Summary
That concludes today’s updates on the Russia-Ukraine war. Here’s what happened:
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it was “critically important” for the US to provide additional military aid to Ukraine, during a meeting with US senator Lindsey Graham on Monday. “It is critically important for us that the Congress soon completes all the necessary procedures and makes a final decision … which will strengthen the Ukrainian economy and our armed forces,” Zelenskiy said in a statement, AFP reported.
Putin declared the Donbas and other occupied areas as the “New Russia” during a speech in Moscow’s Red Square remarks to mark his re-election and the 10th anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, BBC reported. Putin added that a new rail link is being built through parts of occupied Ukraine, noting that those regions have “declared their desire to return to their native family”.
Putin added that Crimea returned ‘to our common family’ during his remarks. “Through decades, they carried faith in their fatherland. They never separated themselves from Russia and that’s what allowed Crimea to return to our common family,” he said.
Putin also compared Crimea to an aircraft carrier that returned to its “home harbor”. “Ten years ago here, in the Red Square, on this very stage, I recalled that Crimea is often called an unsinkable aircraft carrier and it is appropriate to say that Crimea has returned to the home harbor,” Putin said.
An independent Russian vote monitoring group has said that the presidential election that Vladimir Putin won in a landslide with nearly 90% of the vote was the most fraudulent and corrupt in the country’s history. Golos (Voice) said the three-day election that ended on Sunday could not be considered genuine because “the campaign took place in a situation where the fundamental articles of the Russian constitution, guaranteeing political rights and freedoms, were essentially not in effect”. “Never before have we seen a presidential campaign that fell so far short of constitutional standards,” the group said in a statement.
That’s it for today. Thank you for reading.
Here’s more information on Western reaction to Putin’s election from the Guardian’s Pjotr Sauer.
Updated
EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell said that EU foreign ministers strongly support taking revenue from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, but no consensus has been reached, Reuters reported.
“I am not saying there was unanimity but [there was] a strong consensus to take this decision,” Borrell said on Monday to reporters following a meeting with the ministers held in Brussels.
Updated
