[ad_1]
A former British soldier has reportedly been killed fighting for Ukraine in the embattled eastern city of Sievierodonetsk.
Jordan Gatley was shot and killed recently in the eastern Donbas region, his father said in an emotional Facebook post on Saturday.
“Jordan left the British Army in March this year to continue his career as a soldier in other areas. The war against Europe had begun so, after careful consideration, he went to the Ukraine to help,” his family said.
“He truly was a hero and will forever be in our hearts,” they added.
His death comes as Russia attempts to use its artillery superiority to its advantage in its assault against Sievierodonetsk, according to the British Ministry of Defence’s (MoD).
The latest military intelligence report added that the Kremlin was likely preparing to commit all three battalions of some brigades to operations simultaneously. Usually, one is left in reserve.
“The third battalions within brigades are often not fully staffed – Russia will likely have to rely on new recruits or mobilised reservists to deploy these units to Ukraine,” the MoD said.
Key Points
-
Russia to ‘rely’ on new recruits, says UK
-
EU likely to give Ukraine candidacy status
-
Moscow’s forces in control of much of Sievierodonetsk, governor of Luhansk says
-
Russia handing out passports in occupied Ukrainian cities
-
Russian shelling of Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk causes fire, says region’s governor
Ukraine still controlling industrial area in Sievierodonetsk, says governor
06:03 , Arpan Rai
Ukrainian fighters continue to control the industrial area in Sievierodonetsk and a chemical plant sheltering civilians, the region’s governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Sunday.
He added that troops from both Russia and Ukraine fought street-by-street in the key Donbas city over the weekend.
However, Ukrainian troops remain in control of the Azot chemical plant, where hundreds of civilians are sheltering.
“About 500 civilians remain on the territory of the Azot plant in Sievierodonetsk, 40 of them are children,” the governor said. “Sometimes the military manages to evacuate someone.”
However, rescue operations have been severely hampered due to widespread firing and shelling.
Russian soldiers have destroyed a bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River linking Sievierodonetsk with its twin city of Lysychansk, Mr Gaidai said, adding that only one out of three bridges is now functional.
Warning against its impact on the rescue of civilians, Mr Gaidai said: “If after new shelling, the bridge collapses, the city will truly be cut off. There will be no way of leaving Sievierodonetsk in a vehicle.”
He added that a six-year-old child was killed in shelling in Lysychansk.
Canada slams official’s visit to Russian embassy party: ‘Unacceptable’
05:19 , Arpan Rai
Canada’s foreign affairs minister has called the country’s official’s visit to Russia Day celebrations in Ottawa as “unacceptable”.
“No Canadian representative should have attended the event hosted at the Russian embassy and no Canadian representative will attend this kind of event again,” the top minister Melanie Joly said in a tweet.
This comes after the deputy protocol chief in Canada’s global affairs department Yasemin Heinbecker visited the Russian embassy along with the envoys of Egypt, Pakistan and some African nations.
Ms Joly added that Canada continues to back Ukraine “as it fights against Russia’s egregious invasion”.
Ukraine fighting for every metre of Sievierodonetsk, says Zelensky
04:56 , Arpan Rai
Fierce fighting is underway in Sievierodonetsk, Volodymyr Zelensky said adding that his fighters are wresting for control over every meter literally.
“The key tactical goal of the occupiers [Russia] has not changed. They are pressing in Severodonetsk, where very fierce fighting is going on – literally for every meter. And they are also pressing in the direction of Lysychansk, Bakhmut, Slovyansk and so on,” Mr Zelensky said late on Sunday.
He added that the Russian army will now try to deploy reserve forces in Donbas. “But what reserves can they have now? It seems that they will try to throw into battle poorly trained conscripts and those who were gathered by covert mobilisation,” he said.
“Russian generals see their people simply as the cannon fodder they need to gain an advantage in numbers — in manpower, in military equipment. And this means only one thing: Russia can cross the line of 40,000 of its lost troops already in June. In no other war in many decades have they lost so much,” Mr Zelensky said.
Zelensky condemns Russian missile strike as 10 hospitalised
04:44 , Arpan Rai
Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of launching a strategically senseless strike in Ukraine’s Ternopil region and said that the besieged country needs a modern missile defence system.
“After the missile strike at the Ternopil region, ten people are still in hospitals. There was no tactical or strategic sense in this strike, as in the vast majority of other Russian strikes. This is terror, just terror,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Sunday.
He added that the victims include a 12-year-old girl from Kharkiv. “She went to the Ternopil region to flee from the Russian army. And such facts will now determine perception of Russia in the world. Not Peter I or Lev Tolstoy, but children wounded and killed by Russian strikes,” he said.
Urging the allies to back Ukraine with more artillery, Mr Zelensky said: “Today is the 109th day of a full-scale war, but it is not the 109th day as we tell our partners a simple thing: Ukraine needs modern missile defence systems.”
“The supply of such systems was possible this year, last year and even earlier. Did we get them? No. Do we need them? Yes. There have already been 2606 affirmative answers to this question in the form of various Russian cruise missiles that have hit Ukrainian cities.”
He added: “Our cities, our villages for the period from 24 February. These are lives that could have been saved, these are tragedies that could have been prevented if Ukraine had been listened to.”
Watch: Ukrainian soldiers describe what life is like in the trenches
03:00 , Emily Atkinson
Ukrainian First Lady opens refugee centre in Lithuania
01:45 , Emily Atkinson
Ukraine’s First Lady has opened a refugee centre in Lithuania, where tens of thousands of Ukrainians have fled since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion.
“We wanted Ukrainians who were forced to come to Lithuania because of the war to have a truly native place. So that the centre will be the place where it is possible to address on any matter – help or communication,” Olena Zelenska said.
In total, almost five million Ukrainians who fled their homeland because of the conflict are living elsewhere in Europe, according to the UN.
Vladimir Putin urges citizens to stand united in speech to mark Russia Day
Monday 13 June 2022 00:45 , Emily Atkinson
Vladimir Putin has urged Russian citizens to “be united” and build on the “deep feelings of patriotism” in a speech to mark Russia Day as the war in Ukraine raged on.
Speaking at the Kremlin, the Russian president said the importance of unity and patriotism is “as clear as ever”.
Mr Putin praised former Russian ruler Peter the Great, the 18th Century tsar who he earlier this week compared himself to. Calling him a “great reformer”, Mr Putin paid tribute to his “profound transformations” and urged Russian citizens to recognise the strength of century-old traditions.
Zaina Alibhai reports:
Vladimir Putin urges citizens to stand united in speech to mark Russia Day
Watch: McDonald’s in Russia reopens as Vkusno i Tochka
Sunday 12 June 2022 23:45 , Emily Atkinson
Russia facing military staffing issues, says MoD
Sunday 12 June 2022 22:45 , Emily Atkinson
Russia’s third battalions within brigades are often not fully staffed, meaning Moscow’s forces will likely have to rely on new recruits or mobilised reservists to deploy these units to Ukraine, according to an intelligence update.
The latest update from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) adds: “Deploying all three of their battalions simultaneously will likely reduce formations’ longer term capacity to regenerate combat power after operations.”
Sunday 12 June 2022 21:45 , Emily Atkinson
Images capture Ukrainian servicemen fire towards Russian troops with a tank at a position in the eastern Donetsk region.
Russia planning ‘to fight a longer war’
Sunday 12 June 2022 20:45 , Emily Atkinson
Ukrainian intelligence suggests Russian forces are planning “to fight a longer war”, according to a US-based think tank.
The Institute for the Study of War cited the deputy head of Ukraine’s national security agency as saying that Moscow had extended its war timeline until October, with adjustments to be made depending on any successes in the Donbas.
The intelligence “likely indicates the Kremlin has, at a minimum, acknowledged it cannot achieve its objectives in Ukraine quickly and is further adjusting its military objectives in an attempt to correct the initial deficiencies in the invasion of Ukraine”, it said.
Latest intelligence update
Sunday 12 June 2022 19:45 , Emily Atkinson
Major depot containing western weapons ‘destroyed by Russian missiles’
Sunday 12 June 2022 18:45 , Emily Atkinson
A major depot in western Ukraine’s Ternopil region containing US and European weapons has been destoryed by Russian cruise missiles, Russia‘s Interfax agency has reported.
Ternopil’s governor said rockets fired from the Black Sea at the city of Chortkiv had partly destroyed a military facility and injured 22 people. A local official said there were no weapons stored there.
Watch: Victims of Russian invasion buried in fields of nameless graves in Mariupol
Sunday 12 June 2022 17:45 , Emily Atkinson
Donbas is holding on, says Zelensky
Sunday 12 June 2022 16:42 , Emily Atkinson
No one knows how long the war in Ukraine will last but the country’s forces are defying expectations by preventing Russian troops from overrunning eastern Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
In his nightly video address, Zelensky said he was proud of the Ukrainian defenders managing to hold back the Russian advance in the Donbas region, which borders Russia and where Moscow-backed separatists have controlled much of the territory for eight years.
“Remember how in Russia, in the beginning of May, they hoped to seize all of the Donbas?” the president said.
“It’s already the 108th day of the war, already June. Donbas is holding on.”
Foreign Office confirms death of former British soldier in Ukraine
Sunday 12 June 2022 16:25 , Rory Sullivan
The Foreign Office has confirmed that Jordan Gatley, a former British soldier, has died in Ukraine while fighting against the Russian army.
In a post on social media, his father wrote: “His team say they all loved him, as did we, and he made a massive difference to many peoples lives, not only soldiering, but also by training the Ukrainian forces.
“Jordan and his team were so proud of the work they were doing and he often told me that the missions they were going on were dangerous, but necessary.
“He loved his job and we are so proud of him. He truly was a hero and will forever be in our hearts.”
In response to his death, a spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Ukraine.”
Photos
Sunday 12 June 2022 15:55 , Rory Sullivan
Here are some of the latest photos to emerge from Ukraine and Russia:
Calls grow to save Moroccan man sentenced to death by Russian proxies
Sunday 12 June 2022 15:35 , Rory Sullivan
The friends of Brahim Saadoun, a young Moroccan man who has been sentenced to death by Russian proxies in Ukraine, have called for his release.
Campaigning under the hashtag #SaveBrahim, they have stressed that he joined the Ukrainian marines in November last year and is not a mercenary, a charge levelled against him by pro-Russian separatists who captured him in April.
“I can see how he’s tired and exhausted. I wish he knew how much support he has…how many people care, how many people write about it, how many people post about it…so he has a reason to hold on, to know that he is not alone,” one of his friends told the Guardian.
No reason to pardon Britons given death sentences, says pro-Russian separatist leader
Sunday 12 June 2022 15:05 , Rory Sullivan
There is no reason to pardon two British men condemned to death for fighting for Ukraine, the leader of the Russian-backed separatist Donetsk region (DPR) has said.
Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner – and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun – received the judgement earlier this week, after being accused of being “mercenaries”.
“I don’t see any grounds, prerequisites, for me to come out with such a decision on a pardon,” said Denis Pushilin, the breakaway Donetsk region’s leader.
The international community has hit out at the decision by a DPR court, which is only recognised by Russia.
Mr Aslin’s family said he and Pinner “are not, and never were, mercenaries” and were “members of Ukrainian armed forces”. They therefore called on Russia to respect the Geneva Convention by treating them as prisoners of war.
Turkey’s concerns about ‘terrorism’ legitimate, says Nato secretary general
Sunday 12 June 2022 14:41 , Rory Sullivan
When Finland and Sweden asked to join Nato last month due to security concerns about Russia, Turkey decided to oppose the move.
The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused them of harbouring “terrorists”.
Speaking about the impasse, Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, said such concerns are legitimate, noting that no Nato member suffered more terrorist attacks than Turkey.
Czech foreign minister criticises Macron over Putin comment
Sunday 12 June 2022 14:26 , Rory Sullivan
The Czech foreign minister has criticised French president Emmanuel Macron for saying that Vladimir Putin mustn’t be “humiliate” if peace is to be achieved in Ukraine.
“Macron probably doesn’t understand the issue very well,” Jan Lipavsky said.
“Putin doesn’t care how Russia is perceived in the west,” he added.
The Macron administration sought to quell criticism earlier this week by insisting that it did not want to given any concessions to Russia.
Former British soldier ‘killed fighting against Russia’
Sunday 12 June 2022 14:00 , Rory Sullivan
A former British soldier has reportedly been killed fighting for Ukraine in the Donbas.
In an emotional Facebook tribute, Jordan Gatley’s family paid tribute to him.
British ex-solider ‘killed fighting against Russia in eastern Ukraine’
Hundreds of Ukrainian bodies remain in Mariupol, says former commander
Sunday 12 June 2022 13:37 , Rory Sullivan
The bodies of many Ukrainian soldiers remain in Mariupol, the former head of the Azov National Guard regiment has said.
Maksym Zhorin said that 220 corpses from the Azovstal steel plant were sent to Kyiv but added that “just as many bodies still remain in Mariupol”.
“Talks are continuing about further exchanges, to return home all the bodies. Absolutely all bodies must be returned and this is something we will work on,” he said.
Hundreds of Ukrainian troops were holed up for months in the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, where they made their last stand before surrendering last month.
Lewis condemns death sentence given to Britons by pro-Russian separatists
Sunday 12 June 2022 13:15 , Rory Sullivan
Brandon Lewis, the UK’s Northern Ireland secretary, has criticised pro-Russian separatists’ decision to condemn two captured British men to death for fighting for Ukraine.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, he said: “Really I think it backs up what we’ve all seen in this abhorrent process that Putin has followed in terms of an unwarranted attack on Ukraine in the general way that Putin’s regime is acting. It’s pretty despicable actually.”
Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner remain in prison in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic.
Ukraine war in photos
Sunday 12 June 2022 12:50 , Rory Sullivan
Ukrainian teenager hailed a ‘hero’
Sunday 12 June 2022 12:23 , Rory Sullivan
A Ukrainian teenager praised as a hero by his country has spoken of how he helped geo-locate a Russian convoy near Kyiv earlier in the war.
Andriy Pokrasa, 15, used his drone to track its exact coordinates, before sending them to the Ukrainian army.
“These were some of the scariest moments of my life,” the teenager said.
“We provided the photos and the location to the armed forces. They narrowed down the co-ordinates more accurately and transmitted them by walkie-talkie, so as to adjust the artillery,” he said.
In total, 20 Russian military vehicles were destroyed, the 15-year-old added.
Russia to ‘rely’ on new recruits, says UK
Sunday 12 June 2022 11:57 , Rory Sullivan
Vladimir Putin’s generals will “likely have to rely” on new recruits or mobilised reservists as the war grinds on in eastern Ukraine, the UK has said.
As heavy fighting continues around the city of Sievierodonetsk, Russia is attempting to use its artillery superiority to its advantage, according to the British Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) latest military assessment
Usually, the Kremlin’s senior officers only commit two of their three battalions to operations at the same time. However, it is thought that Russia will soon use all three.
“The third battalions within brigades are often not fully staffed – Russia will likely have to rely on new recruits or mobilised reservists to deploy these units to Ukraine,” the UK said.
Ukraine establishes grain export routes through Poland and Romania
Sunday 12 June 2022 11:12 , Rory Sullivan
Ukraine has managed to create two food export routes through Poland and Romania, as Russia continues to blockade Ukrainian ports, Kyiv has said.
Dmytro Senik, the Ukrainian deputy foreign minister, said Russia was putting global food security at risk by its actions.
Speaking about the overland routes, he said: “Those routes are not perfect because it creates certain bottlenecks, but we are doing our best to develop those routes in the meantime.”
Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest grain export. With millions of tonnes of its crops unable to be exported, experts have warned that hunger and famine will become more prevalent around the world.
Russian army shells Ternopil region
Sunday 12 June 2022 10:45 , Rory Sullivan
More details have emerged about the Russian army’s shelling of targets in western Ukraine on Saturday evening.
The Kremlin’s troops fired Kalibr cruise missiles at a military warehouse in Ternopil region, according to the Russian defence ministry.
The attack destroyed a large cache of US and European weapons, it added.
Ukrainian army ‘holding on’ in the Donbas, says Zelensky
Sunday 12 June 2022 10:25 , Rory Sullivan
Ukrainian troops continue to defy expectations, president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
In his nightly address to his nation, the Ukrainian president said the country’s soldiers were holding Russia at bay in the eastern Donbas region. “Remember how in Russia, in the beginning of May, they hoped to seize all of the Donbas?” he said late on Saturday. “It’s already the 108th day of the war, already June. Donbas is holding on.”
22 injured by Russian shelling in Ternopil province, says governor
Sunday 12 June 2022 10:06 , Rory Sullivan
Following my previous post about a rocket attack in Ternopil province…
The governor of the west Ukrainian region said Russian shelling in the city of Chortkiv had injured 22 people.
Speaking on Sunday, Volodymyr Trush said four missiles hit the area on Saturday evening.
“All missiles were from the Black Sea. A military facility and civilian facilities were partially destroyed. There are no casualties but we have injured – 22 people were hospitalised,” he said.
A 12-year-old child was among the injured, he added.
His comments come as the Kremlin claimed it had destroyed a large depot of US and EU-gifted weapons in Ternopil oblast.
Friend of Moroccan man condemned to death by pro-Russian separatists calls decision ‘inhuman’
Sunday 12 June 2022 09:45 , Rory Sullivan
Pro-Russian separatists’ decision to sentence a Moroccan man to death for fighting for Ukraine is “inhuman”, one of his friends has said.
Saaudun Braham, 21, was given the sentence on Thursday along with Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner. He was formerly a student at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in the Ukrainian capital.
Dmytro Khrabstov, 20, who knows Mr Brahim from Kyiv, told the PA news agency: “(Mr Brahim) is a bright and enthusiastic guy, dreaming about the technology of the future and how he could change things.
“There is no place in this world for execution. It’s inhuman. I (have) lost all words,” he added.
Mr Khrabstov also said his friend enlisted in the army to help his adopted country. “He felt himself a warrior, a defender; that’s why he wanted to join the military. He wanted to become a part of it.”
More than 32,000 Russian soldiers killed, Ukrainian army claims
Sunday 12 June 2022 09:26 , Rory Sullivan
The Ukrainian army has said it has killed more than 32,000 Russian soldiers since 24 February.
The Independent is unable to verify the claim.
The Kremlin has been quiet since 25 March about its troops’ death toll. It suggested that 1,351 Russian soldiers were killed in the first month of the war.
Cyprus tourism buffeted by Ukraine war
Sunday 12 June 2022 09:07 , Rory Sullivan
Before Vladimir Putin launched full-scale war against Ukraine, Cyprus saw an estimated 800,000 Russian and Ukrainian visitors each year.
This number is now obviously much reduced.
“We’ve had many worshippers from these two countries fighting today,” Archimandrite Agathonikos told the Associated Press news agency. “I wish and pray to our Virgin that these two peoples who fight today are shown the way to peace — the faithful in both countries should pray for that.”
Elsewhere on Mediterranean island, Vassos Xidias, who runs a seafood restaurant, said his business was taking 50 per cent less income. “There’s a huge problem in our work,” he said. “Now, we’ll see how much this will be covered by the European market and others.”
Russian McDonald’s replacement set to open restaurants in Moscow
Sunday 12 June 2022 08:43 , Rory Sullivan
McDonald’s announced last month that it was pulling out of Russia because of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
It sold its restaurants to a Russian businessman Alexander Govor, who had previously been one of the US firm’s franchise partners in the country.
After unveiling a new logo earlier this week, his company will open stores in Moscow today.
Children injured in Russian attack on western Ukraine, says Ternopil governor
Sunday 12 June 2022 08:19 , Rory Sullivan
Civilians were injured in a Russian attack on western Ukraine on Saturday, the governor of Ternopil province has said.
Volodymyr Trush did not specify how many people were hurt, but said children were among those who sustained injuries, according to a report in the Kyiv Independent.
Sri Lanka may need to buy more Russian oil, PM admits
Sunday 12 June 2022 07:54 , Rory Sullivan
As Sri Lanka grapples with a deep economic crisis, it may need to buy more oil from Russia, its new prime minister has admitted.
Violent protests rocked the island nation last month amid food and fuel shortages, forcing out Mahinda Rajapaksa, Ranil Wickremesinghe’s predecessor.
Speaking about oil to AP, Mr Wickremesinghe said: “If we can get from any other sources, we will get from there. Otherwise (we) may have to go to Russia again.”
“Sometimes we may not know what oil we are buying. Certainly we are looking at the Gulf as our main supply,” he added.
Russia extending plans for long war in Donbas, says Ukraine
Sunday 12 June 2022 07:30 , Rory Sullivan
The Russian army is extending its plan to wage a long war of attrition in the Donbas, according to Ukrainian military intelligence.
In its latest briefing on the war in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US think tank, said Russian mobilisation remains “poor”.
In late March, the Kremlin announced that 134,500 recruits would be conscripted into its army as part of the spring draft.
Ukraine forces run low on ammunition amid ‘street-to-street’ fighting with Russians
Sunday 12 June 2022 05:58 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Ukrainian forces are running out of ammunition as Russia steps up its intense bombardment, officials said on Saturday, amid reports of street-to-street fighting in the town of Sievierodonetsk.
Vitaly Kim, governor of the Mykolaiv region on the southern front line, said Vladimir Putin’s forces were much more powerful, and asked for more international help.
Read the full story by Alastair Jamieson here:
Ukraine forces run low on ammunition amid ‘street-to-street’ fighting with Russians
Ukraine claims it still controls Sievierodonetsk plant sheltering hundreds
Sunday 12 June 2022 05:28 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Ukraine authorities have claimed that it is still in control of an industrial area in Sievierodonetsk — where heavy fighting continues — and the chemical plant where hundreds are sheltering from Russian shelling.
Serhiy Gaidai, the region’s governor, had earlier said that Russian forces controlled much of Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk province.
A Russia-backed separatist group had also claimed on Saturday that some 300-400 Ukrainian fighters were trapped in the Azot plant. Some 800 people, including employees of the chemical plant and residents of Sievierodonetsk, are hiding in Azot plant.
Mr Gaidai confirmed on Telegram that “the information about the blockade of the Azot plant is a lie. Our forces are holding an industrial zone of Sievierodonetsk and are destroying the Russian army in the town.”
Russia in control of much of Sievierodonetsk, governor of Luhansk says
Sunday 12 June 2022 05:17 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Russian forces are now in control of much of Sievierodonetsk, CNN reported.
“The situation remains difficult. Fighting continues, but unfortunately, most of the city is under Russian control. Some positional battles are taking place in the streets,” Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk region said.
Mr Haidai said on Saturday that Russian forces were using “highly destructive thermobaric rocket artillery.”
“Unfortunately, enemy artillery is simply dismantling floor-to-floor buildings that are used as shelters. In this sense, it is difficult because the enemy will be knocked out of one street, and then they will start dismantling neighbourhoods house by house with tanks, artillery and grads,” the governor said.
Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, praised Ukrainian forces in the region and said that he was “proud of our defenders who could stop the advance of these hostile people, these occupiers, for many weeks and keep our defence strong.”
He had said earlier that “Sievierodonetsk remains the epicentre of the confrontation in Donbas.”
“This is a very fierce battle, very difficult … Probably one of the most difficult throughout this war,” he added. “In many ways, the fate of our Donbas is being decided there.”
Russia handing out passports in occupied Ukrainian cities
Sunday 12 June 2022 04:43 , Maroosha Muzaffar
The Russian occupation authorities said on Saturday that they have started to hand out Russian passports to locals in Kherson and Melitopol.
Ukraine has, meanwhile, condemned this “Russification” of Ukrainian citizens.
Tass news agency reported that 23 residents of Kherson got Russian passports at a ceremony on Saturday.
The agency claims that thousands have applied for the passports. But BBC said that the reports couldn’t be verified.
Volodymyr Saldo, the Russian-appointed governor in Kherson said: “All our Khersonite comrades want to receive the passport and [Russian] citizenship as soon as possible.”
Ukraine has said that this Russian decree is “legally void.”
War guilt and last kisses: A deceptive, uneasy calm for Kyiv
Sunday 12 June 2022 03:30 , Joe Middleton
In the outdoor gym on Venice Beach, the name given to an inviting stretch of sand on the majestic Dnieper River that courses through the capital of Ukraine, Serhiy Chornyi is working on his summer body, up-down-up-downing a chunky hunk of iron.
The aim of his sweat and toil isn’t to impress the girls in their bright summer bikinis. Working out is part of his contribution to Ukraine’s all-hands-on-deck war effort: The National Guardsman expects to be sent eastward to the battlefields soon and doesn’t want to take his paunch with him for the fight against Russia’s invasion force.
“I’m here to get in shape. To be able to help my friends with whom I’ll be,” the 32-year-old said. “I feel that my place is there now. … There is only one thing left: to defend. There is no other option, only one road.”
War guilt and last kisses: A deceptive, uneasy calm for Kyiv
ICYMI: Robert Jenrick says a ‘prisoner swap’ will save Britons sentenced to death in Russia
Sunday 12 June 2022 02:30 , Joe Middleton
ICYMI: Putin’s bodyguards ‘collect his excrement on trips abroad and take it back to Russia with them’
Sunday 12 June 2022 01:30 , Joe Middleton
Vladimir Putin’s bodyguards bag up his excrement while he is abroad so it can be brought back Russia, according to a report.
The bizarre claim was first reported in French news magazine Paris Match by two veteran investigative journalists.
According to the report, members of the Russian president’s Federal Protection Service (FPS) are responsible for collecting his bodily waste in specialised packets which are then placed in a dedicated briefcase for the journey home.
Chiara Giordano reports.
Putin’s bodyguards ‘collect his excrement on trips abroad and take it back to Russia’
Ukraine forces run low on ammunition amid ‘street-to-street’ fighting with Russians
Sunday 12 June 2022 00:30 , Joe Middleton
Ukrainian forces are running out of ammunition as Russia steps up its intense bombardment, officials said on Saturday amid reports of street-to-street fighting in the town of Sievierodonetsk.
Vitaly Kim, governor of the Mykolaiv region on the southern frontline, said Vladimir Putin’s forces were much more powerful and asked for more international help.
“For now, this is a war of artillery … and we are out of ammo,” he said. “The help of Europe and America is very, very important because we just need ammo to defend our country.”
Alastair Jamieson reports.
Ukraine forces run low on ammunition amid ‘street-to-street’ fighting with Russians
ICYMI: Defence minister Ben Wallace meets with Zelensky in Kyiv to discuss war efforts
Saturday 11 June 2022 23:30 , Joe Middleton
How might the Government free the two captured Britons?
Saturday 11 June 2022 22:30 , Joe Middleton
A relative of one of the Britons sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces has begged the Government to “do everything in their power to have them returned to us safely, and soon”.
But why are Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner being treated as criminals, and what can ministers do to help them?
Ukraine: How might the Government free the two captured Britons?
Ukraine forces run low on ammunition amid ‘street-to-street’ fighting with Russians
Saturday 11 June 2022 21:30 , Joe Middleton
Ukrainian forces are running out of ammunition as Russia steps up its intense bombardment, officials said on Saturday, amid reports of street-to-street fighting in the town of Sievierodonetsk.
Vitaly Kim, governor of the Mykolaiv region on the southern front line, said Vladimir Putin’s forces were much more powerful, and asked for more international help.
“For now, this is a war of artillery … and we are out of ammo,” he said. “The help of Europe and America is very, very important, because we just need ammo to defend our country.”
Ukraine forces run low on ammunition amid ‘street-to-street’ fighting with Russians
The oligarch who could hold key to fate of Britons facing death sentence
Saturday 11 June 2022 20:30 , Joe Middleton
Putin has a favour to ask that could be tied to the case of two men jailed in Donetsk, says Kim Sengupta.
The oligarch could hold key to fate of death sentence Britons
Russian shelling of Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk causes fire, says region’s governor
Saturday 11 June 2022 19:57 , Joe Middleton
Russian shelling of the Azot chemical plant in the embattled Ukraine city of Sievierodonetsk caused a powerful fire to break out after a leak of tonnes of radiator oil, Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Saturday.
Speaking on national television, Gaidai did not say if the fire at the plant, where hundreds of civilians are sheltering, had been extinguished. Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Gaidai said was non-stop fighting was underway in Sievierodonetsk, a small city in Luhansk province that has become the focus of Russia’s advance in eastern Ukraine.
“Unfortunately, the enemy’s artillery is simply taking apart, floor by floor, buildings that are being used as shelters,” Gaidai said. Russia denies targeting civilians.
ICYMI: ‘I won’t give up’, Zelensky tells UK students
Saturday 11 June 2022 19:30 , Joe Middleton
Volodymyr Zelensky has addressed student Ukrainian societies across the UK pledging that he would not give up or “concede”. territory to Russia.
Ukraine’s president spoke to student societies at Birmingham University, Coventry, London School of Economics, UCL, City of London, Oxford, Cambridge, and Glasgow and Manchester over video-link and urged them to help rebuild his country once victory was assured.
Moderator Matt Frei, from Channel 4 News, asked President Zelensky whether there was a stage of the invasion where he would need to cede territory to the Russians given the loss of life in the eastern Donbas region.
‘I won’t give up’, Zelensky tells UK students
UK military: Russia using anti-ship missiles on land targets
Saturday 11 June 2022 18:30 , Joe Middleton
Russian bombers have likely been launching 1960s-era heavy, anti-ship missiles meant to destroy aircraft carriers with nuclear warheads against land targets in Ukraine, a British military intelligence report said Saturday.
It said the 5.5-ton Kh-22 missiles, when used in ground attacks with conventional warheads, are highly inaccurate and can cause severe collateral damage and casualties.
Russia is likely using such weapons because it is running short of more precise modern missiles, Britain’s Defense Ministry said in a daily update.
UK military: Russia using anti-ship missiles on land targets
Victims of Russian invasion buried in fields of nameless graves in Mariupol
Saturday 11 June 2022 17:30 , Joe Middleton
ICYMI: Liz Truss in talks with Ukraine over fate of Britons sentenced to death by Russian separatists
Saturday 11 June 2022 16:29 , Joe Middleton
Liz Truss has condemned the death sentence passed on two Britons as “an egregious breach of the Geneva Convention” as she held talks with her Ukrainian counterpart in a bid to secure their release.
The foreign secretary reaffirmed Britain’s support for Kyiv against “Putin’s barbaric invasion” after talking to Dmytro Kuleba over the case of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner who were convicted by pro-Russian separatists in what has widely been dismissed as a show trial.
Earlier, Boris Johnson condemned the “sham” convictions and said he was “appalled” at the sentencing.
Ashley Cowburn and Adam Forrest.
Truss in talks with Ukraine over death sentence Britons
Ukraine restores internet link between IAEA and occupied nuclear power plant
Saturday 11 June 2022 15:50 , Rory Sullivan
The internet connection between the International Atomic Energy Agency and a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia has been restored, Ukraine has announced.
The site, which is occupied by Russian troops, lost its connection on 30 May. It was restored on 10 June, according to the Ukrainian state nuclear firm Energoatom.
This means the IAEA can monitor the plant’s data.
Ukraine launches counterattack near Kherson
Saturday 11 June 2022 15:40 , Rory Sullivan
Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive in southern Ukraine, according to Kherson City Council.
It said that the Ukrainian army were attacking in the direction of Kyselivka, Soldatske, and Oleksandrivka.
Kherson has been in Russian hands since early in the war.
Editorial: The two British hostages put the UK in an impossible position
Saturday 11 June 2022 15:10 , Rory Sullivan
Pro-Russian separatists handed down death sentences to Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner earlier this week.
In this editorial, The Independent looks at the difficulties the British government faces over the issue:
Editorial: The two British hostages put the UK in an impossible situation
Russia using anti-ship missiles against land targets, says UK
Saturday 11 June 2022 14:50 , Rory Sullivan
#icymi
Russia is using outdated anti-ship missiles against land targets in Ukraine, a sign that it is running low on more precise weapons, the UK has suggested.
Read more here:
UK military: Russia using anti-ship missiles on land targets
All of Europe a ‘target’ for Russia, warns Zelensky
Saturday 11 June 2022 14:40 , Rory Sullivan
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that “all of Europe is a target for Russia”.
“This is why a positive EU response to the Ukrainian application for membership can be a positive answer to the question of whether the European project has a future at all,” he said.
Mr Zelensky made the comments during a meeting with European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen in Kyiv. She told him the EU executive’s opinion on Ukraine’s membership bid will be ready by the end of next week.
“You have done a lot in strengthening the rule of law but there is still need for reforms to be implemented, to fight corruption for example,” she told the Ukrainian president.
Macron will not offer concessions to Russia, France insists
Saturday 11 June 2022 14:30 , Rory Sullivan
France has insisted that it wants Ukraine to defeat Russia, shortly after French president Emmanuel Macron was criticised for suggesting that Vladimir Putin must not be “humiliated” if peace is to be achieved.
“As the president has said, we want a Ukrainian victory. We want Ukraine’s territorial integrity to be restored,” an official in the Macron administration said.
The French president has attempted to promote peace in calls with Mr Putin in recent months.
“There is no spirit of concession towards Putin or Russia in what the president says. When he speaks to him directly, it is not compromise, but to say how we see things,” the official added.
South Korean man to be sentenced by Russian-backed separatists
Saturday 11 June 2022 14:10 , Rory Sullivan
A South Korean man will soon be sentenced for fighting for Ukraine, a pro-Russian separatist has said.
“A verdict is being prepared now on a mercenary from South Korea. He is their citizen who fought for the armed forces of Ukraine,” Natalia Nikonorova said.
The announcement comes just days after two British men and one Moroccan man received death sentences in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), which is controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
Russia destroys up to 300,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain, says Kyiv
Saturday 11 June 2022 13:50 , Rory Sullivan
Russia destroyed up to 300,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain when it shelled warehouses last weekend, Kyiv has said.
Appearing on national television, the deputy Ukrainian agriculture minister Taras Vysotskyi said the sites in the port city of Mykolaiv held between 250,000 and 300,000 tonnes of cereals, including wheat and corn.
Family of Briton sentenced to death by pro-Russian separatists in ‘show trial’ call for his release
Saturday 11 June 2022 13:29 , Rory Sullivan
The family of a British man sentenced to death by pro-Russian separatists have condemned his “show trial” and called for his release.
Shaun Pinner is one of three foreign nationals who received the sentence from a court in a Russian-held part of Ukraine.
His relatives said in a statement: “Firstly, our whole family is devastated and saddened at the outcome of the illegal show trial by the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic.
“Shaun should be accorded all the rights of a prisoner of war according to the Geneva Convention and including full independent legal representation. We sincerely hope that all parties will co-operate urgently to ensure the safe release or exchange of Shaun.”
[ad_2]
Source link