illegal passportization in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as in Crimea and the temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, is a gross violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, norms and principles of international humanitarian law, and the obligations of Russia as an occupying power in accordance with Article 45 of the 1907 Hague Convention and Article 47 of the 1949 Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The decree of the president of Russia is legally null and void and will have no legal consequences. This decision will not affect the citizenship of Ukrainians on the territories temporarily occupied by Russia.”

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Wednesday streamlining the process for providing passports to Ukrainians in the occupied portions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. 

Russia has already handed out hundreds of thousands of passports to residents of separatist areas in Ukraine’s east and in the annexed Ukrainian territory of Crimea, as well as to residents of the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia and Transnistria in Moldova. Analysts say those moves have helped Moscow create a pretext for continued intervention in those areas. 

Yevhen Yaroshenko, an analyst for the human rights organization Crimea SOS, said Russia’s policy of “passportization” may also serve an agenda of providing conscripts for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  

“Shortly after obtaining a Russian passport, the Russian Federation may call up such a person for military service and subsequently involve him in combat operations against Ukraine,” Yaroshenko said. “Thus residents of the temporarily occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions become hostages of the call of the Russian Federation.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the launch of a new joint UK, EU and US group to help support efforts of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General (OPG) to document war crimes and other atrocities committed in Ukraine.

The new mechanism, called the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA), will “provide strategic advice and operational assistance to the War Crimes Units of the OPG, the legally constituted authority responsible for prosecuting war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine,” Blinken said.

“Although the United States and our partners are supporting a range of international efforts to pursue accountability for atrocities, the OPG will play a crucial role in ensuring that those responsible for war crimes and other atrocities are held accountable.”

He added the “ACA will liaise with the Department of Justice as it pursues accountability in US courts.”

In addition to streamlining efforts, the ACA will also provide expanded funding for the team of international prosecutors and other war crimes experts already deployed to the region, Blinken said.

Earlier this week, a 21-year-old Russian soldier was sentenced to life in prison for killing an unarmed man in Ukraine’s first war crimes trial since Russia’s invasion began.

Russia is trying to “blackmail” the international community with an offer to unblock Ukrainian sea ports if sanctions against it are lessened, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

He warned that if Russia does not lift its blockage of Ukrainian exports of crops, the entire agricultural cycle will be interrupted and could spur a “multi-year food crisis.”

Some background: Before the war, Ukraine was the world’s fourth-largest exporter of corn and fifth-largest exporter of wheat, according to the US State Department. Almost 30% of global trade in wheat came from Russia and Ukraine alone.

Speaking at a panel discussion, Kuleba said Russia and Ukraine are nowhere near the possibility of negotiated peace and that Moscow has no intention of taking part in discussions aimed at ending the war. 

“When you are conducting an operation like this, you basically say no to negotiations. If Russia had preferred talks to war, they would have behaved differently,” he said.

Making concessions to Russia has not worked since 2014 and won’t work now, Kuleba said. 

“This strategy has been used by the leading global forces from 2014 to Feb. 24, 2022. Make concessions here, make concessions here, it will help prevent war. It has failed. Eight years of this strategy has resulted in missiles hitting Kyiv and bloodshed in Donbas,” the foreign minister said.

Kuleba called again for further sanctions against Russia, namely stopping the purchase of Russian oil, which he said is keeping Moscow in a comfortable position.

“Ukraine is suffering more than Russia is with the sanctions against it. … After three months of war, my message is simple: kill Russian exports. Stop buying from Russia and allowing them to make money that they invest in the war machine to kill and destroy,” he said.   

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has said that Russian forces are “conducting an intense offensive” in order to seize the key town of Lyman in the Donetsk region.

Ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said Russian efforts to “completely take control” of Lyman “did not succeed.” However, images posted on social media Wednesday showed Russian soldiers at identifiable locations in northern neighborhoods of the town, which Ukrainian forces have defended in the face of an intense assault since late April.

Lyman is an important rail hub, and if the Russians are able to consolidate control over the town, the nearby city of Sloviansk becomes more vulnerable to attack by artillery — and Ukrainian troops to the southeast of Lyman become more at risk of encirclement.

Motuzyanyk added, “The enemy is conducting offensive operations, trying to surround our units near Lysychansk and Severodonetsk and reach the administrative border of Luhansk region.”

On Tuesday, the head of the regional administration in Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko, described the situation in Lyman as “very difficult.”

“It’s now under constant fire,” he said. “The enemy entered the territory of the Lyman community a long time ago. Their main goal is to take the center of the community of Lyman. The estuary is now partially under control, they enter, then they are kicked out, heavy artillery drives in, and tanks enter the outskirts of the city to conduct shelling and occupy the entire center and the entire Lyman community.”

The Institute for the Study of War reported in its latest assessment Tuesday that Russian forces continued to “prioritize attacks against Lyman rather than Slovyansk on May 24, likely to support a shallow encirclement of Ukrainian troops northwest of Severodonetsk.”

European Council chief Charles Michel is “confident” that any issues over a proposed ban on Russian oil imports will be resolved by the next council meeting on May 30. 

Addressing a news conference alongside Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson in Stockholm on Wednesday, Michel said that although he was “still confident” the bloc will be able to resolve any issues, it will require “a lot of dialogue.” 

The Swedish prime minister publicly declared the country’s desire “to go further” with sanctions against Russia. 

The proposed ban has been largely opposed by Hungary, which has said that such a measure would be “against Hungarian national energy security.”