Russia-Ukraine war LIVE updates News: Civilian militia men hold shotguns during training at a shooting range in outskirts Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 7, 2022. (AP)Russia Ukraine War News Today, 8 June 2022: More than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered in the southeastern city of Mariupol have been transferred to Russia for investigation, the Tass news agency reported citing a Russian law enforcement source. The source said that more Ukrainian prisoners would be sent to Russia. Kyiv is seeking the handover of all the estimated 2,000 soldiers from the Azovstal plant in a prisoner swap. Russian lawmakers have demanded that some soldiers be put on trial. Ukraine has expressed concern in the past that prisoners taken to Russia may face torture or even execution.
Meanwhile, the World Bank’s executive board has approved $1.49 billion of additional financing for Ukraine. This expands the organization’s total pledged support to over $4 billion. The funds are to help Kyiv pay wages for government and social workers. Ukraine has said it needs at least $5 billion per month in the near term to keep its government operating.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that Russian troops have not achieved a breakthrough against Ukrainian forces in Donbas. “The situation on the front has not undergone any significant changes in the past 24 hours,” Zelensky said. He added that “the extremely heroic defense of Donbas continues.” Ukraine’s president said that the fiercest fighting was continuing around Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk and Popasna. Zelenskyy claimed that 31,000 Russian soldiers have lost their lives in Ukraine since the invasion began. (Here’s why Sievierodonetsk matters to Russia).
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a meeting with internally displaced people from Mariupol, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Zaporizhzhia region. (Reuters)
Ukrainian forces pulled back to the outskirts of the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday in the face of a fierce Russian assault, the regional governor said, another big swing in momentum in one of the bloodiest battles of the war. Russia has concentrated its troops and firepower on the small eastern city in recent weeks to secure the surrounding province on behalf of separatist proxies. Ukraine has vowed to fight there for as long as possible, saying the battle could help shape the war's future course.
After claiming to have pushed Russian forces back and secured half of the city in a surprise counter-attack last week, the governor of the surrounding Luhansk region said on Wednesday afternoon that most of the city was again in Russian hands. "...Our (forces) now again control only the outskirts of the city. But the fighting is still going on ... it is impossible to say the Russians completely control the city," Serhiy Gaidai told the RBC-Ukraine media outlet. (Reuters)
Canada said on Wednesday it was imposing new sanctions on Russia, banning export of 28 services, such as accounting and advertising, that are needed for the operation of Russian oil, gas and chemical industries. Canada's new measures target an industry that accounts for about 50% of Russia's federal budget revenues, according to a statement from Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 1,070 individuals and entities and Joly said Ottawa would "continue to relentlessly pursue accountability for Vladimir Putin's senseless war." (Reuters)
Ukrainian forces have been pushed back by a Russian bombardment in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and now only control its outskirts, the region's governor told the RBC-Ukraine media outlet on Wednesday.
Ukrainian special forces launched a counteroffensive days ago and cleared almost half of the city, but it made no sense for them to stay when Russia started levelling the area with shelling and air strikes, the official, Serhiy Gaidai, was quoted as saying.
"...Our (forces) now again control only the outskirts of the city. But the fighting is still going on, our (forces) are defending Sievierodonetsk, it is impossible to say the Russians completely control the city," he said. (Reuters)
Ukrainian forces battling Russian troops in a key eastern city appeared on the cusp of retreat Wednesday, though the regional governor insisted they are still fighting “for every centimetre” of the city.
The urban battle for Sievierodonetsk testified to the painstaking, inch-by-inch advance by Russian forces as they close in on control of the entire Luhansk region, one of two that make up the industrial heartland known as the Donbas.
After a bungled attempt to overrun Kyiv in the early days of the war, Russia shifted its focus to the region of coal mines and factories. The region has been partly controlled by Russia-backed separatists for years, making supply lines shorter and allowing Moscow to tap separatist forces to back its offensive. But Russia also faces Ukraine's most battle-hardened troops, who have been fighting the separatists for eight years there. (AP)
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Western sanctions against Moscow must be lifted before Russian grain could be delivered to international markets. "President (Vladimir) Putin said that in order for Russian grain volumes to be delivered to international markets, direct and indirect sanctions against Russia must be lifted," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.
He said the sanctions, which the West imposed in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, were affecting shipping insurance, payments, and access to European ports." He added that "no substantive discussions" about lifting them were taking place.
Ukraine and Russia together account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies, while Russia is also a key fertilizer exporter and Ukraine a major supplier of corn and sunflower oil. (Reuters)
Moscow's chief rabbi has left Russia after coming under pressure to support its invasion of Ukraine, according to a relative. Swiss-born Pinchas Goldschmidt had served as Moscow's chief rabbi since 1993, while also heading a large European rabbinical group.
"Can finally share that my in-laws, Moscow Chief Rabbi @PinchasRabbi @Rebbetzin Dara Goldschmidt, have been put under pressure by authorities to support the 'special operation' in Ukraine - and refused," Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt tweeted on Tuesday. Chizhik-Goldschmidt, a New York-based journalist, said that Goldschmidt flew to Hungary two weeks after the Feb. 24 invasion, raising money for refugees in Eastern Europe before continuing on to Israel.
Jewish organisations in Russia have struck a more critical tone on the war in Ukraine than other religious groups, including the powerful Orthodox Church which has backed the campaign. On March 2, Russia's chief rabbi Berel Lazar called for participants in the conflict to "silence the guns and to stop the bombs", although he stopped short of condemning President Vladimir Putin. (Reuters)
Turkey, which is negotiating with Russia to secure safe routes for grain exports from blocked Ukrainian seaports, is not powerful enough to act as a guarantor, the director of Ukrainian grain traders union UGA Serhiy Ivashchenko said on Wednesday.
He told an online grain conference in Kyiv that the demining of Ukrainian Black Sea ports could take no less than 2-3 months and that the Turkish and Romanian navies should be involved. He also said there were no discussions under way about a discount for Ukrainian grain exported via the Black Sea. (Reuters)
Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odesa regional military administration, said Ukraine has been attacking Russian forces in the South.
In a Facebook video, he said: “Every five minutes a Russian soldier dies in Ukraine.”
Located near the capital Kyiv, the Tsar-Khlib factory continued production even as Russian troops advanced, keeping city residents fed despite a missile attack on a neighbouring facility.
At one point, the factory was less than eight kilometres (five miles) from the front line, and many of the factory's workers were stranded in territory held by Russian forces. Most of its clients had fled to safety.
In the end, the immediate crisis passed, as Russian troops withdrew from the area at the end of March. (AP)
Norway donated 22 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, including spare parts, ammunition and other gear, the Norwegian defence ministry said.
"The Norwegian government has waited to publicly announce the donation for security reasons. Future donations may not be announced or commented upon," it said in a statement. (Reuters)
Wrestling star John Cena met Misha, a specially-abled teen who fled Ukraine after his home was destroyed. To motivate Misha to leave their home and Ukraine, his mother told him they had to set out to find Cena.
Russian state flagship airline Aeroflot said it plans to raise up to 185.2 billion rubles ($3 billion, €2.8 billion) in an emergency share issue.
The company has been under pressure from Western sanctions and airspace bans. The European Union, United States, Britain and Canada have shut their airspace to Russian planes, and Airbus and Boeing have halted the supply of aircraft parts and services to Russian carriers.
Aeroflot said shareholders at its annual meeting approved the issuance of 5.42 billion new shares that could be bought at a price of 34.29 rubles each.
The airline also plants to order 300 aircraft from United Aircraft Corporation which is majority owned by Russia's state aerospace and defense conglomerate.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv was launching a "Book of Torturers", a system to collate evidence of war crimes.
"Next week, a special publication is to be launched — 'The Book of Torturers' — an information system to collect confirmation of data about war criminals, criminals from the Russian army," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
Ukrainian prosecutors say they have registered more than 12,000 alleged war crimes involving more than 600 suspects. (DW)
More than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered in the southeastern city of Mariupol have been transferred to Russia for investigation, the Tass news agency reported citing a Russian law enforcement source. The source said more Ukrainian prisoners would be sent to Russia.
Kyiv is seeking the handover of all the estimated 2,000 soldiers from the Azovstal plant in a prisoner swap. Russian lawmakers have demanded that some soldiers be put on trial.
Ukraine has expressed concern in the past that prisoners taken to Russia may face torture or even execution.
The World Bank's executive board has approved $1.49 billion (€1.39 billion) of additional financing for Ukraine. This expands the organization's total pledged support to over $4 billion.
The funds are to help Kyiv pay wages for government and social workers. Ukraine has said it needs at least $5 billion per month in the near term to keep its government operating.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that Russian troops have not achieved a breakthrough against Ukrainian forces in Donbas.
"The situation on the front has not undergone any significant changes in the past 24 hours," Zelensky said. He added that "the extremely heroic defense of Donbas continues."
Ukraine's president said that the fiercest fighting was continuing around Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk and Popasna. "There's a sense that the occupiers did not believe the resistance would be so strong," he said.
Russia has been paying almost 300 lives a day for a completely pointless war against Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
He claimed that 31,000 Russian soldiers have lost their lives in Ukraine since the invasion began. "And still the day will come when the number of losses, even for Russia, will exceed the permissible limit."
The bodies of some Ukrainian fighters killed defending the city of Mariupol from Russian forces at a vast steel works have been handed over to Kyiv, the families of Ukraine's Azov unit of the national guard said.
Ukrainian forces defending Mariupol were holed up in the Azovstal steelworks for weeks as Russian forces tried to capture the city. The Ukrainian soldiers eventually surrendered last month and were taken into custody by Russian forces.
A Fiji court has ruled a Russian-owned superyacht be removed from the Pacific island nation by the United States because it was a waste of money for Fiji to maintain the vessel amid legal wrangling over its seizure.
The 106-metre (350-foot) Amadea arrived in Fiji on April 13, after an 18-day voyage from Mexico. It was seized by Fiji authorities after the country's High Court granted a U.S. warrant last month that linked the yacht to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.
File photo of a drone video footage showing Russian-owned superyacht 'Amadea' docked at Queens Wharf in Lautoka, Fiji. (Reuters)
Ukraine is set to receive the first delivery of precision multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) from the US and UK, after the civilian and military leadership of the country made urgent requests for the hardware.
What are capabilities of the rocket systems being sent to Ukraine?
The UK has said it will send long-range M270 MLRS to Ukraine. This weapon system can fire 12 surface-to-surface rockets within a span of 60 seconds and hit targets as far away as 80 km. This range of firepower will be significantly more than what the Ukrainian artillery is currently capable of. Read more
Russian gas producer Gazprom said its supply of gas to Europe through Ukraine via the Sudzha entry point was seen at 40.9 million cubic metres (mcm) on Tuesday versus 40.1 mcm on Monday.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned a Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian grain terminal in Mykolaiv during the weekend, adding that it contributed to the global food crisis.
"Russian forces have destroyed the second biggest grain terminal in #Ukraine, in Mykolaiv,” Josep Borrell wrote on Twitter.
A mural of Patron, Ukraine’s famous mine-sniffing dog who was presented a medal by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month, has been completed in Kyiv.
Patron has detected more than 200 explosives, according to Ukrainian claims, potentially saving dozens of lives and preventing serious injuries, and has become a canine symbol of Ukrainian patriotism, Reuters reported.
Sexual violence in Ukraine, especially against women and girls, remains prevalent and underreported, and the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country is turning into a human trafficking crisis, the U.N. special envoy for sexual violence in conflict said..
Pramila Patten told the U.N. Security Council that there is a gap between its resolutions aimed at preventing rape and other sexual attacks during conflicts and the reality on the ground for the most vulnerable -- women and children.
As of June 3, she said, the U.N. human rights office had received 124 allegations of conflict-related sexual violence 97 of them involving women and girls, 19 against men, seven against boys and one gender unknown. (AP)
A theater in Ukraine's capital has reopened for the first time since Russian forces invaded the country, and tickets sold out for Sunday's performance.
Theater on Podil was the latest cultural institution in Kyiv to resume operations. Movie theaters and the National Opera opened their doors at the end of May. “We were wondering how it would be, whether spectators would come during the war, whether they think at all about theater, whether it's of any interest,” said one of the actors, Yuriy Felipenko. “And we were happy that the first three plays were sold out.” Filipenko saysthe theater is putting on plays with just a few actors.
Actor Kostya Tomlyak says he had hesitated to perform in wartime. But the influx of people returning to Kyiv since hostilities there have lessened persuaded him that it's necessary to go on. (AP)
Russia has begun turning over the bodies of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal steelworks, the fortress-like plant in the destroyed city of Mariupol where their last-ditch stand became a symbol of resistance against Moscow's invasion.
Dozens of the dead taken from the bombed-out mill's now Russian-occupied ruins have been transferred to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, where DNA testing is underway to identify the remains, according to both a military leader and a spokeswoman for the Azov Regiment.
Anna Holovko, a spokeswoman for the Azov Regiment, said all 160 of the Ukrainian bodies turned over by the Russians were from the Azovstal ruins. She said that at least 52 of those bodies are thought to be the remains of Azov Regiment soldiers. Maksym Zhorin, a former Azov Regiment leader now co-commanding a Kyiv-based military unit, confirmed that bodies from the steel plant were among those exchanged. (AP)
The Ukrainian government is working on legislation that would designate English as the language of business communication, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
"English is now used in business communication throughout the civilized world, so giving it such a status in Ukraine will promote business development, attract investment and accelerate Ukraine's European integration," Shmyhal wrote on the Telegram messaging app without detailing what the law would entail.
Ukrainian is the sole official language of the country. About a half of the population speaks mostly or only Ukrainian and some 30% speak mostly or only Russian, according to a 2019 survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. (Reuters)
Japan will freeze the assets of two more Russian banks and one more Belarusian bank as part of additional sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, Japan's foreign ministry said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed the importance of his country joining the European Union in his nightly address.
Kyiv is waiting on a response from Brussels on the country's candidacy application "in the coming weeks," he said. Zelenskyy added that he had discussed the matter with Polish President Andrzej Duda, who he thanked for supporting Ukraine.
"I believe that this will be a decision not only about Ukraine, but also about the entire European project. About whether it has a future as a really strong union," Zelenskyy said.
Communications Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov is headed to Berlin Tuesday to make the case for Ukrainian EU accession. "The European Union should embrace Ukraine," Chernyshov said ahead of his meetings in Berlin.
"We do not expect accession through the back door, nor do we expect a fast track for Ukraine," he said. He added that Ukraine had no interest in any other form of partnership with the EU short of full membership.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his troops are not giving up positions in Sievierodonetsk.
Ukrainian and Russian troops are fighting street by street for control of the key industrial city.
'Our heroes do not give up positions in Sievierodonetsk. In the city, fierce street fighting continues,' Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Monday.
'And the Ukrainian Donbas [where Sievierodonetsk is located] stands, stands strong,' Zelenskyy said.
The city has become the main target of the Russian offensive in the Donbas. (DW)
DW's Nick Connolly has said that Ukraine's army has suffered setbacks recently, mainly because "Western weapon deliveries that Ukraine has been asking for with ever greater intensity ... are not getting there as fast Ukraine needs them to."
In his nightly address, President Zelenskyy also thanked the UK for announcing it would join the US in sending multiple-launch rocket systems. These are the "weapons we so desperately need to protect the lives of our people," he said.
Connolly noted though, that it would still take weeks for the weapons to arrive and for troops to be trained in them. "We're getting reports that Ukrainian commanders are having to think twice before using shells because they don't have the depth of ammunition that the Russians have."
DW has not been able to confirm how much of Sievierodonetsk Ukraine still controls. Connolly said the latest reports suggest they only control "one industrial area on the edge of town."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has backed claims that Russia has stolen grain from Ukraine in order to sell it on.
"There are credible reports... that Russia is pilfering Ukraine's grain exports to sell for its own profit," Blinken said at a State Department conference on food security issues.
Blinken also accused Russian forces of planting explosives in captured farmland.
He blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for "aggressively using his propaganda machine to deflect or distort responsibility because he hopes it will get the world to give in to him and then the sanctions. In other words, quite simply put: It's blackmail."
In a major blow to the Russian forces, an 11th general died in an ambush in Donbas on Monday.
Major General Roman Kutuzov's vehicle was reportedly ambushed by Ukrainian troops who subsequently killed him in a fight, Daily Express reported. Kutuzov, the first high ranking office to be killed in over a month, was the chief of staff of the 29th Combined Arms Army.
At least 49 colonels have also been killed since Russia began its "special military operation" on February 24.
Russia has lost 31, 250 troops since the beginning of its war with Ukraine on February 24, according to estimates published on June 6 by Kyiv Independent. It has also lost 1,386 tanks, 211 planes and 176 helicopters.
Ukraine's position "worsened a little" in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, but Kyiv's forces defended their positions against Russia in an industrial zone as heavy fighting raged, the regional governor said.
"The fiercest fighting is in Sievierodonetsk. Fast-moving fighting is happening right now," Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai told national television.
"Our defenders managed to undertake a counter-attack for a certain time; they liberated almost half of the city. But now the situation has worsened a little for us again," he said. (Reuters)
A total of 262 children have been killed and 467 injured since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, figures released by Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office stated.
Ukrainian troops set fire to tonnes of grain in the storage facilities of the Mariupol seaport, Yan Gagin, an adviser to the chairman of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), told Sputnik.
"There is a large amount of grain on the territory of the Mariupol port, this is both corn and wheat. Judging by the smell and appearance, it is unsuitable for further use... And this is due to the fact that the enemy, retreating from the port, set fire to the granaries so that this grain would not go to the Donetsk People's Republic, so that it would be impossible to use it in any way," Gagin said.
Ukraine plans to resume competitive football in the country in August despite being under attack by Russia after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave approval.
Andriy Pavelko, the president of Ukraine's football federation, revealed details to The Associated Press about his talks with Zelenskyy and the heads of FIFA and UEFA about finding a safe way of playing men's and women's matches on home soil.
Ukraine was forced to abandon its leagues in February when Russia began an invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's new warning to the West against sending longer-range rocket systems to Ukraine came as his forces claimed to have destroyed Western military supplies in their first such airstrikes on Ukraine's capital in more than a month.
Putin's comments, in a TV interview that aired Sunday, came days after the US announced plans to deliver $700 million of security assistance for Ukraine. "All this fuss around additional deliveries of weapons, in my opinion, has only one goal: to drag out the armed conflict as much as possible,'' Putin said. He insisted such supplies were unlikely to change the military situation for Ukraine's government, which he said was merely making up for losses of similar rockets.
If Kyiv gets longer-range rockets, Putin added, Moscow will "draw appropriate conclusions and use our means of destruction, which we have plenty of, in order to strike at those objects that we haven't yet struck.''
A Ukrainian lawmaker, Yevhen Yakovenko, was detained at the Moldovan border at the request of the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol, Moldova's border police said.
Yakovenko was placed in a pretrial detention centre, a press service representative of the border police said.
Viorel Tentiu, the head of Interpol in Moldova, said in a statement that Yakovenko was put on the list following accusations from Belarus of bribery and corruption.
A search of public records for wanted persons on the Interpol website for Yakovenko's name did not produce any results on Sunday night. (Reuters)
The Russian Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities website appeared to be hacked early Monday, with internet searches for the site instead leading browsers to a sign that says "Glory to Ukraine" in the Ukrainian language.
A ministry representative said that while the site had been hacked and vandalised, user data remain protected, according to Russian state-run RIA news agency.
RIA said that other media had reported that hackers were demanding a ransom to prevent the public disclosure of users' data. Reuters was not able to ascertain which media outlets were being cited by the RIA.
Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, told Italy's La7 television that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov "was scheduled to hold talks in Belgrade, while the EU and NATO member-countries have closed their airspace."
Serbian media reported earlier that several countries including Bulgaria, Montenegro and North Macedonia had all closed their airspace to Lavrov's plane.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not say what course Lavrov would take and whether the airspace closures could be circumvented in an effort to deliver him to Belgrade for talks with Serbian leader Alexander Vucic. (DW)
The UK said it will provide Ukraine with M270 multiple-launch rocket systems capable of hitting targets as far away as 80 kilometers (50 miles). The effort to supply Ukraine with multiple-launch rocket systems was coordinated with the US.
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Britain's support for Ukraine would evolve with Russia's changing tactics. Wallace added the new systems will "enable our Ukrainian friends to better protect themselves against the brutal use of long-range artillery."
Last week, the US said it would give Ukraine M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems known as HIMARS after Kyiv reassured the weapons would not strike targets inside Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Zaporizhzhia region and two towns near the front lines, Lysychansk and Soledar, he said in his nightly video address.
During his visit to Zaporizhzhia, he met with the head of the regional military administration, Oleksander Starukh, and national police in the region.
"I am proud of everybody I met, everyone I shook hands with, everyone with whom I connected with and had expressed my support," Zelenskyy said.
Starukh reportedly told Zelenskyy that nearly 60% of the territory in Zaporizhzhia region has been occupied by Russian troops as fighting continues. Seventy-seven villages in the region have seen their electricity cut, Starukh said.
Temporary shelters for those fleeing from nearby Kherson and Mariupol have also been set up. Zelenskyy urged local leaders to continue the flow of aid to those fleeing from elsewhere. (DW)