June 17, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Follow the latest news on Russia’s war in Ukraine here and read more about today’s developments in the posts below. 

The European Union Commission said on Friday that Ukraine should be considered a candidate state. It is now up to the 27 EU member states to decide whether or not they agree with the Commission’s opinion.

Here are key things to know about Ukraine’s bid to join the EU:

What is the process for becoming a part of the EU? On paper, the process is relatively straightforward. A country applies and the Commission gives a verdict on whether or not it should be considered for candidacy. As is likely to be the case with Ukraine, the Commission will probably present a few ways for member states to go about accepting a new candidate.

As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made clear on Friday, Ukraine will still have to meet a series of criteria before proper accession negotiations can begin, even if the EU 27 agree to accept its candidate status next week.

The Copenhagen Criteria is a fairly opaque trio of requirements that the EU must be satisfied a candidate state has met in order to enter the proper accession negotiations. They focus on whether or not that country has a functioning free-market economy, if the country’s institutions are fit to uphold European values such as human rights and the EU’s interpretation of the rule of law and whether the country has a functioning, inclusive democracy.

Once the country has deemed to have met this criteria, they can begin the EU’s 35 chapters of negotiation, the final three of which return to some areas of the Copenhagen Criteria.

Then, when the leaders of the EU member states have agreed, it must then be ratified in the EU Parliament and by the legislative branches of each member state’s government.

How do EU countries feel about Ukraine joining the EU? This is where it starts to get complicated. While the EU and its 27 members have broadly supported Ukraine in its war effort, having a country that’s currently at war start the accession process raises all sorts of issues.

There are a number of candidate states that have been in the accession process for years, and have in some cases had their accession slowed down because of domestic political instability. One example of this is the case of Turkey, whose application has been essentially frozen following fears over a backslide over the rule of law and human rights. Starting the process with a country currently at war will raise questions from other candidate states who have had their applications similarly frozen.

There are also real concerns that Ukraine is a long way from meeting the Copenhagen Criteria any time soon. According to Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, Ukraine is 122nd on its list of 180 countries. For comparison, Russia sits in 136th place. Given that parts of Ukraine are currently occupied by Russia and could be long after the war is over, it is hard to predict if this improves or worsens in the coming years. Some EU officials have also expressed fears that after the war, it is hard to tell what human rights will look like inside Ukraine.

How long would it take? It really depends on what state Ukraine is in when war ends. It seems highly unlikely that Ukraine will be anywhere near meeting the criteria to even start negotiations for a significant period of time after the end of the war. Aside from the rebuilding project, Ukraine will have to make the transition from a country operating under various degrees of martial law and curfews to a functioning democracy.

The average time for a country to join the EU is four years and 10 months, according to the London think tank, UK in a Changing Europe. Member states that might be considered a sort of blueprint for Ukraine’s membership — Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Slovenia – were all over the average wait time.

What would joining the EU mean for Ukraine? Ukraine would be a member of the world’s largest trading bloc, the EU’s single market and customs union, and would have the protection of EU courts and access to the EU budget.

Joining the EU would also place Ukraine very clearly in the club of countries that are considered to be part of the Western alliance and US-led world order.

Read more about Ukraine’s bid here and see a map below of the current EU members countries:

Speaking exclusively to CNN’s Sam Kiley, a former US serviceman fighting with Ukrainian forces recounted the battle he witnessed on June 9 where American volunteer fighters Alexander John-Robert Drueke and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh were reportedly captured by Russian forces. 

The man, who asked to be identified with the code name “Pip,” said his team was sent out on a mission east of Kharkiv where a full scale Russian armored assault was underway.

Drueke and Huynh fired a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at a BMP vehicle that was coming through the woods and destroyed it. But the team had to quickly withdraw as more than 100 Russian infantry began advancing and the American fighters found themselves in a village they previously thought was in Ukrainian hands. 

When asked about what happened to Drueke and Huynh, Pip said that “we suspect they were knocked out by either the T-72 tank shooting at them or by the blast of the mine. This is only speculation we don’t know what really happened to them.” 

A photo of the two men emerged Thursday with their hands tied behind their back and in the back of a Russian truck. 

“I know for a fact that Andy and Alex did not come here for money, they did not come here for glory. They came here with a firm belief that Ukraine as a blossoming democracy needs help,” Pip told Kiley during the interview.

“As far as I’m aware, we’re paid about the same if not exactly the same as a Ukrainian soldier who is on the front… And money is certainly not my motivation for being here. And I know that it’s not Andy’s and it’s not Alex’s either,” he continued.

More background: On Wednesday, CNN reported that Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, Alabama, had been missing for nearly a week and there were fears that they may have been captured by Russian forces, according to their families and a fellow fighter. Drueke and Huynh had been fighting alongside Ukrainian forces north of Kharkiv.

CNN on Thursday reported a third American whom the State Department had identified as missing in action in Ukraine was US Marine veteran Grady Kurpasi. He served in the US Marine Corps for 20 years, retiring in November 2021.

US President Joe Biden said Friday he has been briefed on the three Americans who have gone missing in Ukraine. In brief remarks to reporters as he left for a weekend on the beach in Delaware, Biden said repeatedly Americans should not travel to Ukraine at this time.

“We don’t know where they are, but I want to reiterate: Americans should not be going to Ukraine now,” Biden said in response to a question from CNN’s MJ Lee at the White House.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the department is in contact with the families of the missing Americans as well as Ukrainian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The US State Department on Thursday told the family of one of the Americans missing in Ukraine that there is potential evidence Drueke was captured, but could not verify the photo at the time, Bunny Drueke, Alexander’s mother, told CNN.

On Friday, videos surfaced on pro-Russian channels and social media appearing to show Drueke and Huynh detained at an unknown location. It is not clear who is holding them.

Price said Thursday the US was not in contact with Russia about the reportedly captured American citizens because they do not yet have “credible reason” to believe the Russians have captured them and also because Russia has not claimed to have captured them.

On Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN that he does not know anything about the two American fighters. CNN has repeatedly reached out to Russia’s ministry of defense for comment but has not yet received a response.

Read more here.

CNN’s Kate Sullivan and Jonny Hallam contributed reporting to this post. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Friday that it is “absolutely necessary” to continue speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an interview with dpa news agency, Scholz said: “It is absolutely necessary to speak to Putin. And I will continue to do so, as the French President will also.”

“And there are some countries needed and some leaders needed that speak with him. And it is necessary that they are clear because when I speak to Putin, I say, for instance, the same things I said to you: Please understand that there will be not dictate(d) peace,” Scholz said.

“And if you really believe that you will rob some land and then hope that the times will change and all the things will become normal again, this is a mistake. You have to withdraw your troops and you have to find an agreement with Ukraine which is acceptable and right for the people of Ukraine,” the Chancellor added.

Conditions are becoming more dire for Ukrainians living in the eastern part of the country, CNN’s Ben Wedeman reports. The city of Lysychansk is on the front lines of the war, and civilians have been left living in a city that has been destroyed.

They have been in the line of fire for months and now have no gas, power or water, Wedeman reports. Dozens of people are sheltering in the basement of a school and cooking food over a fire.

“I’m alone,” one 82-year-old woman named Masha who spoke to CNN said. “My legs are tired. I can’t go anywhere.”

Another woman, Lydumila, said she’s leaving: “I can’t take these sounds anymore.”

“We thought it would calm down, but it only gets worse and worse,” she said.

Residents line up for unfiltered water so they can wash and flush toilets. The war in Ukraine has now dragged on for almost four months and people are frustrated.

“Where’s our mayor? Where’s our governor? They should have come here at least once,” Mykola, a Lysychansk resident, said.

The city is still under attack. A building that was serving as a shelter was hit, killing three people, Wedeman reports, before running out of the way to avoid more shelling close by.

One woman said she and her husband were in that building when it came under attack. She told CNN her husband was crushed under the rubble and now all she can do is wait for a ride to see him at a hospital.

Watch Ben Wedeman’s report:

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Four days after Russian forces invaded Ukraine and started a bloody war that shows no signs of ending soon, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky officially applied for the country to join the European Union.

On the same day, Feb. 28, he asked that the EU “urgently admit Ukraine using a new procedure … Our goal is to be with all Europeans and, to be equal to them. I am sure we deserve it. I am sure it is possible.”

Nearly four months later, the EU Commission said on Friday that Ukraine should be considered a candidate state. It is now for the 27 EU member states to decide whether or not they agree with the Commission’s opinion.

The question of whether or not Ukraine should join the EU and how Russia would react has been a contentious issue for years. In 2013, pro-European protests erupted after former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych made a sudden decision to not sign an agreement with the EU that would pull Ukraine further into the EU’s orbit. Instead, he opted to pursue closer ties with Putin’s Russia.

The following year, Russia invaded Donbas and illegally annexed Crimea.

While most European nations are firmly behind Ukraine and have, to varying degrees, aided Zelensky in his war efforts, it’s far from certain that his wish will be granted.

For political and procedural reasons, it is possible that the EU ultimately decides that now is not the right time. And even if they did agree with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s opinion that Ukraine should be considered for membership, it could take years, even decades, for it to become a reality.

Here’s why:

KIEV, UKRAINE - JANUARY 28: A woman walks past a tent displaying the European Union and Ukrainian flags in Independence Square on January 28, 2014 in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukraine's parliament is holding a special session called over continuing unrest in the country and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has offered to resign. (Photo by Rob Stothard/Getty Images)

Related article Analysis: Why Ukraine's longshot bid to join the EU is likely to enrage Putin

The United Kingdom has offered Ukrainian military forces to take part in a “major training program” that would “fundamentally change the equation of the war,” Downing Street announced Friday in a statement amid Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Kyiv.

“As Ukrainian soldiers fire UK missiles in defense of your nation’s sovereignty, they do so also in defense of the very freedoms we take for granted. That is why I have offered President Zelensky a major new military training program that could change the equation of this war – harnessing that most powerful of forces, the Ukrainian determination to win,” Boris Johnson is quoted as saying in the statement. 

“Two months on from my last visit, the Ukrainian grit, determination and resilience is stronger than ever, and I know that unbreakable resolve will long outlive the vain ambitions of President Putin,” he added.

According to Downing Street, the program has the potential to train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days, with each soldier spending three weeks on the training course outside of Ukraine, learning battle winning skills for the front line, as well as basic medical training, cyber-security and counter explosive tactics.

Ukraine has yet to accept the offer.

The restoration of Russia’s relations with Ukraine is “inevitable,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday at a plenary session at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“We proceed from the fact that sooner or later the situation will normalize, and we are interested in prosperity for all our neighbors, then it is inevitable,” Putin said commenting on Ukraine’s possible accession to the European Union.

More context: CNN reported earlier this month that US officials had been meeting regularly with their British and European counterparts to discuss potential frameworks for a ceasefire and for ending the war through a negotiated settlement, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks.

These officials told CNN that there is a growing concern that if the Russians and Ukrainians don’t get back to the table and work out a deal, the war will drag on — potentially for years.

It’s not clear whether these discussions will translate into eventual settlement talks. The Biden administration still sees no real prospect for any diplomatic breakthroughs or ceasefires anytime soon and two NATO officials said that the western alliance sees little appetite to negotiate on the Ukrainian side — in part because of Russia’s brutal bombing campaign and myriad human rights violations have destroyed public support for any concession to Russia.

Moscow has also shown little interest in serious talks, officials say. Right now, Ukraine remains focused on ensuring a decisive military victory in the east and the south in order to put themselves in a superior negotiating position, these sources said.

CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, Katie Bo Lillis, Barbara Starr and Jeremy Herb contributed to this report

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday said he and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, “have a common view on how to move towards victory” in Ukraine’s war against the Russian invasion.

“We discussed the current situation on the front line, in our east, in the south of our state, in detail, our capabilities in protecting our country from Russian occupation,” Zelensky said at a joint news conference in Kyiv with Johnson, who made his second surprise visit to Ukraine. 

“In particular, we talked about the need to increase the supply of heavy weapons. The main thing today is to provide air defense for Ukraine as well. We begin to move in this direction. Russian missiles remain a threat to our people, to the entire territory of Ukraine. The vast majority of Russian missile strikes are conducted by the Russian army on ordinary people, on civilian infrastructure — housing, schools, hospitals, universities, transport,” Zelensky added.

The Ukrainian president said the two leaders also discussed Ukraine’s need of economic and financial support.

“This is not only finances, we also have a shortage of fuel due to the bombing of our refinery, our reserves by the Russian Federation. We also talked about a difficult issue — to ensure preparation for the heating season. I am grateful to Boris for his willingness to help our state,” he told reporters.

The two leaders also discussed increasing sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation.

“We can make sanctions so that Russia really feels that its aggression, its terrorist actions against Ukraine and against global stability will lead to losses for Russia itself,” he said. “The aggressor must pay the highest price for this aggression, for this war.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia has “nothing against” Ukraine joining the European Union. 

“The EU is not a military-political bloc, unlike NATO, therefore we have always said and I have always said that our position here is consistent, understandable, we have nothing against it,” Putin said during a panel discussion following his speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. 

“It is the sovereign decision of any country to join or not to join economic associations, and it is up to this economic association to accept new states as its members or not. As far as it is expedient for the EU, let the EU countries themselves decide. Whether it will be for the benefit or to the detriment of Ukraine is also their business,” Putin said. 

“This is the business of Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian current leadership, but the structure of the Ukrainian economy is such that it will require very large subsidies. Well, if you do not protect the internal market, Ukraine will turn into such a semi-colony, in my opinion. But, at the same time, it will receive quite significant support for current expenses. It is unlikely that this will lead to the restoration of the lost aircraft industry, shipbuilding and the electronics industry,” he added. 

More context: Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union received a major boost on Friday morning, after the European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc believed the country should be formally considered for candidate status in the wake of Russia’s invasion.

Speaking in Brussels, von der Leyen said the commission recommends “that Ukraine is given candidate status,” adding that “this is of course on the understanding that the country will carry out a number of further reforms.”

The Kremlin said Friday’s development about possible EU candidate status required Moscow’s “increased attention.”

“We all know about the intensification in Europe and discussions about strengthening the defense component of the EU. Therefore, there are different transformations that we observe,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said during a daily call with reporters.

Russia has lambasted the intention of Finland and Sweden, both EU member states, to join NATO due to the war in Ukraine. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the move would be a “mistake” with “far-reaching consequences,” according to state news agency TASS.

CNN’s Luke McGee contributed reporting to this post. 

US President Joe Biden said Friday he has been briefed on the three Americans missing in Ukraine and strongly encouraged Americans not to travel there. 

“I have been briefed. We don’t know where they are, but I want to reiterate: Americans should not be going to Ukraine now. I’ll say it again: Americans should not be going to Ukraine now,” he said in response to a question from CNN’s MJ Lee before he departed the White House for a weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. 

Some background: The men are Alexander John-Robert Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, Alabama.

In addition, the US State Department said Thursday that it was aware of reports that a third American who traveled to Ukraine to fight against Russia had gone missing “in recent weeks.”

“There are reports of one additional American whose whereabouts are unknown. I can’t speak to the specifics of that case. Unfortunately we don’t know the full details of that case,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price at a news briefing on Thursday.

Drueke and Huynh went missing during a battle on June 9 near the town of Izbytske, according to a man who is acting as the team’s sergeant, and who provided CNN with photos of both men’s passports and their entry stamps into Ukraine. He wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

CNN’s Mick Krever contributed reporting to this post.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday urged Russian elites to not leave the country and invest in Russia. 

“Real success is possible only when you tie your future and your children’s future to the motherland,” he said at an economic forum in St. Petersburg, adding that “recent events have confirmed what I have always said before: it’s safer at home. Those who didn’t want to hear this message have lost millions of dollars.”

In one of the first more substantial speeches since the invasion of Ukraine started, he said, Russia “has a huge potential and there’s so much to do here, there is no end to it. Invest here.”

This comes after Russian oligarchs face mounting sanctions and superyacht seizures from several western countries, including the US, UK and the European Union bloc.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson traveled to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Friday to visit President Volodymyr Zelensky for a second time, according to Ukraine’s Presidency. 

Video from the Presidency showed Zelensky warmly greeting Johnson before both men stepped inside a presidential building for a meeting. The two leaders were shown sitting at a table discussing Ukraine’s need for heavy weapons to counter Russia’s continuing aggression.

Zelensky said on Telegram:

“Many days of this war have proved that Great Britain’s support for Ukraine is firm and resolute. Glad to see our country’s great friend Boris Johnson in Kyiv again.”

Johnson posted a picture of him and Zelensky in the Ukrainian capital on Friday on his official Twitter account.

 Zelensky met yesterday with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in Kyiv.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia’s actions in Ukraine are not responsible for the global food crisis and accused the US of driving up food prices in his speech to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday. 

“Famine in the poorest countries will be on the conscience of the US administration and the Eurocrats,” he said.  

Putin said Russia is ready to export more grain to balance the world food markets. Russia’s focus will be on supplying food to those countries that are at risk of facing famine, he said.

Some key context: Global leaders have strongly criticized Putin’s actions in Ukraine, saying that Russia is using food as a weapon of war.

Russia is blocking maritime access to the Black Sea ports held by Ukraine, meaning that even the grain that is still under Ukrainian control cannot be exported to the many countries that rely on it. Russia’s blockade has already raised global food prices and threatens to cause a catastrophic food shortage in parts of the world, according to the United Nations.

Ukrainian authorities, and some international officials, have accused Russia of robbing the country of grain and other commodities in areas it occupies. Denys Marchuk, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council Public Union, said that Russia has “stolen about 600,000 tons of grain” from Ukrainian farmers.

Satellite photos of the Crimean port of Sevastopol provided by Maxar Technologies last month appeared to show Russian ships being loaded up with Ukrainian grain. Another set of satellite images revealed that one of the ships arrived in the Syrian port of Latakia last month, its second trip within four weeks.

Meanwhile: In his Friday speech, Putin also again blamed the West for “shifting the responsibility” to Russia for any problems in the global economy.  

Putin also said that Russia is not following the “path of isolation,” adding that Moscow seeks “partnerships with anyone who wants to work with us, and there are many of those.” 

The Russian leader said that any country who wants to work with Russia “experiences open pressure from the US and Europe including direct threats, but this blackmail means little when we talk about countries led by true leaders who understand what is someone else’s interest and what is their interest.” 

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová contributed reporting to this post.

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to accomplish all the alleged “tasks” of Moscow’s military action in Ukraine while speaking at an economic forum in St. Petersburg on Friday.

He called Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine “the decision of a sovereign country based on the right to defend its security.” He vowed “all the tasks of the special operation will be met.”

The Russian leader claimed that Russia was “forced” to conduct its “operation” in the eastern Donbas region. 

“It was difficult, but forced and necessary. And it was based on the UN charter to defend our security,” Putin added.

Russian forces failed to take the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine in the earlier weeks of the war and have since been focused on the eastern part of the country.

Some context: The Russian president has long framed his decision to launch an invasion of Ukraine as a response to Kyiv’s growing diplomatic and security ties with the West. Last week, he hinted that his aim in Ukraine is the restoration of Russia as an imperial power.

Another one of Putin’s alleged goals in his invasion, which began in late February, includes a baseless battle for “denazification,” a description dismissed by historians and political observers alike.

In his Friday speech, Putin also called the attempts of the West to “crush” the Russian economy through punishing sanctions “not successful.”

“The economic dynamics are stabilizing; the state finances are stable,” he added. 

The Russian president also said “the era of the unipolar world is over,” referencing the United States, and stated that the European Union has “fully lost its political sovereignty.”  

Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken the stage at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg and is now speaking.

The speech was supposed to start at 7 a.m. ET, but was delayed due to a “massive DDoS [distributed denial-of-service] attacks” on the SPIEF systems, the Kremlin said Friday.

“Unfortunately, today, due to massive DDoS attacks on the forum’s system, the base of accreditation and admission were disabled,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on an impromptu conference call.

Ukraine’s cabinet has decided to get rid of visa-free travel for Russians, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has confirmed.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram that he suggested the change “in order to counteract the unprecedented threats to the national security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of our state.”

He said that the change would come into effect on July 1.

Negotiations are underway to allow for the safe evacuation of hundreds of civilians sheltering at a chemical plant in Severodonetsk, the head of the district’s military administration told Ukrainian television.

“A ceasefire and a corridor are being negotiated, but there are a lot of Russian provocations and ‘games,’” Roman Vlasenko said, though made clear that he did was not personally involved in talks.

Russia earlier this week said that it would open a “humanitarian corridor” for civilians at the plant to evacuate, but only to Russian-controlled territory to the north, not to Ukraianian-held Lysychansk to the west.

Serhiy Hayday, head of the regional military administration, told CNN on Thursday that an evacuation would be possible only if there were a complete ceasefire, but that he was highly skeptical of any promises made by Russia. 

Vlasenko said that the situation at the Azot plant was “tense.”

At repeated points during the war, Ukrainian officials say, Russian forces have broken promises to open evacuation corridors, driven civilian evacuees onto their territory and failed to observe ceasefire agreements.

Diplomatic efforts to bring Ukraine closer to the West continue, while Moscow says it knows nothing about two US citizens who went missing fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.

Here are the latest developments in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:

Ukraine-EU process moves forward: Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union received a major boost on Friday morning, after the bloc’s executive said it believed the country should be formally considered for candidate status in the wake of Russia’s invasion.

NATO builds Ukraine ties: Ukraine’s defense minister on Friday morning said NATO allies told him at a summit in Brussels that his country was considered a “de facto” member of the alliance. 

Moscow denies any knowledge of missing US fighters: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN on Friday that he does not know anything about two American fighters who went missing north of Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Third US fighter missing: A third American whom the State Department has identified as missing in action in Ukraine is a US Marine veteran, Grady Kurpasi, his wife confirmed to CNN.

More than 1,300 civilians killed in Mariupol: The UN said 70 children were among at least 1,348 civilians killed during the battle of Mariupol. “The actual death toll of hostilities on civilians is likely thousands higher,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said Thursday.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the European Commission’s decision to recommend Ukraine become an EU candidate state “requires our increased attention.”

“It still remains a different plane, although it requires our increased attention,” said Peskov during a daily call with reporters.

“We all know about the intensification in Europe and discussions about strengthening the defense component of the EU,” he added. “Therefore, there are different transformations that we observe.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday has been postponed by an hour due to a “massive DDoS [distributed denial-of-service] attacks” on the SPIEF systems, the Kremlin said Friday.

The speech was supposed to start at 7 a.m. ET.

“Unfortunately, today, due to massive DDoS attacks on the forum’s system, the base of accreditation and admission were disabled,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on an impromptu conference call.

Peskov added that technical specialists are working to fix the system but it will take some time.

“We need 30-40 minutes to restore data base,” he said.

“In view of this, President [Putin] has decided to postpone his speech for an hour. It will take place not at 2 p.m, but at 3 p.m [local],” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that the European Commission’s recommendation that Ukraine be given “candidate status” to the EU would bring his country closer to victory in fighting off Russia’s invasion.

“I commend the positive @EU_Commission Conclusion on [Ukraine]’s candidate status,” he said on Twitter. “It’s the 1st step on the EU membership path that’ll certainly bring our Victory closer.”

“Grateful to @vonderleyen & each EC [European Commission] member for a historic decision,” he added. “I expect the positive result from #EUCO [European Council] next week.”

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal also said he is “grateful” for the decision.

“Grateful to @vonderleyen for this decision!” he said via Twitter. “It will accelerate the process of full [Ukrainian] integration into the [European] internal market and effectively accompany the recovery of #Ukraine by EU standards.” 

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest winner Ukraine will not host the competition in 2023 and will instead be offered to the United Kingdom, the competition’s organizers the European Broadcast Union (EBU) said in a statement on Friday.

It is tradition for the previous year’s winner to host the next event, but the EBU said a safety and security assessment has determined it will not be feasible for Ukraine due to the ongoing war in the country.

“The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most complex TV productions in the world with thousands working on, and attending, the event and 12 months of preparation time needed,” it said.

The contest’s governing board, the Reference Group, has concluded that current circumstances mean “the security and operational guarantees required for a broadcaster to host, organize and produce the Eurovision Song Contest under the ESC Rules cannot be fulfilled by UA:PBC [Ukraine’s public broadcaster],” the statement said.

Ukraine’s folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra won this year’s Eurovision in May, surfing a wave of goodwill from European nations to clinch the country’s third win at the event. The band’s song “Stefania” – written about the frontman’s mother – beat competition from main rivals the UK and Spain at the competition in the Italian city of Turin.

The event marked the first major cultural event in which Ukrainians had taken part in since Russia invaded in February, and many in the audience waved Ukraine’s blue and yellow national flag during the evening.

The statement thanked UA:PBC for their “wholehearted cooperation and commitment” following Kalush Orchestra’s win, and expressed the EBU’s “sadness and disappointment that next year’s Contest cannot be held in Ukraine.”

The EBU said it will now begin discussions with the BBC to potentially host the 2023 contest in the UK, as this year’s runner up.

“It is our full intention that Ukraine’s win will be reflected in next year’s shows. This will be a priority for us in our discussions with the eventual hosts,” the statement concluded.

Ukraine’s foreign minister has told CNN that he welcomes the European Commission recommending his country for candidate status in the European Union.

“This well-deserved move will not only motivate Ukraine to further advance its transformations, but also make the EU safer, stronger and more prosperous,” Dmytro Kuleba said on Friday.

He said that his country was “confident that it deserves an individual merit-based approach when it comes to its EU integration path.”

Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said on Telegram that Ukraine’s task now was “to do everything as quickly as possible.”

“We’re working,” he said. “Ukraine will be in the EU.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN on Friday that he does not know anything about two American fighters who went missing north of Kharkiv, Ukraine.

“No, we do not know anything about it,” Peskov said during a media call.

The two Americans fighting alongside Ukrainian forces have been missing for nearly a week, and there are fears that they may have been captured by Russian forces, according to their families and a fellow fighter.

The men are Alexander John-Robert Drueke, age 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, age 27, from Hartselle, Alabama.

On Thursday, a photo emerged on the Telegram channel of a Russian blogger which appeared to show the two Americans in the back of a military truck, apparently confirming they had been captured by Russian forces.

The photo shows the two men looking up at the camera with hands behind their backs as if bound.

On Thursday the US State Department said there is potential evidence that Alexander Drueke has been captured, but it cannot verify the photo at this time, his mother, Bunny Drueke, told CNN. 

The undated photo was posted on Telegram on Thursday by a Russian blogger, The V – whose full name is Timofey Vasilyev, from Moscow. CNN cannot verify when it was taken.

Ukraine’s defense minister on Friday morning said NATO allies told him at a summit in Brussels that his country was considered a “de facto” member of the alliance.

“It is important to point out that this was the first time such a meeting was held with four non-Alliance states present: Ukraine, Georgia, Sweden, and Finland,” Oleksiy Reznikov said on Facebook. “Soon, the matter of Sweden’s and Finland’s membership in NATO will be considered.”

“Given the occasion, I had the opportunity to discuss ‘NATO de-facto’ with our partners,” he added. “I am glad that my colleagues have confirmed that Ukraine de-facto is already a member of this family.”

Reznikov provided no specifics about who may have characterized Ukraine in that manner. Aspiration to NATO membership is enshrined in Ukraine’s constitution, but the country is not a member of the alliance.

On Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg was asked at a press conference whether the huge levels of military support for Ukraine meant that now was the “right time” to discuss the country’s future membership in the military alliance.

“Our focus now is on support to Ukraine to provide military support, lethal, non-lethal support, from Allies and from NATO, and also on capacity building and this helped to modernize​ more for the longer term, the defense and security institutions of Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said. 

When asked about Reznikov’s comments, a NATO official pointed CNN to Stoltenberg’s press conference on Thursday.

Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union received a major boost on Friday morning, after the bloc’s executive said it believed the country should be formally considered for candidate status in the wake of Russia’s invasion.

Speaking in Brussels, the European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen said the Commission recommends “that Ukraine is given candidate status. This is of course on the understanding that the country will carry out a number of further reforms.”

Leaders of the 27 EU member states will now meet for a summit next week to discuss the Commission’s opinion. Even if the member states agree that Ukraine should be a candidate nation – which is far from certain – the process to join the EU is complicated and takes, on average, just under five years to complete, according to the think tank, UK in a Changing Europe.

Conditions in Russian-occupied Mariupol are now “medieval,” an advisor to the city’s Ukrainian mayor said Friday.

“Mariupol is now in the medieval,” Petro Andriushchenko told national television. “Water supply is only available in 2-3% of the city’s households. People wash their clothes in puddles on the streets.”

“The risk of disease spreading is rising day by day. There is information that people come to doctors with symptoms similar to dysentery or cholera,” he said.

The World Health Organization last month said that it too was concerned about the risk of cholera in Mariupol, calling the hygienic situation there “a huge hazard.”

Andriushchenko is not in the city but has been a reliable conduit for information from Mariupol.

He said that Russia was in the process of building a “military camp” at the city.

“Departure from Mariupol is possible only to Russia,” Andriushchenko said. “We advise people to leave, but on their own and not in official columns, and then go towards the Baltic countries or Georgia. We advise people to drive non-stop and cross the border ASAP.”

Crossing from Russian-occupied Mariupol to Ukrainian-held territory, he said, was impossible.

On May 20, the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol – the final stand and a powerful symbol of Ukrainian resistance in an otherwise Russian-occupied city – fell to Russian troops after nearly three months of brutal fighting.

At least 1,348 civilians were killed during the battle of Mariupol, including 70 children, a top United Nations official said Thursday.

“The actual death toll of hostilities on civilians is likely thousands higher,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said. 

French President Emmanuel Macron said that the possible granting of European Union candidate status to Ukraine was a result of Russia’s invasion.

In an interview with CNN affiliate BFMTV Friday on board a train leaving Ukraine after his visit to Kyiv, Macron said, “Ukraine normally should not be a candidate” and that they were “doing it because of the war and because we think it’s good.”

Macron was in Ukraine’s capital alongside his German, Italian and Romanian counterparts to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a trip to smooth tensions over what Ukrainian officials perceive as a lukewarm support of their defense against Russia.

While Macron said most of western Europe was supportive of the plan, “we have countries that are more reticent,” he said. 

The French leader added that the question of Ukraine’s candidacy for the EU will be decided at the European Council summit next Thursday and Friday. 

“The path is long to join the EU,” he added.

He also said that Moldova can also become a candidate for EU accession. The French president visited the eastern European country on Wednesday as part of a two-day trip to Moldova and Romania before his unannounced trip to Ukraine. 

Some background: Part of joining the EU means abiding by the Copenhagen Criteria, which entails that a candidate state must have a functioning free-market, if it can uphold European values such as on human rights and law, and if the country has a functioning democracy.

As well as currently being at war, Ukraine is 122nd on the Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index out of 180, highlighting a main reason that the country would not usually be considered an EU candidate member.

Read more here.

The Ukrainian military says it has sunk a Russian tugboat in the Black Sea on its way to resupply occupying forces on the strategically important Snake Island.

“The tugboat of the Black Sea Fleet ‘Vasiliy Bekh’ was hit in the Black Sea during the transportation of ammunition, weapons and personnel of the Black Sea Fleet to Snake Island,” the Ukrainian Navy said via its official Telegram channel on Friday.

The Navy claimed that the tug had a “TOR” anti-aircraft missile system on board.

According to the website Marine Traffic, the boat left Sevastapol, in Crimea, Tuesday night.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that Ukraine would never have peace if the ultimate aim of the conflict in the country is to “crush Russia.” Macron said he had heard some say that “the goal of this war is to crush Russia. And that’s where I say you’re wrong. If you do that, you’ll never get a negotiated peace.”

The president was speaking in an interview with CNN affiliate BFMTV on Friday on board a train leaving Ukraine following meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders in Kyiv on Thursday.

He added that crushing Russia is not Zelenksy’s goal either.

“President Zelensky defends his land. And we want to help him do so,” Macron said, adding that “commentators or certain leaders shouldn’t push beyond even what the Ukrainians intend.”

“And so it has been the role of France to put a limit to this question,” he said, adding: “we have sometimes won the war and lost the peace.”

Macron affirmed France’s support for Ukraine and countered charges that his previous comments about not wishing to “humiliate Russia” had hampered relations with Ukraine’s president. 

He also defended France’s efforts to broker discussions between Moscow and Kyiv.

“The role of the France is to have possible links for discussion with Russia,” he said, conceding that currently, “there’s no availability on the Russian or Ukrainian side for real discussions” following the discovery of war crimes in Bucha.

“We have never negotiated on the part of the Ukrainians. Never,” he said.

Ukraine’s bid to move politically closer to the West may receive a boost today.

The European Commission is expected to offer its opinion that Ukraine should be considered a candidate state to join the European Union, meaning it will then be up to the 27 EU member states to decide whether or not they agree with the Commission’s opinion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky officially applied for the country to join the European Union on February 28, four days after Russia invaded the country.

He asked that the EU “urgently admit Ukraine using a new procedure … our goal is to be with all Europeans and, to be equal to them. I am sure we deserve it. I am sure it is possible.”

On Thursday, Zelensky said Ukraine is ready to work to become a full EU member.

“We understand that that the path to the European Union is really a path and it is not one step,” he said. “But this path must begin, and we are ready to work so that our state is transformed into a full member of the European Union and Ukrainians have already earned the right to embark on this path.”

Speaking alongside him at a press conference in Kyiv, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany is in favor of a positive decision for Ukraine’s EU candidacy, and that Ukraine “belongs to the European family.”

Also on Thursday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said “there is no time for hesitancy,” inviting the European Union to grant Ukraine candidacy status.

But while the early signs from some quarters are positive, Ukraine’s accession to the EU is far from a fait accompli.

For political and procedural reasons, it is possible that the EU ultimately decides that now is not the right time. And even if they did agree with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s opinion that Ukraine should be considered for membership, it could take years, even decades, for it to become a reality.

It is expected that the Commission will say that Ukraine’s accession will only start properly once the war is over and the country’s institutions are able to meet the criteria required to join the EU.

Known as the Copenhagen Criteria, these are fairly opaque requirements.

They focus on whether or not that country has a functioning free-market economy, if the country’s institutions are fit to uphold European values such as human rights and the EU’s interpretation of the rule of law and whether the country has a functioning, inclusive democracy.

Only then can work begin on the EU’s 35 chapters of negotiation, the final three of which return to some areas of the Copenhagen Criteria.

Then, when the leaders of the EU member states have agreed, which seems unlikely, it must then be ratified in the EU Parliament and by the legislative branches of each member state’s government.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia is “not squeaky clean” and “not ashamed of showing who we are,” in an interview with the BBC released Thursday.

“We didn’t invade Ukraine,” Lavrov insisted.
“We declared a special military operation because we had absolutely no other way of explaining to the West that dragging Ukraine into NATO was a criminal act.”  

When pushed further to comment on the victims of war in Ukraine, Lavrov said: “No, Russia is not squeaky clean. Russia is what it is. And we are not ashamed of showing who we are.” 

Lavrov went on to comment on the UK citizens who were sentenced to death in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Russia’s responsibility for this verdict.

“I am not interested in the eyes of the West at all. I am only interested in international law. According to international law, mercenaries are not recognized as combatants,” Lavrov said.

At least 1,348 civilians were killed during the battle of Mariupol, including 70 children, a top United Nations official said on Thursday.

“The actual death toll of hostilities on civilians is likely thousands higher,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said.
“These deaths were caused by airstrikes, tank and artillery shelling and small arms and light weapons during street fighting.”

As many as 90% of residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed in the southern city, Bachelet said. She called Mariupol “likely the deadliest place in Ukraine” from the start of the war through April.

Bachelet added that right now it is “impossible to know” the exact death toll.

“Until all dead bodies are recovered and identified, and their status, whether military or civilian, and the exact causes of death established, it will be impossible to know an accurate number of civilian deaths directly caused by hostilities, and those caused by a lack of food, water, medical care and other effects of living through the hostilities,” she said.

A third American whom the State Department has identified as missing in action in Ukraine is a US Marine veteran, Grady Kurpasi, his wife confirmed to CNN.

The last time Heeson Kim and other close friends heard from Kurpasi was between April 23 and 24, George Heath, a family friend of Kurpasi’s told CNN. Kurpasi served in the US Marine Corps for 20 years, retiring in November 2021. He chose to volunteer alongside Ukrainians in Ukraine but initially did not envision himself fighting on the front lines of the war, Heath said.

The State Department said it was aware of reports of a third American who traveled to Ukraine to fight against Russia who has been identified “in recent weeks” as missing, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said during a press briefing on Thursday. Price did not give the name of the third reportedly missing American, but said the State Department was in touch with the family.

Read more here.

A photo emerged on Thursday of two American fighters in the back of a Russian military truck apparently confirming they had been captured by Russian forces north of Kharkiv, Ukraine, last week.

The men are Alexander John-Robert Drueke, age 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, age 27, from Hartselle, Alabama. The photo shows the two men looking up at the camera with hands behind their backs as if bound.

The undated photo was posted on Telegram on Thursday by a Russian blogger, The V, whose full name is Timofey Vasilyev, from Moscow. CNN cannot verify when it was taken.

Bunny Drueke, the mother of one of the Americans reportedly captured, said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that the US State Department told her that they are working to verify the alleged photo.

“They said that there is a photograph that is being circulated on the Russian media. And they’re working hard to verify it,” said Bunny Drueke. “We’re very hopeful.”
 Drueke said her son went to Ukraine to train soldiers there to fight against Russia because “he felt that if Putin wasn’t stopped now, he would just become bolder with every success, and that eventually he might end up on American shores.”

More background: The two Americans fighting alongside Ukrainian forces north of Kharkiv, in Ukraine, have been missing for nearly a week and there are fears they may have been captured by Russian forces, according to their families and a fellow fighter.

There is very little to identify the location of the vehicle but a white box of food with tin cans falling out has been identified by CNN’s Russia desk as being “mackerel with vegetables” made by Russian food producer Fregat.

CNN has reached out to Russia’s Ministry of Defense for comment.

The European Union’s embargo on 90% of the oil it imports from Russia is the toughest punishment it’s inflicted on the Kremlin since President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

But a smaller part of the latest sanctions package could prove just as significant. A ban on insuring ships carrying Russian oil would make it harder for Moscow to divert hundreds of thousands of barrels a day to other buyers in India and China, and that could drive global oil prices even higher.

“Targeting the insurance side of things is the best shot at halting Russian crude flows instead of just redirecting them,” said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler, a market intelligence firm.

The European Union has announced that EU companies will be blocked from “insuring and financing the transport” of Russian oil to third-party countries after a transitional period of six months.

“This will make it particularly difficult for Russia to continue exporting its crude oil and petroleum products to the rest of the world since EU operators are important providers of such services,” the Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement.

The United Kingdom is expected to join the EU effort. That would further tighten the vise, since Lloyd’s of London has for centuries been at the center of the maritime insurance market.

So far, Russia has been able to cushion the blow from a drop-off in exports to Europe by attracting other customers with steep discounts. But if ships can’t get the insurance they need for delivery runs, that will become much tougher in the near term.

“The restrictions on insurance for Russian ships is hugely important and a primary reason we assume not all Russian barrels can simply be redirected away from Europe to elsewhere, in particular China and India,” said Shin Kim, head of supply and production analysis at S&P Global Commodity Insights. “The ban will add political and economic complications to moving Russian oil.”

Read more here.

When the loud sound of air raid sirens pierced through the relative calm of Kyiv on Thursday morning, it was a stark reminder for French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi that they were visiting a country under attack.

Not that they needed one.

Like other leaders before them, they traveled to the Ukrainian capital on a special train that set off from Poland in the middle of the night and was guarded by dozens of heavily armed soldiers.

The three were in Kyiv on a mission to try and smooth out tensions over what the Ukrainian government perceives as a lack of tangible support from their governments.

Macron and Scholz in particular have been on the receiving end of much criticism in recent weeks, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky even going as far as suggesting the two were trying to appease Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Macron appeared determined to change the narrative.

Arriving in Kyiv for his first visit since the war started nearly four months ago — and long after a number of other world leaders traveled there — Macron was keen to send a message of support.

Asked by reporters at the train station whether he had a message for the Ukrainian people, the French President said: “A message of European unity addressed to Ukrainian men and women, of support to talk about both the present and the future because the coming weeks, we know, will be very difficult weeks. I want to be in support and at their side.”

Read more here.