Ukraine-Russia war – latest: Putin ‘plans nuclear radioactive leak to postpone counteroffensive’

Russia is plotting a “large-scale provocation” at a nuclear power station it occupies in the south-east of Ukraine to disrupt a looming counteroffensive, Kyiv’s military intelligence has said.

A statement from the intelligence directorate of Ukraine‘s Defence Ministry claimed Russian forces will strike the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, and report a radioactive leak in order to trigger an international probe that would pause the hostilities and give them the respite they need to regroup.

In order to make that happen, Russia “disrupted the rotation of personnel of the permanent monitoring mission” of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that was scheduled for Saturday, the statement said.

It did not offer evidence to back up any of the claims, while the IAEA said it did not have any immediate comment on the allegations, and Russian officials did not immediately comment.

This comes after Dmitry Medvedev, who is Russia’s security council deputy chairman, alleged the West was “not fully realising” the threat of nuclear war.

Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky said at least one person was killed and 15 were injured in a Russian missile strike on a clinic in Dnipro on Friday.

Key Points

• One killed, 15 wounded in Russian attack on Ukrainian clinic

• Putin ally says Ukraine war could last 'decades’

• Wagner starts handing Bakhmut to regular Russian troops

• Vladimir Putin signs deal for Belarus to station its tactical nuclear weapons

Ukraine conflict may last for decades, negotiation with 'clown' Zelensky impossible, says Medvedev

05:15 , Namita Singh

A senior ally of president Vladimir Putin said the conflict in Ukraine could last for decades and that negotiations with Ukraine were impossible as long as Western-backed president Volodymyr Zelensky was in power.

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the deadliest European conflict since the Second World War and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Thousands of people have been killed or seriously wounded in the conflict, whose roots date to 2014 after a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine’s popular Maidan uprising. Russia also annexed the Crimea peninsula that year and Russian-backed separatists seized swathes of eastern Ukraine.

“This conflict will last for a very long time. For decades, probably. This is a new reality,” Russian security council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

He said Russia could not trust any truce with the current rulers of Kyiv as the conflict would simply erupt again and so the very nature of the current government of Ukraine would have to be destroyed.

Negotiations, he said, with “the clown Zelensky”, were impossible.

“Everything always ends in negotiations, and this is inevitable, but as long as these people are in power, the situation for Russia will not change in terms of negotiations.”

Mr Medvedev, who cast himself as a liberal moderniser when he was president from 2008-12, now presents himself as a fiercely anti-Western Kremlin hawk. Diplomats said his views give an indication of thinking at the top levels of the Kremlin elite.

Germany to remove over 100 of its employees working in Russia, says source

14:31 , Tara Cobham

Germany will remove more than 100 government employees working in Russia after Moscow imposed limits on the numbers allowed to work at German diplomatic missions in the country, a source with the German foreign ministry said on Saturday.

“This limit, set by Russia for the beginning of June, requires a major cut in all areas of our presence in Russia,” the source said.

Those affected include teachers, as well as other employees of schools and the Goethe Institute, and is necessary to maintain the right balance for Germany’s diplomatic presence, said the person, who described the number affected as at least 100.

Relations between Russia and Germany, which used to be the biggest buyer of Russian oil and gas, have broken down since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the West responded with sanctions and weapons supplies.

The source called the limit, announced in April, “unilateral, unjustified and incomprehensible”. The person declined to say what the limit imposed by Moscow was.

The number of German employees leaving was earlier reported by Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Russia’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia claims its forces intercepted two British Storm Shadow missiles

13:54 , Tara Cobham

Russian forces intercepted two long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles supplied to Ukraine by Britain, the RIA news agency cited the Defence Ministry as saying on Saturday.

The ministry also said it had intercepted shorter-range U.S.-built HIMARS-launched and HARM missiles, and shot down 12 drones in the last 24 hours, RIA reported.

Russia accuses Japan of ‘cynical speculation’ after Tokyo's nuclear rebuke

12:41 , Tara Cobham

Russia on Saturday accused Japan of "cynical, unscrupulous speculation" over Tokyo's comments around the nuclear threat Moscow poses and promised to respond to Japan's latest round of sanctions imposed over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno on Friday said Japan would place additional sanctions on Russia after the Group of Seven (G7) summit Tokyo hosted last week agreed to step up measures to punish Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Matsuno also condemned Russia's plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, saying it would further inflame the situation and that Japan would never accept "Russia's nuclear menace, let alone its use".

Russia's foreign ministry said it was assessing the implementation of Japan's sanctions on its national security and economy and would not leave Tokyo's "illegitimate actions" unanswered.

The ministry also took issue with Matsuno's casting of Russia as engaging in "nuclear blackmail".

"The desire to attribute the non-evident intention to use nuclear weapons in relation to events in Ukraine to Russia is nothing more than cynical, unscrupulous speculation," the ministry said.

Russia earlier on Saturday dismissed criticism from US President Joe Biden over Moscow's plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, saying Washington had for decades deployed such nuclear weapons in Europe.

The foreign ministry urged Japan to show similar "concern" towards US deployments in Europe.

German diplomats and teachers to be expelled from Russia

12:10 , Tara Cobham

Russia is to start expelling German diplomats, teachers and employees of cultural institutions next month.

It is being seen as a move that will further enhance tensions between the two countries that have already had very fraught ties since Russia invaded Ukraine early last year.

The German foreign ministry criticised Russia's move, calling the upcoming expulsions a "unilateral, unjustified and incomprehensible decision".

The expulsion will affect several hundred German state employees, including teachers and staff of the Goethe Institute, which promotes German culture and language abroad, daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported.

The expulsion comes in response to the reduction of the presence of Russian intelligence services in Germany earlier this year.

"The Russian Foreign Ministry had made public in April its decision to introduce a cap on the number of staff at our missions abroad and at German intermediary organisations in Russia," a German Foreign Office spokesperson said.

The expulsions will lead to "a major cut in all areas of our presence in Russia", the spokesperson added.

Germany did not announce any concrete response to Russia's expulsions, which are expected to begin next week.

The Foreign Office said that "with regard to the upper limit on the Russian presence in Germany, the German government will ensure that there is a real balance in practice as well".

Ukraine asks Germany to provide Taurus long-range missiles - Berlin

11:41 , Tara Cobham

Ukraine has asked Germany to supply it with Taurus cruise missiles, an air-launched weapon with a range of some 500 km (310 miles), a spokesperson for the defence ministry in Berlin said on Saturday.

Germany received the request several days ago, the spokesperson said, confirming a report by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. She declined to provide further details or say how likely it was that Germany would supply the missiles to Ukraine.

If it supplies the missiles, Germany would be following in the footsteps of Britain, which earlier in May became the first country to publicly provide Kyiv with long-range cruise missiles.

The United States has so far declined to supply Ukraine with the 297-km range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles amid concerns that Ukraine could use them to strike inside Russia's internationally recognised borders.

Ukraine has been asking for months for this kind of weapons, but support from Western allies has focused on shorter-range weapons.

Taurus is built by European missile maker MBDA and has similar features to the British Storm Shadow.

It can be used to hit high-value targets, troops or fuel dumps deep behind the front lines and has the capability to destroy hardened targets such as bunkers buried deep underground.

Russia tells US to not lecture it on nuclear deployments

10:57 , Tara Cobham

Russia on Saturday dismissed criticism from US President Joe Biden over Moscow's plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, saying Washington had for decades deployed just such nuclear weapons in Europe.

Russia said on Thursday it was pushing ahead with the first deployment of such weapons outside its borders since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the weapons were already on the move.

Biden said on Friday he had an "extremely negative" reaction to reports that Russia has moved ahead with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The U.S. State Department denounced the Russian nuclear deployment plan.

"It is the sovereign right of Russia and Belarus to ensure their security by means we deem necessary amidst of a large-scale hybrid war unleashed by Washington against us," Russia's embassy in the United States said in a statement.

"The measures we undertake are fully consistent with our international legal obligations."

The United States has said the world faces the gravest nuclear danger since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis because of remarks by President Vladimir Putin during the Ukraine conflict, but Moscow says its position has been misinterpreted.

Putin, who has cast the Ukraine war as a battle for the survival of Russia against an aggressive West, has repeatedly warned that Russia, which has more nuclear weapons than any other country, will use all means to defend itself.

Tactical nuclear weapons are used for tactical gains on the battlefield, and are usually smaller in yield than the strategic nuclear weapons designed to destroy U.S., European or Russian cities.

The Russian Embassy called the U.S. criticism of Moscow's planned deployment hypocritical, saying that "before blaming others, Washington could use some introspection".

"The United States has been for decades maintaining a large arsenal of its nuclear weapons in Europe. Together with its NATO allies it participates in nuclear sharing arrangements and trains for scenarios of nuclear weapons use against our country."

The United States has deployed nuclear weapons in Western Europe since U.S. President Dwight D Eisenhower authorised their deployment in the Cold War as a counter to the perceived threat from the Soviet Union. The first U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe were deployed in Britain in 1954.

Much of the detail about the current U.S. deployment is classified, though the Federation of American Scientists says that the U.S. has 100 B61 tactical nuclear weapons deployed in Europe - in Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Iran says Ukrainian president’s drone criticism is bid for Western arms

10:16 , Tara Cobham

Tehran on Saturday accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of anti-Iranian propaganda in his call for Iran to halt the supply of drones to Russia, saying his comments were designed to attract more arms and financial aid from the West.

Zelenskiy in a video address on Wednesday called on Iranians to stop their slide into "the dark side of history" by supplying Moscow with drones.

Iran initially denied supplying Shahed drones to Russia but later said it had provided a small number before the conflict began. Ukraine says the drones have played a major role in Russia's attacks on cities and infrastructure.

"The Ukrainian president's repeat of delusional claims against the Islamic Republic of Iran is in line with the anti-Iranian propaganda and media war aimed at attracting as many arms and financial aid as possible from Western countries," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a statement carried by Iranian media.

Ukraine, Kanaani said, has been refusing to allow an independent investigation into these claims.

Russia has boosted its military cooperation with Iran since the launch of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It has admitted using Iranian-made drones, but it is now seeking to boost its own production.

In his Wednesday address, Zelenskiy said: "The simple question is this: what is your interest in being an accomplice to Russian terror?"

"Your Shaheds, which terrorise Ukraine every night, mean only that the people of Iran are being driven deeper and deeper into the dark side of history," he said.

Poland says it will close border to freight vehicles from Belarus and Russia

10:05 , Tara Cobham

Poland will close its eastern border to freight vehicles registered in Belarus and Russia until further notice, according to a draft regulation published on Friday by the interior ministry.

The move comes as a Belarusian court upheld an earlier decision to sentence a journalist of Polish origin to eight years in prison, stoking tensions between the two countries that have been running high in part due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

According to the justification of the regulation, the decision was necessary to "ensure public safety".

While the regulation concerning the border did not mention the case of jailed journalist Andrzej Poczobut, Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Twitter that he would add several hundred Belarusian officials to sanctions lists as a result of the verdict, which he labelled "draconian".

Poland had previously closed some border crossings with Belarus following Poczobut's imprisonment and the expulsion of Polish diplomats by Minsk.

The Belarusian foreign ministry could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.

Belarus has previously said that Polish decisions to close border crossings were irrational and dangerous, accusing Warsaw of causing long delays and failing to implement bilateral agreements.

Poland has been an important refuge for opponents of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, and Warsaw has become one of Kyiv's staunchest supporters since Belarus' main ally Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Poland also accuses Belarus of artificially creating a migrant crisis on the border by flying in people from the Middle East and Africa and attempting to push them across the frontier.

While the numbers of migrants crossing are lower than at the peak of the crisis in 2021, the Polish Border guard reports dozens of attempts to enter Poland illegally daily.

Drone attack damages Russian oil pipeline building - governor

09:36 , Tara Cobham

An attack by two drones caused an explosion in Russia's Pskov region near the border with Belarus that left an oil pipeline's administrative building damaged, local Governor Mikhail Vedernikov said on Telegram on Saturday.

Vedernikov did not point the finger at Ukraine, but Moscow has previously blamed Kyiv for similar incidents, some of which have caused damage to people and property hundreds of kilometres from its border with Ukraine.

Ukraine has not publicly acknowledged launching attacks against targets inside Russia, but senior officials in Kyiv have on occasion appeared to welcome the news of successful drone attacks on Russian soil.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on Saturday.

"Provisionally, the building was damaged as a result of an attack by two unmanned aerial vehicles," Vedernikov said.

He said there were no casualties and that an operational group that would deliver final conclusions was working at the scene.

The incident occurred near the village of Litvinovo, less than 10km (6.2 miles) from Russia's border with Belarus.

At least 974 attacks by Russia against health care in Ukraine

08:45 , Tara Cobham

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recorded at least 974 attacks against health care in Ukraine since Russia invaded, with 873 of those impacting medical facilities.

The attacks have killed at least 101 people and injured 136 since war began.

Russia’s missile strike on a medical clinic in Dnipro on Friday is not yet included in that figure because it takes time for the WHO to verify all attacks. According to the regional governor, Serhiy Lysak, two people were killed and 31 wounded in this latest attack.

Biden feels 'negative' about Russian nuclear moves in Belarus

08:31 , Tara Cobham

US President Joe Biden said on Friday he had an "extremely negative" reaction to reports that Russia has moved ahead with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Russia's defence minister announced the deal with Belarus on Thursday. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said that tactical nuclear weapons were already on the move.

A growing number of LGBT+ Russians seek refuge from war, discrimination in Argentina

07:30 , Namita Singh

Anastasia Domini and wife Anna Domini walked hand in hand on a recent sunny day in Argentina’s capital while their four restless children played nearby.

It’s a common sight in a country where same-sex marriage has been legal for more than a decade. But the couple, who got married shortly after arriving in Buenos Aires early last year, still remember the fear they felt when they first decided to hold hands in public after leaving Russia, which explicitly outlawed same-sex marriages in 2020.

“It was really scary,” Anastasia Domini said, but “we were looking around and really, really nobody was looking.”

Report:

A growing number of LGBTQ+ Russians seek refuge from war, discrimination in Argentina

Ukraine soccer league set for a title-deciding game in a remarkable, war-hit season

07:00 , Namita Singh

Two soccer teams exiled from cities in war-battered eastern Ukraine play each other Sunday in the safer western part of the country with the league title at stake.

The showdown between competition leader Shakhtar Donetsk and second-place Dnipro-1 at Arena Lviv can be decisive in a soccer season that is finishing on schedule in remarkable circumstances. The stadium was one of four in Ukraine, including Shakhtar’s home in Donetsk, secure enough in 2012 from Russian aggression to co-host that year’s European Championship with Poland.

Shakhtar leads by five points and needs just a draw this weekend to secure the title ahead of the last scheduled round on June 4.

“I think it will maybe be one of our best matches ever,” Ukrainian league chief executive Ievgen Dykyi told the Associated Press this week in a call from Kyiv. “Because the situation now is really hard and all the players understand about this.”

Report:

Ukraine soccer league set for a title-deciding game in a remarkable, war-hit season

Zelensky says one killed in Russian attack on Dnipro clinic

06:28 , Namita Singh

One person was killed and 15 wounded in a Russian missile strike on a clinic in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Friday, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Analysis: ‘Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine facade is crumbling’ – this week proves it

06:19 , Namita Singh

From nuclear threats to raids on Russian territory, Russia’s president has plenty on his mind, writes our International editor Chris Stevenson.

Analysis: The facade Putin has built over Ukraine is crumbling – this week proves it

Ukraine struck southern Russia with rocket and drone, country's officials and media say

06:18 , Namita Singh

Ukraine struck two regions in southern Russia with a rocket and a drone, though the missile was shot down by air defences, according to Russian officials and media reports.

In the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, a blast damaged a residential and office building, officials said.

They did not state what caused the blast, though Russian media said it was a drone attack. Unverified videos on social media showed a drone flying over the city.

“All emergency services are working at the scene. The cause of the incident is being investigated. Residents are asked to stay calm,” Krasnodar mayor Yevgeny Naumov wrote on Telegram.

In the neighbouring Rostov region, the local governor said a Ukrainian missile had been shot down by air defences on Thursday near Morozovsk, where there is a Russian air base.

“In the area of Morozovsk, an air defence system went off, shooting down a Ukrainian missile,” Rostov governor Vasily Golubev said. “The military is doing its job. Stay calm.”

Medvedev warns against underestimating risk of nuclear war

06:15 , Namita Singh

Russian security council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev has warned that the West is seriously underestimating the risk of a nuclear war over Ukraine, cautioning that Russia would launch a pre-emptive strike if Ukraine gets nuclear weapons.

Russia, which has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, has repeatedly accused the West of waging a proxy war with Russia over Ukraine that could mushroom into a much bigger conflict.

“There are irreversible laws of war. If it comes to nuclear weapons, there will have to be a pre-emptive strike,” Mr Medvedev said.

Allowing Ukraine nuclear weapons - a step no Western country has publicly proposed - would mean “a missile with a nuclear charge coming to them”, Mr Medvedev was quoted as saying.

“The Anglo-Saxons do not fully realise this and believe that it will not come to this. It will under certain conditions.”

Scarred by war, Ukrainian children carry on after losing parents, homes and innocence

06:11 , Namita Singh

Two children squinted to see through the thick smoke that hung in the air after a deafening blast shook their small home in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.The children, aged 9 and 10, called out for their father.

But only eerie silence followed.

Then Olha Hinkina and her brother Andrii rushed to the bomb shelter as they had been taught. When the booms stopped and the smoke cleared, they found their father on the porch — motionless and covered in blood after being struck by a Russian projectile.

“Father was killed at seven in the morning,” said Andrii, who now lives in the safer western city of Lviv, near the border with Poland.The two siblings join a generation of Ukrainian children whose lives have been upended by the war. Russia’s full-scale invasion has subjected them to constant bombardment, uprooted millions from their homes and turned many into orphans.

Report:

Scarred by war, Ukrainian children carry on after losing parents, homes and innocence

Ukraine shoots down 10 missiles, over 20 drones in Russian attacks

06:00 , Namita Singh

Ukraine shot down 10 missiles and over 20 drones launched by Russia in overnight attacks on capital Kyiv, the eastern city of Dnipro and other eastern areas, Ukrainian officials said on Friday.

Russia has intensified missile and drone attacks on Ukraine this month, mainly attacking logistics and infrastructure facilities before an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 10 missiles fired from the Caspian Sea, 23 Iranian-made Shahed drones and two reconnaissance drones.

It said a total of 17 missiles and 31 drones had been launched during the attacks, which started at around 10pm on Thursday and continued until 5am on Friday.

Several drones and several missiles hit targets in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, officials said.

There was no immediate word of any deaths.

“It was a very difficult night. It was loud – the enemy launched a mass attack on the region with missiles and drones,” Serhiy Lysak, the Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, said on the Telegram messaging app. “Dnipro has suffered.”

Mr Lysak said several houses, cars, and private companies, including a transport company and a gas station, had been damaged.Officials in Kyiv said the roof of a shopping mall, a private house and several cars had been damaged. The governor of the Kharkiv region also reported damage to several private houses and industrial facilities.

Russia, which began its full-scale invasion 15 months ago, has launched hundreds of missile attacks since last October, seeking to destroy critical infrastructure and power facilities.

It has shifted the focus of its missile strikes to try to disrupt preparation for a Ukrainian counterattack, military officials have said.

Russia's Medvedev says pre-emptive strike needed if Ukraine receives nuclear weapons

05:56 , Namita Singh

Russia will have to launch a pre-emptive strike if the West gives Ukraine nuclear weapons, Russian news agencies quoted former Russian president and current security council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev as saying on Friday.

“There are irreversible laws of war. If it comes to nuclear weapons, there will have to be a pre-emptive strike,” he said.

Ukraine warns of Russian plan to ‘simulate accident’ at Zaporizhia nuclear power plant

04:35 , Namita Singh

Intelligence chiefs in Kyiv have issued an alert over what they claim are Russian plans to simulate an accident at the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, in an attempt to halt the Ukrainian counteroffensive aimed at retaking territory.

An emergency leak of radioactive substances will be announced in the coming hours, the defence ministry claimed in an online statement on Friday evening, warning that Ukraine will “traditionally be blamed for the incident”.

“The occupiers are preparing large-scale provocations to create a centre of radiation danger,” the message read.

My colleague Jane Dalton has more:

Ukraine warns of Russian plan to ‘simulate nuclear power plant accident’

ICYMI: Russian attack on Ukrainian clinic kills two and wounds 30, Kyiv says

03:15 , Martha Mchardy

A Russian missile has hit a clinic in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, killing two people and wounding 30 in an attack that President Volodymyr Zelensky called a crime against humanity.

Video footage showed a devastated building with smoke pouring out of it and rescue workers looking on. Much of the upper floor of what appeared to be a three-storey building had been badly damaged. A covered corpse lay in the road nearby.

“Another [Russian] missile attack, another crime against humanity,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter. He said a psychological clinic and a veterinary clinic had been hit, and added: “Only an evil state can fight against clinics. There can be no military purpose in this. It is pure Russian terror.”

Olena Harmash and Max Hunder report:

Russian attack on Ukrainian clinic kills two and wounds 30, Kyiv says

In pictures: Destruction in Ukrainian town of Kupiansk

02:15 , Martha Mchardy

Watch: Water rushes over destroyed Ukrainian dam after Russian shelling

01:15 , Martha Mchardy

Voices: Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine facade is crumbling – this week proves it

Saturday 27 May 2023 00:15 , Martha Mchardy

From nuclear threats to raids on Russian territory, Russia’s president has plenty on his mind, writes Chris Stevenson.

Analysis: The facade Putin has built over Ukraine is crumbling – this week proves it

Watch: Zelensky receives standing ovation after speech to Johns Hopkins University graduates

Friday 26 May 2023 23:15 , Martha Mchardy

Ukraine war pensioner sweeps fields for mines to protect cows

Friday 26 May 2023 22:15 , Laura Sharman

A remarkable pensioner in Ukraine has been using a metal detector to comb her fields for mines and war detritus so she can put her cow out to pasture and plant vegetables.

Hanna Plishchynska, 67, returned several weeks ago to her home in Stepova Dolyna, southwesten Ukraine - a rural community of 150 people that emptied as fighting raged for months last year during Russia’s invasion.

The village on the edge of Kherson region found itself on the front lines and took heavy shelling from both sides. Plishchynska wanted to stick it out, but eventually fled with her cow, chickens and ducks.

The area is in ruins though the fighting moved away after Ukraine recaptured Kherson city last November.

She returned to find her house standing, albeit with smashed windows, and began scouring the area with a metal detector to check for mines and other dangers.

“What if my cow was killed by an explosion, what would I do?” she said.

Russia’s Foreign Minister thanks China for its “balanced position” on the war

Friday 26 May 2023 21:30 , Laura Sharman

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed gratitude for China’s “balanced position” and willingness to play a positive role, his ministry said.

Lavrov and Chinese special envoy Li Hui discussed prospects for resolving the war in Ukraine at a meeting in Moscow on Friday, it added.

Li, who spent 10 years as ambassador to Moscow, has been on a tour of European capitals, and last week visited Kyiv.

After those talks, China said it wanted to “form the greatest common denominator for resolving the Ukrainian crisis, and make its own efforts to stop the fighting and [establish a] ceasefire and restore peace as soon as possible”.

Black Sea grain deal slow to get moving after extension

Friday 26 May 2023 21:11 , Martha Mchardy

A deal allowing the safe wartime export of grain and fertilizer from Ukrainian Black Sea ports has not yet resumed full operations, the United Nations said on Friday, having come to a halt before Russia’s decision last week to extend it.

The pact called the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July with Russia and Ukraine to try to ease a global food crisis aggravated by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, covers three ports, but no ships have been authorized to travel to Pivdennyi (Yuzhny) port since April 29, the U.N. said.

The United Nations and Turkey “are working closely with the rest of the parties with the aim to resume full operations ... and lift all impediments that obstruct operations and limit the scope of the Initiative,” the U.N. said in a statement.

Ukraine accused Russia on Tuesday of effectively cutting Pivdennyi port out of the Black Sea deal as Russia complained that it had been unable to export ammonia via a pipeline to Pivdennyi under the agreement.

The U.N. said on Friday that the Black Sea deal also provides for the exports of fertilizer, including ammonia, but “there have been no such exports so far.”

“Russia is ready without delay, in a matter of days, to launch the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline, while Kyiv has been stalling it for almost a year, imposing new conditions,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.

A Ukrainian government source told Reuters last week that Kyiv would consider allowing Russian ammonia to transit its territory for export if the Black Sea grain deal was expanded to include more Ukrainian ports and a wider range of commodities.

Under the Black Sea grain export agreement a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul - made up of officials from the Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the U.N. - authorizes ships and conducts inbound and outbound inspections of the vessels.

“According to information shared by the Ukrainian delegation with the parties at the JCC, there are 54 vessels waiting to move to Ukrainian ports. Out of these, 11 applications have been shared with the JCC for registration,” the U.N. said.

Britain’s Johnson discussed Ukraine with U.S. Trump - spokesperson

Friday 26 May 2023 21:08 , Martha Mchardy

Britain’s former prime minister, Boris Johnson, and U.S. former President Donald Trump discussed Ukraine and “the vital importance of Ukrainian victory” on Thursday, Johnson’s spokesperson said on Friday.

Since being ousted as Britain’s prime minister last year, Johnson has been keen to forge a profile as one of Ukraine’s most ardent backers in its fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion and has been visiting the United States this week to speak to politicians about maintaining support for Kyiv.

A spokesperson for Johnson, who was once dubbed “Britain Trump” by the former president, said Johnson met Trump on Thursday “to discuss the situation in Ukraine and the vital importance of Ukrainian victory”. There were no further details.

US and EU boost efforts to help solve Kosovo-Serbia dispute as war rages in Ukraine

Friday 26 May 2023 20:45 , Laura Sharman

The United States and the EU have stepped up efforts to help solve the Kosovo-Serbia dispute, fearing further instability in Europe as the war rages in Ukraine.

The EU has made it clear to both Serbia and Kosovo they must normalise relations to advance in their intentions to join the bloc.The conflict in Kosovo erupted in 1998 when separatist ethnic Albanians rebelled against Serbia’s rule, and Serbia responded with a brutal crackdown. About 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died.

Russia acknowledges Vatican peace initiative, says no steps yet for a mission to Moscow

Friday 26 May 2023 20:00 , Laura Sharman

Russia on Friday indicated that it views Pope Francis’ Ukraine peace initiative positively, but stressed that there are no immediate plans for a Vatican mission to Moscow.

The statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry to the state RIA Novosti agency was the first public acknowledgment by Moscow of the pope’s move. It followed the Vatican’s weekend announcement that a veteran of the Catholic Church’s peace mediation initiatives, Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, had been tapped by Francis as his envoy.

“We acknowledge the Holy See’s sincere desire to promote the peace process,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said, according to RIA Novosti. “At the same time, no practical steps have been taken by the Vatican side to organize the trip to Moscow.”

Russia acknowledges Vatican peace initiative, says no steps yet for a mission to Moscow

Ukraine harasses Russian border regions, Russia strikes Dnipro clinic

Friday 26 May 2023 19:15 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia’s southern Belgorod region bordering Ukraine came under attack from Ukrainian artillery fire Friday, authorities said, hours after at least one nighttime blast rocked a Russian city in a region next to the annexed Crimea peninsula.

The Kremlin’s forces, meanwhile, struck a clinic in Dnipro, in central Ukraine, killing one person and wounding 16, including two children, Ukrainian officials said. Also, a Russian S-300 missile hit a dam in the Karlivka district of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province, placing nearby settlements under threat of severe flooding.

The Belgorod town of Graivoron, some 7 kilometers (4.5 miles) from the Ukrainian border, was under fire for several hours, with four houses, a store, a car, a gas pipeline and a power line damaged, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported.

Ukraine harasses Russian border regions, Russia strikes Dnipro clinic

Scarred by war, Ukrainian children carry on after losing parents, homes and innocence

Friday 26 May 2023 18:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The two children squinted to see through the thick smoke that hung in the air after a deafening blast shook their small home in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

The pair, ages 9 and 10, called out for their father. Only eerie silence followed.

Then Olha Hinkina and her brother, Andrii, rushed to the bomb shelter, as they had been taught. When the booms stopped and the smoke cleared, they found their father on the porch — motionless and covered in blood after being struck by a Russian projectile.

“Father was killed at seven in the morning,” said Andrii, who now lives in the safer western city of Lviv, near the border with Poland.

Scarred by war, Ukrainian children carry on after losing parents, homes and innocence

Putin: Russia is open to dialogue over Ukraine

Friday 26 May 2023 17:50 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a phone call with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, confirmed that Russia is open to dialogue over Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Friday.

Lula earlier tweeted that he had reiterated Brazil’s willingness to talk to both sides of the war in Ukraine.

Brazil’s Lula said spoke to Putin on war

Friday 26 May 2023 17:10 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday he had a phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and reaffirmed his willingness to establish peace talks with both sides of the war in Ukraine.

Lula tweeted he had also thanked Putin for an invitation to attend an economic forum in Saint Petersburg, but had to decline it as he “can’t visit Russia at the moment”.

“I reiterated Brazil’s willingness, along with India, Indonesia and China, to talk to both sides of the conflict in pursuit of peace,” the leftist leader added.

Lula has pitched himself as a peace broker to end the war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. His proposal, based on Brazil’s tradition of non-intervention and neutrality, calls for a group of nations not involved in the war to engage both Russia and Ukraine in talks.

Netherlands 'seriously considering' sending F-16's to Ukraine

Friday 26 May 2023 16:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Netherlands is “seriously considering” sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine but has not taken any final decision yet, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Friday.

Earlier this week the Netherlands said it wanted to start training Ukrainian pilots in flying F-16’s as soon as possible.

Asked if the Netherlands would send fighter jets to Ukraine, Rutte told a news conference no final decision had been taken, but added that “if you start training it’s obvious that is something you are seriously considering”.

Any decision on sending F-16s was dependent on approval from the U.S. to do so, Rutte said. He added that the Netherlands would potentially have fighter jets to pass on as it was currently phasing out its F-16’s.

According to figures from the Dutch defence ministry the Netherlands currently has 24 operational F-16’s which will be phased out by mid-2024. Another 18 of the jets are currently available for sale, of which 12 have been provisionally sold.

Last Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden endorsed training programmes for Ukrainian pilots on F-16s and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy assured Biden that the planes would not be used to cross into Russian territory.

The West says it wants to help Ukraine defeat Russia but has repeatedly insisted it does not want to trigger a direct confrontation between the U.S.-backed NATO military alliance and Russia.

Poland says it will close border to freight vehicles from Belarus and Russia

Friday 26 May 2023 16:13 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Poland will close its eastern border to freight vehicles registered in Belarus and Russia until further notice, according to a draft regulation published on Friday by the interior ministry.

The move comes as a Belarusian court upheld an earlier decision to sentence a journalist of Polish origin to eight years in prison, stoking tensions between the two countries that have been running high in part due to Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine.

According to the justification of the regulation, the decision was necessary to “ensure public safety”.

While the regulation concerning the border did not mention the case of jailed journalist Andrzej Poczobut, Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Twitter that he would add several hundred Belarusian officials to sanctions lists as a result of the verdict, which he labelled “draconian”.

Poland had previously closed some border crossings with Belarus following Poczobut’s imprisonment and the expulsion of Polish diplomats by Minsk.

The Belarusian foreign ministry could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.

Belarus has previously said that Polish decisions to close border crossings were irrational and dangerous, accusing Warsaw of causing long delays and failing to implement bilateral agreements.

Poland has been an important refuge for opponents of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, and Warsaw has become one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters since Belarus’ main ally Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Poland also accuses Belarus of artificially creating a migrant crisis on the border by flying in people from the Middle East and Africa and attempting to push them across the frontier.

While the numbers of migrants crossing are lower than at the peak of the crisis in 2021, the Polish Border guard reports dozens of attempts to enter Poland illegally daily.

Lavrov, Chinese special envoy Li discuss prospects for peace in Ukraine, Russia says

Friday 26 May 2023 15:31 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese special envoy Li Hui discussed prospects for resolving the conflict in Ukraine at a meeting in Moscow on Friday, Russia‘s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Li has been on a tour of European capitals including Kyiv.

In a meeting with officials from the European Union in Brussels on Thursday, Li said China had always upheld an objective and just position on the Ukrainian issue and actively promoted peace talks.

Russian attack on Ukrainian clinic kills two and wounds 30, Kyiv says

Friday 26 May 2023 15:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A Russian missile hit a clinic in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Friday, killing two people and wounding 30 in an attack that President Volodymyr Zelensky called a crime against humanity.

Video footage showed a devastated building with smoke pouring out of it and rescue workers looking on. Much of the upper floor of what appeared to be a three-storey building had been badly damaged. A covered corpse lay in the road nearby.

“Another (Russian) missile attack, another crime against humanity,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.

He said a psychological clinic and a veterinary clinic had been hit, and added: “Only an evil state can fight against clinics. There can be no military purpose in this. It is pure Russian terror.”

Regional governor Serhiy Lysak said a 69-year-old man had been killed as he passed the clinic and another man’s body had been pulled from the rubble.

He said 30 people had been wounded, including two children, and contact had not yet been made with three people thought to have been in the building when it was hit.

Ukraine‘s Defence Ministry called the attack a serious war crime under the Geneva Conventions, which set out how soldiers and civilians should be treated in war.

Russia‘s Defence Ministry said it had carried out an overnight strike on Ukrainian ammunition depots.

“The target of the strike has been achieved. All designated facilities were hit,” the RIA news agency quoted it as saying.

Moscow has dismissed allegations that its soldiers have committed war crimes and denies deliberately targeting civilians although it has bombarded cities across Ukraine since invading 15 months ago.

Which companies are leaving Russia and which are staying? Here's a look

Friday 26 May 2023 14:25 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

More than 500 companies have suspended their business in Russia, and a similar number have withdrawn completely.

An additional 151 are “scaling back,” 175 are “buying time” and 230 are “digging in,” according to database kept by Yale University. Chinese companies figure prominently in the last category.

Here’s a look at some of the Western companies that have chosen to stay or exit Russia:

Which companies are leaving Russia and which are staying? Here's a look

Swedish foreign minister says ambition is to join NATO by July

Friday 26 May 2023 14:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Sweden still hopes to be a member of NATO by the time of the alliance’s summit in Vilnius in July, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on Friday.

Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine convinced Sweden and Finland last year to ditch long-held policies of military non-alignment and seek security of NATO’s collective defence commitment.

Finland joined NATO last month, but Sweden’s membership has been held up by objections from Turkey and Hungary.

“There isn’t going to be any plan B or anything like that. Plan B is plan A - that is full membership in NATO and that is what I and the government are going to work for all the way to Vilnius,” he told reporters.