People pay their respects during the funeral ceremony for Ukrainian serviceman killed by the Russian troops in a battle in St. Michael cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 4, 2022. (AP)Russia Ukraine War Updates: The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted its first statement on Ukraine since Russia’s military action began on February 24, expressing “strong support” for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ efforts to find a peaceful solution to the 10-week “dispute.” The short presidential statement approved at a very brief council meeting Friday does not mention a “war,” “conflict” or “invasion” as many council members call Russia’s ongoing military action, or a “special military operation” as Moscow refers to it.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has authorised the shipment of another $150 million in military assistance for Ukraine for artillery rounds and radar systems in its fight against Russia’s invading forces. A US official said the latest tranche of assistance includes 25,000 155mm artillery rounds, counter-artillery radars, jamming equipment, field equipment and spare parts.
In other news, many Indian students pursuing medical courses in Ukraine, who returned home following the invasion, seem to be uncertain about going back to their universities. A number of these medical students have toldĀ indianexpress.com that some teachers and locals allegedly hold it against them that New Delhi has not supported Ukraine in this Russia-waged war. Here’s what we know about the issue.Ā
A man walks past a destroyed apartment building in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, May 4, 2022. (AP)
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin believes doubling down on the military conflict in Ukraine will improve his outcome in the war.
"He's in a frame of mind in which he doesn't believe he can afford to lose," said Burns, who was speaking at a Financial Times event in Washington. "I think he's convinced right now that doubling down still will enable him to make progress." (Reuters)
Ukraine's military command said on Saturday that Russia was continuing its assault on the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.
"With the support of artillery and tank fire, (the enemy) is continuing storming actions," it wrote in a regular evening Facebook briefing. Ukraine says many civilians remain trapped at the plant alongside Ukrainian troops. Earlier on Saturday, Russia's Interfax news agency cited Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine's Donetsk region as saying that 50 more people had been evacuated from the besieged steelworks. (Reuters)
Russia's most senior lawmaker on Saturday accused Washington of coordinating military operations in Ukraine, which he said amounted to direct U.S. involvement in military action against Russia.
"Washington is essentially coordinating and developing military operations, thereby directly participating in military actions against our country," Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on his Telegram channel. Washington and European members of the transatlantic NATO alliance have supplied Kyiv with heavy weapons to help it resist a Russian offensive that has resulted in the occupation of parts of eastern and southern Ukraine but failed to take Kyiv.
However, the United States and its NATO allies have repeatedly said they will not take part in fighting themselves, in order to avoid becoming parties to the conflict. US officials have said the United States has provided intelligence to Ukraine to help counter the Russian assault, but have denied that this intelligence includes precise targeting data. (Reuters)
Air-launched Russian missiles hit two locations near the Russian border in Ukraine's northern Sumy region on Saturday, local governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi said. A border guard was wounded by the strikes on the Myropilske and Khotin municipalities, Zhyvytskyi wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
Reuters was not able to immediately confirm details of the report. Russian forces fully withdrew from Sumy region in early April after advancing into parts of the region at the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Reuters)
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri made an appearance in a pre-recorded video to mark the 11th anniversary of the death of his predecessor Osama bin Laden. Al-Zawahri says in the video that “U.S. weakness” was the reason that its ally Ukraine became “prey” for the Russian invasion.
The 27-minute speech was released Friday according to the SITE Intelligence group, which monitors militant activity. The leader appears sitting at a desk with books and a gun. Urging Muslim unity, al-Zawahri said the U.S. was in a state of weakness and decline and cited the impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan launched after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bin Laden was the mastermind and financier behind the attacks. (AP)
Several missiles hit the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa on Saturday, the regional administration's spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk said in televised remarks. Bratchuk said the strikes hit the city after targets in the surrounding Odesa region had been hit by four missiles earlier in the day.
He did not give further detail about the new strikes, saying that the facts were still being established.(Reuters)
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence claimed that the country's Bayraktar TB2 had hit the landing craft of the Serna project on Friday. The ministry in a tweet said, "Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 destroyed another Russian ship. This time the landing craft of the "Serna" project. The traditional parade of the russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island - at the bottom of the sea."
U.S. first lady Jill Biden on Saturday praised the Romanian government and relief organizations for the range of humanitarian aid they are providing to Ukrainians who are fleeing Russia's war against their country. She called the show of solidary “amazing" but also “just the beginning.” Biden delivered her sober assessment at the conclusion of a nearly hourlong briefing at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest on the massive relief effort.
She was told that Romania had “welcomed” nearly 900,000 refugees from Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24, but most have moved on to other countries. Women and children are the bulk of the refugees.
“It's amazing. It's solidarity here in Romania that you're all working together,” Biden said. “I think this is really, unfortunately, just the beginning. Just the beginning.” She also applauded Romanians for their generosity. (AP)
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) hopes the successful evacuation of civilians from a besieged steel plant in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol will pave the way for more people to get out of the complex, a senior ICRC official said.
"Experience shows that a successful action helps further evacuations because now both sides have seen that it works. We hope that we can now build on this minimum of trust," Dominik Stillhart, the ICRC's director of operations, told Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung in an interview published on Saturday.
The ICRC and the United Nations have been working to get civilians out from the Azovstal steel plant, which is also the last holdout for remaining Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol, a southern port city that has been reduced to ruins by weeks of Russian bombardment. Stillhart said that it was "extremely frustrating" that it took weeks of painstaking work to get Russian and Ukrainian authorities on board and to work out logistic details so that combatants at every checkpoint knew when buses would drive by. (Reuters)
The territorial defence headquarters of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said on Saturday that 50 more people had been evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steelworks in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.
Around 50 civilians had been evacuated on Friday to a reception centre in nearby Bezimenne, in the separatist DPR, whose forces are fighting alongside Russian troops to expand their control of large parts of eastern Ukraine. Scores of civilians have been trapped for weeks alongside the remaining Ukrainian forces holding out in the bombed-out plant. (Reuters)
Pro-Russian separatists in Moldova said on Saturday their region had been hit four times by suspected drones overnight near the Ukrainian border.
Nearly two weeks of similar reported incidents in the Transdniestria breakaway region have raised international alarm that Russia's war in Ukraine could spread over the frontier. (Reuters)
Russia will celebrate the 77th anniversary of the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany on May 9. Here is a look at the rehersal of it's military parade.
Russia's defence ministry on Saturday said it had destroyed a large stockpile of military equipment from the United States and European countries near the Bohodukhiv railway station in Ukraine's Kharkiv region.
The ministry said it had hit 18 Ukrainian military facilities overnight, including three ammunition depots in Dachne, near the port city of Odesa. (Reuters)
Russian gas nominations via Ukraine to Europe stood at 92.4 million cubic metres (mcm) for Saturday, down from Friday's 98.7 mcm, the Interfax news agency reported, citing data from Ukraine's gas pipeline operator. (Reuters)
The Biden administration sought to downplay the role of American intelligence in the high-profile sinking of the Russian missile cruiser Moskva, distancing itself from any direct role in one of the greatest embarrassments for Russia since it attacked Ukraine. A day after an American official confirmed that the US provided Ukraine with information on the location of the ship, the White House and Pentagon described a limited role in last month's attack and said the Ukrainians make their own decisions.
"We had no prior knowledge of Ukraine's intent to target the ship," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "The Ukrainians have their own intelligence capabilities to track and target Russian naval vessels, as they did in this case." (AP)
Chelsea Football Club has confirmed that terms have been agreed with a consortium led by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and backed by Clearlake Capital over the acquisition of the English Premier League football team.
The Stamford Bridge-based outfit announced the 4.25 billion pound ($5.2 billion) deal for the reigning European champions in a statement issued in the early hours of Saturday, subject to receiving the required approvals.
The statement confirmed all proceeds would be placed in a frozen UK bank account and Russian owner Roman Abramovich, who is currently subject to sanctions by the British government, would donate all of the proceeds to charitable causes. (Read more)
The conflict in Ukraine is taking a heavy toll on some of Russia's most capable units and most advanced capabilities, the British Ministry of Defence tweeted in a regular bulletin on Saturday.
At least one T-90M, Russia's most advanced tank, has been destroyed in the fighting, the ministry said. Approximately 100 T-90M tanks are in service amongst Russia's best equipped units, including those fighting in Ukraine, it said. (Reuters)
Rescuers were seeking to evacuate more civilians from tunnels beneath a sprawling steel mill in Mariupol as Ukrainian fighters make their last stand to prevent Moscow's complete takeover of the strategically important port city.
Dozens of people were evacuated Friday from the Azovstal plant and handed over to representatives of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, Russian and Ukrainian officials said.
The Russian military said the group of 50 included 11 children. Russian officials and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said the evacuation efforts would continue into the weekend. The latest evacuees followed roughly 500 other civilians who got out of the plant and city in recent days. (AP)
The path of diplomacy and dialogue should be the only viable option for addressing the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and no solution can be reached by shedding blood, India has said, as it reiterated its deep concern at the worsening situation in the East European country.
Russia on Friday hosted a Security Council Arria-formula meeting on ‘Systematic and mass grave violations of the international humanitarian law as well as other war crimes committed by the Ukrainian military personnel and militia and discovered in the course of the ongoing special military operation of the Russian armed forces.'
Counsellor in India's Permanent Mission to the UN Pratik Mathur said that India continues to remain “deeply concerned” at the worsening situation in Ukraine and reiterated the call for the immediate cessation of violence and end to hostilities. “We believe that no solution can be arrived at by shedding blood and at the cost of innocent lives. We have emphasised right from the beginning of the conflict that the path of diplomacy and dialogue should be the only viable option,” he said. (PTI)
A Fiji court has ruled that the $300 million yacht allegedly owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov and seized by the United States must remain in Fiji for now.
The Fiji Court of Appeal has ruled that the luxury yacht Amadea can not be moved out of the South Pacific island nation until an appeal against the seizure is heard, defence lawyer Feizal Haniff, who is acting for the Amadea's registered owner Millemarin Investment Ltd, confirmed in an email.
The US embassy in Suva did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest court ruling. (Reuters)
Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi has discussed the Ukraine conflict and its impact on food and energy as well as the situation in Afghanistan with the President of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, in New York.
“Had a very fruitful meeting with HE @abdulla_shahid, President of UN General Assembly. Appreciated various initiatives of @UN_PGA. Discussed #Ukraine conflict, including its impact on food, energy, tourism and finance, Afghanistan and Global South,” Lekhi, who arrived in New York from a visit to Chile, tweeted on Friday. Shahid also tweeted that it was “good to meet” Lekhi. (PTI)
The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted its first statement on Ukraine since Russia’s military action began on February 24, expressing “strong support” for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ efforts to find a peaceful solution to the 10-week “dispute.”
The short presidential statement approved at a very brief council meeting Friday does not mention a “war,” “conflict” or “invasion” as many council members call Russia’s ongoing military action, or a “special military operation” as Moscow refers to it. That’s because Russia, which hold veto power in the council, has blocked all previous attempts to adopt a presidential statement which requires unanimity or a resolution. (Read more)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said diplomatic efforts were underway to save the remaining fighters holed up inside the Azovstal steelworks in the city of Mariupol, as more civilians were evacuated from the bombed-out plant.
The defenders have vowed not to surrender. Ukrainian officials fears Russian forces want to wipe them out by Monday in time for Moscow's commemorations of the former Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.
Zelenskyy said in a late-night video address that Ukraine was working on a diplomatic effort to save defenders barricaded inside the steelworks. It was unclear how many Ukrainian fighters remained in the steelworks. "Influential intermediaries are involved, influential states," he said, but provided no further details.
US President Joe Biden has authorised the shipment of another $150 million in military assistance for Ukraine for artillery rounds and radar systems in its fight against Russia's invading forces.
Biden on Friday said the latest spending means his administration has "nearly exhausted" what Congress authorised for Ukraine in March and called on lawmakers to swiftly approve a more than $33 billion spending package that will last through the end of September.
A US official said the latest tranche of assistance includes 25,000 155mm artillery rounds, counter-artillery radars, jamming equipment, field equipment and spare parts. (AP)
US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in a phone call on Friday, underscored their commitment to holding Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine and discussed efforts to provide security assistance to Ukraine, the White House said in a statement.
Biden and Trudeau also discussed their upcoming participation in the Summit of the Americas in June in Los Angeles, it said. (Reuters)
Many Indian students pursuing medical courses in Ukraine, who returned home following Russia’s invasion of that country in February, seem to be uncertain about going back to their universities. They have attributed it to various factors ranging from “lack of support” from a section of Ukrainian teachers and local residents to matters related to their safety and security.
A number of these medical students have told indianexpress.com that such teachers and locals allegedly hold it against them that New Delhi has not supported Ukraine in this Russia-waged war, which, they apparently believe, was reflected by the Indian students’ stance on the issue. (Read more)
The Russian foreign ministry said on Friday it had summoned Deborah Bronnert, Britain's ambassador to Russia, and strongly protested in relation to new UK sanctions on Russian media. The ministry said in a statement Russia would continue react "harshly and decisively" to all sanctions imposed by London.
Britain imposed sanctions on individual journalists and media organisations earlier in May in its latest wave of measures designed to increase pressure on Moscow to stop what it calls "a special military operation" in Ukraine. (Reuters)
Ukraine has appealed to Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) to help evacuate fighters holed up in the vast Azovstal steel works in Mariupol that is surrounded by Russian forces.
Ukraine's Ministry for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories posted details on its website on Friday of a letter to the medical charity in which Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk expressed concern about 'deplorable conditions' at the plant. It quoted Vereshchuk as saying the MSF charter provided assistance to people in need or victims of armed conflict.
'Based on the principles that guide MSF, the Ministry for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine is asking for a mission to evacuate the defenders of Mariupol, who are now in the Azovstal metallurgical plant,' the ministry wrote on its website. It said she had asked MSF to 'assess their physical and mental condition, collect evidence of the conditions they are in, and provide medical assistance to Ukrainians whose human rights have been violated by the Russian Federation.' (Reuters)
The world's largest brewer launched production of a popular Ukrainian beer in Belgium on Friday and said all profits made from its global sales would go to humanitarian relief in Ukraine following Russia's invasion.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) has halted production of the Chernigivske lager and other beers at its three breweries in Ukraine because of the war, which began after Russia invaded on Feb 24.
Ukraine's ambassador to Belgium, Oleg Shamshur, attended the roll-out of the first cans at AB InBev's large brewery in Leuven on Friday and welcomed the launch as a way of showcasing Ukrainian products to the world. "Maybe even more importantly it would have a symbolic meaning in the sense that people who are drinking Chernigivske will think of Chernihiv, the city which was attacked by the Russians and which resisted the Russian invasion," he told Reuters TV. (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday to take a "powerful step" and visit Kyiv on May 9, the date when Russia commemorates the Soviet Union's victory in World War Two.
Speaking via a translator to Britain's Chatham House think tank, Zelenskyy launched a broadside at Russia, particularly over Mariupol, where Kyiv says there are still civilians hiding in a ruined steel plant which is under siege. But he also offered the invitation to Scholz after the two countries' relations were strained when the German president was stopped from visiting Kyiv last month. (Reuters)
President Vladimir Putin will send a "doomsday" warning to the West when he leads celebrations on Monday marking the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany, brandishing Russia's vast firepower while its forces fight on in Ukraine. Defiant in the face of deep Western isolation since he ordered the invasion of Russia's neighbour, Putin will speak on Red Square before a parade of troops, tanks, rockets and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
A fly-past over St Basil's Cathedral will include supersonic fighters, Tu-160 strategic bombers and, for the first time since 2010, the Il-80 "doomsday" command plane, which would carry Russia's top brass in the event of a nuclear war, the Defence Ministry said.
In that scenario, the Il-80 is designed to become the roaming command centre for the Russian president. It is packed with technology but specific details are Russian state secrets. The 69-year-old Kremlin leader has repeatedly likened the war in Ukraine to the challenge the Soviet Union faced when Adolf Hitler's Nazis invaded in 1941. (Guy Faulconbridge/Reuters)
More civilians have been rescued from the tunnels under a besieged steel plant in Mariupol, a Ukrainian official said Friday, even as fighters holed up at the sprawling complex made their last stand to prevent Moscow's complete takeover of the strategic port city.
The fight in the last Ukrainian stronghold of a city reduced to ruins by the Russian onslaught appeared increasingly desperate amid growing speculation that President Vladimir Putin wants to finish the battle for Mariupol so he can present a triumph to the Russian people in time for Monday's Victory Day, the biggest patriotic holiday on the Russian calendar.
Some 2,000 Ukrainian fighters, by Russia's most recent estimate, are holed up in a vast maze of tunnels and bunkers beneath Azovstal steelworks — and they have repeatedly refused to surrender. Ukraine said a few hundred civilians were also trapped there — and as the battle has ramped up in recent days, fears for their safety have only grown. (AP)
Local authorities in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol accused Russian forces on Friday of opening fire on a car on its way to evacuate civilians from a vast steel works, killing a fighter and violating a ceasefire agreement. Russia did not immediately comment on the city council's statement. Moscow has denied targeting civilians and had offered a ceasefire to allow the evacuation of civilians trapped in the Azovstal steel plant with Ukrainian fighters.
"During the ceasefire on the territory of the Azovstal plant a car was hit by Russians using an anti-tank guided weapon. This car was moving towards civilians in order to evacuate them from the plant," Mariupol city council said in an online post.
"As a result of the shelling, 1 fighter was killed and 6 were wounded. The enemy continues to violate all agreements and fails to adhere to security guarantees for the evacuation of civilians." (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Russia thought it could escape prosecutions for war crimes because of the threat of a nuclear attack.
"They do not believe that they can be made responsible for the war crimes because they have the power of the nuclear state", Zelenskiy, speaking through a translator, told Britain's Chatham House think tank. "This is the 72nd day of the fully-fledged war and we can see no end of it yet and we cannot feel any willingness of the Russian side to end it." (Reuters)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will take part in a G7 virtual discussion on Sunday on the situation in Ukraine that will be attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a German government spokesperson said.
Scholz will also give a televised address to the German people on the evening of May 8, which marks the anniversary of the end of World War Two, the spokesperson added. The date takes on special meaning this year as two countries that were once victims of Nazi Germany are now at war, added the spokesperson, referring to Ukraine and Russia. (Reuters)
Germany on Friday said that it will send seven self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, on top of five artillery systems the Dutch government has already pledged.
The defence ministry in a tweet said, "Germany will deliver 7 Panzerhaubitzen 2000 to Ukraine. Minister Lambrecht decided that. With this we are adding the 5 Dutch self-propelled howitzers to 12. Howitzer training in Germany has been prepared and will begin next week."
Nearly 25 million tonnes of grains are stuck in Ukraine and unable to leave the country due to infrastructure challenges and blocked Black Sea ports including Mariupol, a U.N. food agency official said on Friday. The blockages are seen as a factor behind high food prices which hit a record high in March in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, before easing slightly in April, the FAO said on Friday.
Ukraine had been the world's fourth largest exporter of maize (corn) in the 2020/21 season and the number six wheat exporter, according to International Grains Council data.
"It's an almost grotesque situation we see at the moment in Ukraine with nearly 25 mln tonnes of grain that could be exported but that cannot leave the country simply because of lack of infrastructure, the blockade of the ports," Josef Schmidhuber, FAO Deputy Director, Markets and Trade Division told a Geneva press briefing via Zoom. (Reuters)
Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said on Friday that current international sanctons against Russia over the war in Ukraine were not enough and called for a full embargo on Russian oil and gas. (Reuters)
The Kremlin on Friday declined to say whether President Vladimir Putin had apologised to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett following an assertion from Russia's foreign minister that Adolf Hitler had Jewish origins. Israel lambasted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for the comment, describing the remarks as an "unforgivable" falsehood that minimised the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust.
Bennett said on Thursday that Putin had apologised for the remark, and that he, Bennett, had accepted the apology. (Reuters)
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that there was hostile rhetoric coming out of Poland, and that Warsaw could be 'a source of threat'.
Poland has led calls for the EU to toughen sanctions and for the Western NATO alliance to arm Ukraine as it tries to resist Russian forces that have poured into its east. Polish environment and climate minister Anna Moskwa said on Monday that 'Poland is proud to be on Putin's list of unfriendly countries.' (Reuters)
Russia's finance ministry on Friday said it expects to receive 414 billion roubles ($6.51 billion) in additional oil and gas revenues this month, but said revenues in April were 133.1 billion roubles lower than forecast.
Soaring energy prices have boosted inflows to Russia's budget even as Western nations shun and sanction Moscow over its actions in Ukraine and the European Union plans to end the continent's reliance on Russian oil and gas. ($1 = 63.5750 roubles) (Reuters)
Amnesty International says it has documented extensive war crimes by Russian forces in communities around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, including arbitrary executions, bombardments of residences and torture.
“The pattern of crimes committed by Russian forces that we have documented includes both unlawful attacks and willful killings of civilians,” Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's Secretary General, said in a statement on Friday. “It is vital that all those responsible, including up the chain of command, are brought to justice.”
The organization said it collected evidence and testimony in eight cities near Kyiv, including Bucha. After Russian forces retreated from Bucha in April, corpses were found lying on streets, many with their hands bound behind their backs, and in mass graves. Kyiv regional governor Oleksandr Pavlyuk said that at least 1,235 civilian bodies have been found in the region. (AP)
Russia will not use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, foreign ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev said on Friday. Zaitsev told reporters the use of nuclear weapons by Russia - a risk that Western officials have publicly discussed - was not applicable to what Moscow calls its special military operation in Ukraine.
CIA director William Burns said on April 14 that given the setbacks Russia had suffered in Ukraine, 'none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons.' (Reuters)
World food prices eased slightly in April after hitting a record high in March, but global food security remained a concern because of the difficult market conditions, UN food agency said on Friday.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) food price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 158.5 points last month versus an upwardly revised 159.7 for March. The March figure was previously put at 159.3. (Reuters)
Russia's defence ministry said on Friday that its missiles destroyed a large ammunition depot in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.
It also said its air defences shot down two Ukrainian warplanes, an Su-25 and a MiG-29, in the eastern Luhansk region. (Reuters)
Ukraine said Friday that around 500 civilians have been evacuated from the besieged port city of Mariupol.
Almost 500 civilians have been evacuated from Mariupol and its besieged Azovstal steel plant since an UN-led rescue operation began, reported news agency AFP, quoting the head of Ukraine's presidential office.
Hungary cannot support the European Union's new sanctions package, which includes an embargo on oil imports, in its present form, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.
Orban said the European Commission's current proposal banning Russian oil imports would amount to an "atomic bomb" dropped on the Hungarian economy, adding that Hungary was ready to negotiate if it sees a new proposal that would meet Hungarian interests.
The European Union's executive on Wednesday proposed the toughest package of sanctions yet against Moscow for its war in Ukraine, but several countries worried about the impact of cutting off Russia oil imports stood in the way of agreement. (Reuters)
Germany will deliver seven self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, on top of five howitzers the Dutch already pledged, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Friday.
The training of Ukrainian troops on the artillery weapons can start next week in Germany, she told reporters in the Slovak town Sliac where she was supposed to meet her Dutch counterpart later today. (Reuters)
A senior Ukrainian official said on Friday a new attempt was underway "at the moment" to evacuate civilians trapped with Ukrainian fighters in the Azovstal steelworks in the southern city of Mariupol.
Andriy Yermak, the head of the presidential staff, gave no details and it was not immediately clear what stage the new rescue effort was at.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Thursday that a third operation was underway to evacuate civilians from Mariupol and Azovstal. "The next stage of rescuing our people from Azovstal is underway at the moment. Information about the results will be provided later," Yermak said. (Reuters)
A dog named Patron (cartridge) trained to search for explosives is seen at an airfield, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the town of Hostomel, in Kyiv region, Ukraine on May 5, 2022.
Russian forces in Ukraine's Mariupol continued their ground assault on the Azovstal steel plant for a second day, British military intelligence said in a tweet on Friday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address on Thursday that Russian forces were still storming and shelling the Soviet-era Azovstal plant, where civilians and military forces are sheltering. (Reuters)
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti has told the Ambassador of the Netherlands to the UK that “Kindly don’t patronise us,” New Delhi “knows what to do” when the Dutch envoy said India should not have abstained in the UN General Assembly on Ukraine.
Since January this year, India has abstained on procedural votes and draft resolutions in the UN Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council that deplored Russian aggression against Ukraine.
One of Russia’s most significant national holidays is merely days away. Celebrated annually on the 9th of May, Victory Day marks the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany during World War 2. But this year, the country’s celebrations are likely to take on a whole new meaning.
Over two months after Russia launched a crippling attack on Ukraine, some western critics believe this year’s Victory Day will mark a turning point in the invasion, which has already cost thousands of Russians and Ukrainians lives. After so far insisting on calling the attack on Ukraine a “special military operation”, some believe the Kremlin may officially declare a “war” on Ukraine on May 9, a symbolic day for the country.
While the Kremlin’s press secretary has denied these allegations, calling them “nonsense”, ordinary Ukrainians are bracing themselves for a fresh wave of attacks. (Read more)
Asserting that there will be no winning side in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India has told the UN Security Council that diplomacy will be a lasting casualty while underscoring the immediate need to evacuate innocent civilians from areas witnessing intense fighting in Ukraine.
Speaking at the UNSC briefing on Ukraine on Thursday, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said India remains on the side of peace. “Ever since the commencement of the conflict in Ukraine, India has been consistently calling for a complete cessation of hostilities and for pursuing the path of dialogue and diplomacy as the only way out," he said. (Read more)
The US said it shared intelligence with Ukraine about the location of the Russian missile cruiser Moskva prior to the strike that sank the warship, an incident that was a high-profile failure for Russia’s military.
An American official said Thursday that Ukraine alone decided to target and sink the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet using its own anti-ship missiles.
But given Russia’s attacks on the Ukrainian coastline from the sea, the US has provided “a range of intelligence” that includes locations of those ships, said the official, who was not authorised to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. (Read more)
Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said he accepted an apology from Russian President Vladimir Putin over controversial remarks about the Holocaust made by Moscow's top diplomat.
There was no mention of an apology in the Russian statement on the call.
Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested Ukraine could have Nazi elements even though Zelenskyy is Jewish, and then suggested Adolf Hitler had "Jewish origins." Israelis expressed shock and outrage at the remarks, which appeared to blame the Holocaust on Jews themselves, and the government summoned Russia's ambassador in protest. (Read more)
Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Delhi said there was a broad understanding of each other’s position on the Ukraine issue, that the two leaders spoke extensively on the “cascading effect” of the conflict, and agreed to coordinate “very closely” for a “constructive role” in the evolving situation.
The tone of India’s statement was in sharp contrast to Delhi’s sharp response to remarks from other European leaders and ministers who, in recent weeks, had conveyed concerns over India not condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine. (Read here)
The Ukrainian conflict has lessons for future wars and the Indian Air Force must gear up for it, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.
“If we look at some of the recent conflicts, there are several insights. If we closely watch conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and more recently, Ukraine, we will get many points to think about and plan for future wars,” Singh said delivering the keynote address for the 37th Air Chief Marshal PC Lal Memorial Lecture on Thursday. (Read more)
The Pentagon says the majority of Russian forces that had been around the port city of Mariupol have left and headed north, leaving roughly the equivalent of two battalion tactical groups there, or about 2,000 troops.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has devastated hundreds of hospitals and other medical institutions and left doctors without drugs to tackle cancer or the ability to perform surgery.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that even as Russian airstrikes continue to bombard Mariupol, Moscow's forces are still making only "plodding" and incremental progress as the main fight presses on in the eastern Donbas region. He said he has seen no change in Russian behaviour or momentum as May 9 draws near.
Russia celebrates Victory Day on May 9, the anniversary of the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. There have been suggestions that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to tout a major victory in Ukraine when he makes his address during the traditional military parade on Red Square. Kirby said the US still assesses that Russia is behind schedule and not making the progress in the Donbas that it expected. (AP)
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has devastated hundreds of hospitals and other medical institutions and left doctors without drugs to tackle cancer or the ability to perform surgery, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said many places lacked even basic antibiotics in eastern and southern Ukraine, the main battlefields. "If you consider just medical infrastructure, as of today Russian troops have destroyed or damaged nearly 400 healthcare institutions: hospitals, maternity wards, outpatient clinics," Zelenskyy said in a video address to a medical charity group on Thursday. (Reuters)