In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on May 20, 2022, Ukrainian servicemen are pictured as they leave the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine. (AP)Russia Ukraine War Live, Mariupol Falls to Russia: Ukraine ruled out a ceasefire or any territorial concessions to Russia, according to news agency Reuters, and Poland’s president said any loss of Ukrainian territory would be a “huge blow” to the entire West as he warned against appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian-appointed head of the occupied Ukrainian town adjacent to the largest nuclear power plant in Europe was injured in a blast on Sunday, a a Russian news agency reported. Andrei Shevchik, named mayor of Enerhodar by Russia, was in intensive care following the explosion, RIA news agency of Russia said.
With Russia claiming to have taken prisoner nearly 2,500 Ukrainian fighters from the besieged Mariupol steel plant, concerns grew about their fate as a Moscow-backed separatist leader vowed they would face tribunals. Russia has declared its full control of the Azovstal steel plant, which for weeks was the last holdout in Mariupol and a symbol of Ukrainian tenacity in the strategic port city, now in ruins with more than 20,000 residents feared dead.
Service members of the Ukrainian armed forces, who surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict, sit in a bus upon their arrival under escort of the pro-Russian military in the settlement of Olenivka in the Donetsk region, Ukraine May 20, 2022. (Reuters)
Ukraine ruled out a ceasefire or any territorial concessions to Russia, and Poland's president said any loss of Ukrainian territory would be a "huge blow" to the entire West as he warned against appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Reuters)
The Russian-appointed head of the occupied Ukrainian town next to Europe's largest nuclear power plant was injured in an explosion on Sunday, a Ukrainian official and a Russian news agency said.
Andrei Shevchik, who was named mayor of Enerhodar by Russia following its occupation of the town, was in intensive care following the blast, Russia's RIA news agency said, citing a source in the emergency services.
"We have accurate confirmation that during the explosion the self-proclaimed head of the 'people's administration' Shevchik and his bodyguards were injured," Dmytro Orlov, who Ukraine still recognises as the legitimate mayor of the town said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
Orlov wrote on Telegram on Sunday evening that Shevchik had been taken to the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol to recover from his injuries, and that he would be temporarily replaced as leader of the town. --Reuters
Ukraine ruled out a ceasefire or concessions to Moscow while Russia intensified an offensive in the eastern Donbas region and stopped sending gas to Finland in its latest salvo in response to Western sanctions and its deepening international isolation.
Polish President Andrzej Duda, who met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv last month, was back to address the Ukrainian parliament on Sunday, the first foreign leader to do so in person. --Reuters
Russia pounded Ukrainian forces with airstrikes and artillery in the east and the south, targeting command centres, troops, and ammunition depots, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday.
Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the defence ministry, said air-launched missiles hit three command points, 13 areas where troops and Ukrainian military equipment amassed, as well as four ammunition depots in the Donbas.
In Ukraine's southern region of Mykolaiv, Russian rockets hit a mobile anti-drone system near the settlement of Hannivka, around 100 km northeast of Mykolaiv city, Konashenkov said. --Reuters
Russian gas producer Gazprom said it continues to supply gas to Europe through Ukraine via the Sudzha entry point, with volumes on Sunday seen at 44.7 million cubic metres (mcm) down from 45.9 mcm on Saturday.
An application to supply gas via the main Sokhranovka entry point was rejected by Ukraine, Gazprom said. (Reuters)
The ripple effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have been devastating for families of all kinds — including those who have seen their prospective adoptions put on hold.
Ukraine was once one of the U.S.’s most frequent partners on international adoptions, but the war changed all that: The embattled country has halted all international adoptions as the country copes with the turmoil unleashed on its courts and social services. Many children, including orphans, have also fled or been displaced. Read more
Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk criticised the Cannes Film Festival for including a Russian director in its line-up, as the debut filmmaker's "Pamfir" was shown at Cannes' Directors Fortnight.
The festival has banned official Russian delegations from attending, but Russian dissident Kirill Serebrennikov, who has spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine, premiered his in-competition film "Tchaikovsky's Wife" at the festival on Wednesday. "When he's here, he is part of the Russian propaganda, and they can use him," Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk told Reuters on Saturday.
The Russian director Serebrennikov had said earlier this week that Russian culture should not be boycotted, saying that Russian culture "has always promoted human values." (Reuters)
Ukraine ruled out a ceasefire or concessions to Moscow while Russia intensified an offensive in the eastern Donbas region and stopped providing gas to Finland, as Polish President Andrzej Duda prepared to address the Ukrainian parliament.
After ending weeks of resistance by the last Ukrainian fighters in the strategic southeastern city of Mariupol, Russia is waging a major offensive in Luhansk, one of two provinces in Donbas.
Russian-backed separatists already controlled swathes of territory in Luhansk and the neighbouring Donetsk province before the Feb. 24 invasion, but Moscow wants to seize the last remaining Ukrainian-held territory in Donbas.
"The situation in Donbas is extremely difficult," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly address. The Russian army was trying to attack the cities of Sloviansk and Sievierodonetsk, but Ukrainian forces were holding off their advance, he said. (Reuters)
With Russia claiming to have taken prisoner nearly 2,500 Ukrainian fighters from the besieged Mariupol steel plant, concerns grew about their fate as a Moscow-backed separatist leader vowed they would face tribunals.
Russia has declared its full control of the Azovstal steel plant, which for weeks was the last holdout in Mariupol and a symbol of Ukrainian tenacity in the strategic port city, now in ruins with more than 20,000 residents feared dead. The seizure gives Russian President Vladimir Putin a badly wanted victory in the war he began nearly three months ago.
The Russian Defence Ministry released video of Ukrainian soldiers being detained after announcing that its forces had removed the last holdouts from the Mariupol plant's extensive underground tunnels. It said a total of 2,439 had surrendered.
Family members of the fighters, who came from a variety of military and law enforcement units, have pleaded for them to be given rights as prisoners of war and eventually returned to Ukraine. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday that Ukraine “will fight for the return" of every one of them.
A prominent member of Russia's parliament, Leonid Slutsky, said Moscow was studying the possibility of exchanging the Azovstal fighters for Viktor Medvedchuk, a wealthy Ukrainian with close ties to Putin who faces criminal charges in Ukraine, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. (AP)
Russia stopped providing gas to Finland in an escalation of a row over energy payments with the West on Saturday, and intensified an offensive in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. After ending weeks of resistance by the last Ukrainian fighters in the strategic southeastern city of Mariupol, Russia is waging what appears to be a major offensive in Luhansk, one of two provinces in Donbas.
Russian-backed separatists already controlled swathes of territory in Luhansk and the neighbouring Donetsk province before the Feb. 24 invasion, but Moscow wants to seize the last remaining Ukrainian-held territory in Donbas. ---Reuters
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on Saturday he had held 'open and direct' talks with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan to discuss Finland's bid for NATO membership.
Erdogan has publicly questioned whether Finland and Sweden should be allowed to join the military alliance. 'I stated that as NATO allies Finland and Turkey will commit to each other's security and our relationship will thus grow stronger,' Niinisto tweeted after the call. 'Finland condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Close dialogue continues.' ---Reuters
Russia said on Saturday it was banning entry to 963 Americans including U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA chief William Burns. The travel bans have only symbolic impact but form part of a constant downward spiral in Russia's relations with the United States and its allies since its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. ---Reuters
President Biden on Saturday signed legislation to support Ukraine with another USD 40 billion in U.S. assistance as the Russian invasion approaches its fourth month.
The legislation, which was passed by Congress with bipartisan support, deepens the U.S. commitment to Ukraine at a time of uncertainty about the war’s future.
Ukraine has successfully defended Kyiv, and Russia has refocused its offensive on the country’s east, but American officials warn of the potential for a prolonged conflict. The funding is intended to support Ukraine through September, and it dwarfs an earlier emergency measure that provided USD13.6 billion. Read more
The Russian military said Saturday it had destroyed a major western arms consignment in Ukraine's Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, using sea-launched Kalibr missiles, Interfax news agency reported. (Reuters)