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Russia Ukraine News Highlights | Ukraine’s foreign minister is describing the situation in Mariupol as dire and heartbreaking and says Russia’s continued attacks there could be a “red line” that ends all efforts to reach peace through negotiation.
Dmytro Kuleba tells CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the remaining Ukrainian military personnel and civilians in the port city are basically encircled by Russian forces.
He says the Ukrainians “continue their struggle” but that the city effectively doesn’t exist anymore because of massive destruction.
Kuleba says his country has been keeping up “expert level” talks with Russia in recent weeks in hopes of reaching a political solution for peace. But citing the significance of Mariupol, he echoed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in saying the elimination of Ukrainian forces there could be a “red line” that stops peace efforts.
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Ukraine hoping for EU candidate status in weeks: Zelensky
Ukraine is hoping to receive within weeks candidate country status for joining the European Union, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday as he met with the EU's envoy to Ukraine in Kyiv.
Zelensky handed the envoy, Matti Maasikas, two volumes in response to a membership questionnaire brought by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen during her visit to Ukraine this month.
"We believe that we will receive support for this work, become a candidate for admission, and then the next final stage will begin," Zelensky told Maasikas, according to a video of the meeting on social media.
"We really believe that this procedure will take place in the coming weeks," he said, adding that "our people ... mentally have been in Europe for a long time".
Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said that Ukraine was hoping to receive candidate status following a summit of EU leaders in June.
"Next, accession negotiations should begin, which should take place under an accelerated procedure.
"Ukraine will be in the EU," he wrote.
Ukraine has ramped up its bid to join the European Union since Russian forces invaded on February 24. (AFP)
EU slams 'indiscriminate' Russia bombing of Ukraine civilians: AFP
The European Union on Monday condemned the "indiscriminate" bombing of civilians by Russian forces in Ukraine, after deadly strikes hit the western city of Lviv.
"The EU condemns the continued indiscriminate and illegal shelling of civilians and civilian infrastructure by Russian armed forces," said a statement by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
He noted "particularly heavy attacks" in the east and south of Ukraine and the ongoing offensive against the country's second city, Kharkiv.
Putin honours brigade accused by Ukraine of 'war crimes':AFP
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday bestowed an honorary title on a brigade accused by Ukraine of "war crimes" and mass killings in the town of Bucha.
The announcement was made on the 54th day of Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine, with thousands killed and 12 million people fleeing their homes or country in the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
A decree signed by Putin gave the 64th Motor Rifle Brigade the title of "Guards" for defending the "Motherland and state interests" and praised the "mass heroism and valour, tenacity and courage" of its members.
In early April, the Ukrainian defence ministry said the unit occupied the town outside the capital Kyiv and committed "war crimes".
The Ukrainian defence ministry's Intelligence Directorate published the names, ranks and passports details of members of the brigade, saying they will face justice.
A majority of people in Bucha died from gunshot wounds, Ukrainian police said last week.
After the departure of Russian troops, bodies of men dressed in civilian clothes, some with their hands tied, were found scattered in the streets, according to AFP.
The World Bank is reducing its global growth forecast for 2022 by nearly a full percentage point, to 3.2percent from 4.1 percent, due to the impacts from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, World Bank President DavidMalpasssaid on Monday.Malpasstold reporters on a conference call that the World Bank was responding to the added economic stresses from the war by proposing a new, 15-month crisis financing target of $170 billion, with a goal to commit about $50 billion of this financing over the next three months.Malpasssaid the biggest component of the bank's growth forecast reduction was a 4.1percent contraction in the Europe and Central Asia region -- comprising Ukraine, Russia and surrounding countries.Forecasts also are being cut for advanced and many developing economies because of spikes in food and energy prices caused by war-related supply disruptions,Malpasssaid
Ukrainian authorities said a Russian missile attack killed seven people in Lviv on Monday, the first civilian victims in the western city, while its forces were preventing Russia from taking full control of the port city of Mariupol in the east where the situation was "extremely difficult". Lviv governor Maksym Kozytskyy said preliminary reports suggested four hits on Lviv, which is just 60 km (40 miles) from the Polish border -- three strikes on warehouses that are not currently being used by the military, and another on a car service station. "It was a barbaric strike at a service station, it's a completely civilian facility," he told a news conference. Andriy Sadoviy, mayor of Lviv, said the youngest victim among the seven killed was aged 30. The blast also wounded 11 and shattered windows of a hotel housing Ukrainians evacuated from elsewhere in the country, he added. "Seven peaceful people had plans for life, but today their life stopped," the mayor said. Russia denies targeting civilians in what it calls a special operation to demilitarise Ukraine and eradicate what it calls dangerous nationalists. It rejects what Ukraine says is evidence of atrocities and says Ukraine has staged them to undermine peace talks. Western capitals and Kyiv accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of unprovoked aggression.
Russian troops on Monday captured the east Ukraine town ofKreminna, local authorities said, asKyiv'sarmed forces launched salvos on Russian forces in the nearby settlement ofRubizhne."There was a major attack in the night" from Sunday to Monday inKreminna, the Lugansk regional governorSergiyGaidaysaid in a statement on social media."The Russian army has already entered there, with a huge amount of military hardware ... Our defenders have retreated to new positions," he added.Kreminna, with a pre-war population of nearly 20,000 people is around 50kilometres(31 miles) northeast of Kramatorsk, the region's administrativecentre, and is a strategic target for invading Russian forces.Rubizhne, which is under control from Russian forces, was under intense fire from Ukrainian artillery and mortars, AFP journalists reported.Powerful explosions could be seen inRubizhne, sometimes followed by fires and plumes of white or black smoke.Russian forces have stepped up their offensive to capture the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine having pulled back troops deployed around the capitalKyivat the beginning of the invasion in late February.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused Ukraine and an unidentified EU country of being behind a series of hoax bomb threats against Air Serbia planes. Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in late February, more than a dozen Air Serbia flights have been forced to return to Belgrade or Moscow due to bomb threats, and Belgrade's airport was evacuated at least three times. "Foreign (intelligence) services of two countries are doing that. One is an EU country, and Ukraine is the another one," Vucic said late on Sunday, without providing evidence. In a statement, Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, dismissed Vucic's remarks as "baseless" and "untrue". He also said Ukraine was disappointed with Serbia's refusal to join EU sanctions against Russia. "We call on Belgrade to stand up for the truth and fully join in support of Ukraine and in upholding the values on which united democratic Europe is founded," it said. Serbia, a candidate for EU membership, is almost entirely dependent on Russian gas and oil. It refuses to impose sanctions against the Kremlin and it maintains regular flights to Moscow. "We are continuing these flights literally out of principle, because we want to show that we are a free country and we make our own decisions," Vucic said. "Do not decide for us when to cancel flights."
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Monday. They also talked about "the problems of the Middle East settlement in the context of escalating tensions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem", the Kremlin said. Last Friday, at least 152 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli riot police inside the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the latest outbreak in an upsurge of violence that has raised fears of a slide back to wider conflict.
Italy on Monday reopened its embassy in Kyiv, becoming the latest country to return diplomats to the Ukrainian capital after Russian troops withdrew from the region.Italy had moved its diplomats to the western city of Lviv after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.But after Russia withdrew its forces from around the capital and northern Ukraine, ahead of an expected assault on the east of the country, diplomatic missions have been trickling back to the city.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday that Madrid would reopen its embassy in the "coming days" after staff were relocated to Poland.Turkey has moved its embassy in Ukraine back to Kyiv after relocating it to Chernivtsi near the Romanian border.France announced last week that its embassy would return to Kyiv from the western city of Lviv.
Russia said on Monday it had hit hundreds of military targets in Ukraine overnight, destroying command posts with air-launched missiles, while authorities in the western city of Lviv, which had escaped heavy bombardment, said a missile attack killed seven. The Russian defence ministry said in a statement it had destroyed 16 Ukrainian military facilities in the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions and in the port of Mykolayiv, in the south and east of the country. It added that the Russian air force had launched strikes against 108 areas where Ukrainian forces were concentrated and Russian artillery struck 315 Ukrainian military targets overnight. Driven back by Ukrainian resistance in the north, the Russian military has refocused its ground offensive in the two eastern provinces known as the Donbas, while launching long-distance strikes at other targets, including the capital, Kyiv. It is now trying to take full control of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which has been besieged for weeks and which would be a huge strategic prize, linking territory held by pro-Russian separatists in the east with the Crimea region Moscow annexed in 2014. Ukrainian authorities said missiles struck military facilities and a car tyre service point in Lviv, which is just 60 km (40 miles) from the Polish border.
More than 4.9 million Ukrainians have fled their country following the Russian invasion, the UN said Monday as it warned of the risks of women and child refugees being exploited.UNHCR, the United Nations' refugee agency, said 4,934,415 Ukrainians had left the country since Russia invaded on February 24 -- a figure up 65,396 on Sunday's total.The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) says nearly 215,000 third-country nationals -- largely students and migrant workers -- have also escaped toneighbouringcountries, meaning more than five million people in all have fled Ukraine since the war began.It is one of the fastest-growing displacement and humanitarian crises ever.Women and children account for 90 percent of those who escaped, with men aged 18 to 60 eligible for military call-up and unable to leave.Nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have been forced from their homes, including those still inside the country."Refugees from Ukraine, the vast majority women and children, face increased risks of sexual exploitation, abuse and human trafficking,"UNHCRsaid.
