May 24, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

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

Oleh Prudky, a former light-welterweight boxing champion of Ukraine, is seen in this recent photo.

Two Ukrainian boxing champions, Oleh Prudky and Oleksiy Yanin, have died while defending their country during Russia’s invasion, according to sports officials.

Prudky, a former light-welterweight champion of Ukraine, died battling Russian forces on Sunday, the Ukrainian Boxing Federation said in an Instagram post Monday.

Prudky is survived by his wife and two young daughters.

Yanin, a Ukrainian kickboxing champion and Muay Thai world champion, died in April while battling Russian and pro-Russian forces in Mariupol, Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports said Tuesday.

Yanin is survived by his wife and son.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has effectively halted all maritime trade at Ukrainian ports, according to newly declassified US intelligence, cutting off a critical export commodity for Ukraine and risking a global food crisis.

In the months since Russia moved to invade in February, it has established an “effective blockade” in the northern third of the Black Sea, according to a US official who provided a declassified map of the region to CNN on the condition of anonymity. 

The map analyzes the density of ships coming in and out of Ukrainian ports before and after the start of the conflict, showing an almost total drop-off of commercial traffic to ports in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov after the start of the invasion. A third map provides a current visualization of the density of Russian naval vessels clustered in the Black Sea off Ukraine’s coast, highlighting “hotbeds of activity,” according to the US official. 

Ukraine provides about 10% of the world’s wheat exports, the official noted, the vast majority of which exit the country from Black Sea ports. 

Some context: 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.

The United Nations World Food Program — which helps combat global food insecurity — buys about half of its wheat from Ukraine each year and has warned of dire consequences if Ukrainian ports are not opened up.

Last week CNN reported that the US and allies are holding discussions on how to safely develop routes to transport grain from Ukraine amid concerns about global food supplies. New satellite images reported by CNN on Monday appear to substantiate Ukrainian claims that Russia is also stealing stores of grain that have been sitting idle at commercial ports. 

Since the start of the conflict, Russia has intimidated commercial traffic, occasionally impeded safe passage to Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and, most visibly, stationed warships off Ukraine’s coast and pummeled Ukrainian ports, the US official said. 

CNN’s Alex Marquardt contributed to this post

The English Premier League said Tuesday that its board has approved the sale of Chelsea Football Club to the ownership group led by Todd Boehly.

The deal, worth more than $5 billion, must still receive government approval before the transaction can be finalized.

Russia owner under sanctions: The club’s current owner is Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who is subject to sanctions by the British government and has seen his assets frozen.

Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale in early March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying at the time it was “in the best interest of the Club.”

The Premier League statement noted Boehly had passed the board’s “Premier League’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test.”

Boehly owns stakes in the MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.

Read more:

Chelsea's stadium, Stamford Bridge is seen through trees in London on March 10, 2022, as Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich was hit with a UK assets freeze and travel ban, throwing his plans to sell the European and world club champions into disarray. - Chelsea shirt sponsor Three announced Thursday it was suspending its deal with the Premier League club after the UK government slapped sanctions on Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

Related article English Premier League approves sale of Chelsea FC

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, said Tuesday that Russian forces had taken the contested town of Svitlodarsk in the eastern Donbas region and that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn.

According to Kyrylenko, Svitlodarsk had been surrounded on three sides, and that the city had not been under intense shelling, so much of the civilian population remained.  

“This is not a retreat [of the Armed Forces of Ukraine], but a regrouping,” he said. “This is the right and logical decision in this situation to save the lives of [the military] and regroup.”

Pro-Russian Telegram channels showed images of the Russian flag being hoisted over the city administration building in Svitlodarsk.

Kyrylenko also described the situation as “very difficult” in Lyman, a city further north in Donetsk region. 

“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 centre 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 situation there is now one of the tensest along the entire front line, along with Avdiivka.”

“Mariupol is now a city of ghosts,” an adviser to the mayor of the ruined Ukrainian port city said Tuesday.  

Speaking to CNN’s Melissa Bell, Petro Andriushchenko — who has fled to Ukrainian held territory — said that Mariupol town hall officials believe that at least 22,000 residents of the city were killed during three months of war — a figure that cannot be independently supported, with the free press now unable to get access to the city and those still inside too scared to speak openly.

The figure of 22,000 is based, Andriushchenko said, on the many contacts he and other town hall officials continue to have with officials trapped inside. But he believes the actual figure could be much higher.

Andriushchenko said that the process of reburying the dead has been complicated by Russian official insistence that reclaimed bodies be brought to a morgue and that a person claiming a body must agree to record a video in which the applicant says the deceased was killed by the Ukrainian military. 

Andriushchenko said that, based on the information gathered from his network of sources, Mariupol tonight is a city thrown back to the Middle Ages.

“It is absolutely dark inside the city. The only lights are from Russian troops and Russian patrols,” he said. “Everywhere it’s the smell of death and the smell of fire.”

The mayor’s adviser said his contacts paint a picture of a city in the grips of a humanitarian catastrophe with very little contact to the outside world. Mobile phone connections are only just beginning to be re-established.

He said residents are unable to move freely, with special passes needed for any movement within the city and a filtration system keeping them from fleeing altogether.

Mariupol has been at the center of a ferocious, months-long battle between Ukrainian government forces and Russian soldiers and pro-Russian fighters. 

It officially fell to Russian forces Friday when the last group of the Azovstal fighters at the steel plant they had been holding out in for several weeks surrendered.

Hungary will enter a “state of emergency” due to the war in Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a video posted on his official Facebook account on Tuesday. 

“Hungary must stay out of this war and protect families’ financial security. To do this, we need room for maneuver and the ability to act immediately,” Orban said. 

The state of emergency is set to go into effect starting at midnight local time on Wednesday, according to Orban, who did not give details regarding the extent of the emergency powers. The prime minister said he would share more details regarding his decision on Wednesday. 

This would not be the first time Hungary has activated a state of emergency. A bill was passed during the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 that allowed Orban to rule by decree. 

Hungary also recently voiced its opposition to a proposal from the European Union to ban imports of Russian oil, saying it will not support such a measure. 

Russia would remain a threat for peace in Europe even after a ceasefire in Ukraine, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said on Tuesday.

“That Russia changes immediately after a ceasefire has been agreed is daydreaming. It would remain a danger for peace in Europe,” Rau said during a joint press conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.

Rau said he feared a Russian invasion into Poland, as well as “the danger of an armed invasion of the countries in the NATO eastern flank.”

Poland and Germany must strive for Russia “to suffer a strategic defeat and its occupation forces to leave Ukraine within the borders recognized by international law,” Rau also said. 

Baerbock also made clear that the Donetsk region belonged to Ukraine, saying, “Ukraine is a sovereign state within its borders and this is true for now, this is true since 2014 and this is true for the future.”

France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna listens as Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a press conference in Berlin on Tuesday.

The European Union needs to adopt its sixth package of sanctions against Russia soon, according to France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna.

Speaking during a joint press conference in Berlin with her German counterpart, Colonna stressed the need “to strengthen our support to Ukraine.” 

Despite opposition from countries like Hungary, Colonna said she is “optimistic” that the package will be approved and commended the “remarkable” unity shown by the EU in holding Russia accountable. 

“We have to continue because it is this unity that is our strength,” Colonna emphasized. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is contributing to a sharp rise in the number of people suffering from severe food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean, the United Nations World Food Programme warned in a statement Tuesday, heaping more pressure on a region that is already suffering from the fallout of Covid-19 and the effects of climate change.

Between December 2021 and March 2022, the WFP said that, according to recent surveys conducted by the organization, the number of people suffering due to severe food insecurity “shot up” by more than 500,000. Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The WFP said the war in Ukraine has led to a surge in commodity and energy prices, which is leading to a rise in food inflation that threatens the region since several countries are highly dependent on cereal imports. It added that Caribbean nations that import substantial amounts of food will be particularly affected due to “soaring” sea freight costs.

Before the war, wheat supplies from Russia and Ukraine accounted for almost 30% of global trade, and Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest exporter of corn and the fifth-largest exporter of wheat, according to the US State Department. The WFP, which helps combat global food insecurity, buys about half of its wheat from Ukraine each year and has warned of dire consequences if Ukrainian ports are not opened up.

Since the war began, Russia has been blocking Ukraine from exporting goods from its ports, fueling fears of a global food crisis. 

“Russia has blocked almost all ports and all, so to speak, maritime opportunities to export food — our grain, barley, sunflower and more,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday.

The US and Ukraine have also accused Russia of stealing Ukrainian grain supplies, which Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says is “fake news,” according to Russian state news agencies. CNN has viewed satellite images that show two Russian ships docking and loading up with what is believed to be stolen Ukrainian grain. CNN also tracked a Russian ship carrying Ukrainian grain from Crimea to Syria after being turned away from ports in Egypt and Lebanon.

CNN’s Alex Marquardt and Tim Lister contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

A top Russian security official said Russian forces are not “chasing deadlines” in Ukraine, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for continuing economic and political pressure on Moscow.

If you’re just reading in now, here are some of the latest developments of the war in Ukraine:

Boris Bondarev

Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s top diplomat to the United Nations, said that the protest resignation of a Russian foreign service officer is a “very courageous act,” but he remains disappointed that so few Russian diplomats have spoken out.

“On the one hand, I can say that it was a very courageous act,” Kyslytsya told CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour Tuesday. “On the other hand, I would say that I’m disappointed.”

Boris Bondarev, a 20-year veteran of Russia’s diplomatic service, announced his resignation Monday in protest against his country’s war on Ukraine by posting a statement on a LinkedIn account. In the post, he criticized the Russian foreign ministry for participating in an “aggressive war” — language that is proscribed in Russia under wartime censorship laws.  

Kyslytsya said that Russian diplomats who continue to be complicit in Russia’s war against Ukraine would ultimately face accountability for their actions.

“I think that everything they say in the Security Council may and will be used in a tribunal that will be established. There is no end to this story until all of them, including the Russian diplomats, are called to account,” he said. 

Kyslytsya drew a parallel between Russian diplomats today and the ultimate fate of Joachim von Ribbentrop, the foreign minister of Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945. Von Ribbentrop was found guilty and sentenced to death at the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal following World War II.

“When Ribbentrop was denying his knowledge of concentration camps, by the end of the day, he was convicted. We all know what happened to him,” the ambassador said. 

The Ukrainian military has for the first time released footage of special forces using foreign-made kamikaze drones targeting Russian positions. According to the Ukrainian military, the drone was equipped with a powerful explosive that caused damage to a Russian tank after it flew into it. 

“The combat use of kamikaze UAVs is a constant practice for SOF of Ukraine in the war with Russian invaders,” the Ukranian military said. “This is a good example of how the help of foreign partners together with the training and professionalism of our soldiers give positive results at the front.”

The US sent 100 Switchblade drones to the Ukrainian military in April. The small, portable, so-called kamikaze drones carry warheads and detonate on impact. The smallest model can hit a target up to six miles away, according to a company that produces the drones.

Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Russia’s Security Council, said in remarks published Tuesday that Russian forces aren’t “chasing deadlines” in Ukraine, suggesting a possibly open-ended timeline for the Russian invasion.  

In an interview with the Argumenti and Fakti national newspaper, Patrushev said “Nazism has to be eradicated in full 100%, otherwise it will resurface in a few years in a much uglier form.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed — falsely — that Russia is waging a campaign of “denazification” in Ukraine, a vaguely defined goal. Patrushev, a former spy chief, is seen as a hawkish member of Putin’s inner circle. 

The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said Tuesday it had charged members of the Russian military and a Russian mercenary group as suspects in the high-profile murder of a Ukrainian village mayor and two members of her family.

Olha Sukhenko, the mayor of the village of Motyzhyn, was found murdered along with her husband and son after Russian forces withdrew from the Kyiv region. The prosecutor general’s office said it had identified and charged five Russian servicemen and three members of the Wagner private military group. The regional prosecutor’s office had charged them in absentia of violating the laws of war combined with premeditated murder.

According to investigators, the suspects abducted the mayor of Motyzhyn and her husband and son to a temporary base, where they tortured them in an attempt to obtain information about Ukrainian troops and territorial defense forces and subsequently murdered them. 

The bodies of the mayor and her family members were found partly buried in a shallow grave.

According to the statement from the prosecutor general’s Office, the suspects allegedly robbed civilians, tortured and killed them and burned their homes. The statement said pre-trial investigations had been carried out by the investigative department of the main directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine in Kyiv and Kyiv region; it did not name the suspects. 

Russian officials have dismissed allegations of war crimes by Russian troops as fake, despite firsthand evidence gathered by international news media. The participation of Wagner mercenaries in several conflicts, including in Ukraine, has been widely documented.

NATO member countries broadly support welcoming Finland and Sweden as members, the alliance’s secretary general told CNN’s Richard Quest in Davos. 

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he is “confident” that NATO will find a solution to Turkish concerns about the membership bid of the two countries. 

Stoltenberg said it is important for member states to “recognize that Turkey is an important ally,” and is “key in both the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria but also in addressing Russia in the Black Sea.” 

To grant membership to Finland and Sweden, there would need to be an agreement by the 30 current NATO allies. Turkey has said it won’t support their joining unless certain demands are met.

“We are in close contact with Stockholm, Helsinki and Ankara and I am confident we will be able to find a solution,” Stoltenberg said, adding that he expects Russia to “protest” if NATO does decide to accept the two new member states.

David Beasley, executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, during a panel session on the opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on May 23.

The head of the UN World Food Programme called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to reopen ports in Ukraine to prevent children around the world from starving.

Speaking to CNN’s Julia Chatterley at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, David Beasley called on the Russian leader to “have a heart.”

The growing food crisis has been a major issue at the forum, with Beasley being one of the leading voices calling for action. He warned that the Ukraine war has meant that “the breadbasket of the world was becoming the bread line of the world.”

Some background: Before the war, wheat supplies from Russia and Ukraine accounted for almost 30% of global trade, and Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest exporter of corn and the fifth-largest exporter of wheat, according to the US State Department. 

“The world is facing a food security crisis. It is immediate and long term. If we are struggling now to feed 7.7 billion, what is going to happen when we have 10, 12, 13 billion? That is on top of climate impact. It’s going to be resonating around the world,” he added.

He also said that renewed focus on the food crisis was a good thing, with world leaders recognizing the size of the problem, with solutions to solve issues.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier today accused Putin of “weaponizing” food supplies in his invasion of Ukraine. The Russian army is confiscating grain suppliers and machinery in areas of Ukraine and blocking exports from ports in the Black Sea, von der Leyen said.

President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission in Davos, Switzerland.

The president of the European Commission said a European embargo on Russian oil could come soon. 

President Ursula von der Leyen spoke to CNN’s Richard Quest at the World Economic Forum.

Some EU members, including Hungary, continue to oppose a European Commission proposal to phase out Russian oil by early 2023. A Russian oil embargo would be the sixth package of EU sanctions on Russia since it invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Von der Leyen also said Russia must play a role in Ukraine’s reconstruction. “The needs of reconstruction, financial needs are massive, and all of us should pay in, also the international financial institutions,” she said. “And I think it would be only fair that Russia also pays its share. Therefore we are now looking into the legal possibilities to also add the assets that are frozen to this reconstruction effort. It’s not trivial, it’s not easy on the legal ground but we are working on it.”

John F. Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate of the United States, speaks during a news conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on May 24.

United States climate envoy John Kerry warned business and world leaders on Tuesday against locking in long-term fossil fuel use as countries shun Russia’s energy exports. 

The US has banned the import of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas and coal in response to its invasion of Ukraine, and the European Union is working toward phasing out Russian oil by the year end, while replacing much of its gas.

Europe is importing more liquified natural gas from the US to replace some of the Russian gas imports it usually relies on. 

“We have to do some of those things, we have to make up for the gas,” Kerry said. “So, where are you going to get it from? Well, Europe has made a decision to completely accelerate their deployment of renewables and France has determined that they’re going to have to double down on nuclear and make different choices.”

He added that the basic technologies were now available for the world to reach its climate goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% over this decade.

“We can’t do it if the new theology is going to be ‘we got to build out a massive gas infrastructure’ without regard to abatement and mitigation of that gas. The reason we’re in the predicament we’re in today is fossil fuel burning in a way that has polluted the atmosphere,” he said. “And so much so that this blanket is heating up the planet at an unacceptable rate.”

Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba talks to the press in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 23.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Tuesday he discussed with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken military aid and ways to unblock Ukraine’s food exports. 

“Russian thieves steal Ukrainian grain, load it onto ships, pass through Bosporus, and try to sell it abroad,” Kuleba ​wrote in another tweet. “I call on all states to stay vigilant and refuse any such proposals. Don’t buy the stolen. Don’t become accomplices to Russian crimes. Theft has never brought anyone luck.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that Russia is “weaponizing” the food and energy sector and that the Russian army is confiscating grain suppliers and machinery in parts of Ukraine, and blocking exports from ports in the Black Sea. 

View Kuleba’s tweet here: