Catch up
- Russia has taken control of the Azovstal steel plant, the country’s defence ministry said on Friday evening. Ukrainian soldiers had finally ended their defence of the site in Mariupol, according to the commander of Ukraine’s Azov regiment, Denys Prokopenko. In a video statement, Prokopenko said civilians and heavily wounded Ukrainian fighters have been evacuated from the plant. The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said the Ukrainian combatants would be treated in line with international norms for prisoners of war, though several senior Russian politicians demanded this week they be put on trial and one even called for their execution.
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Intense fighting has been reported around the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk as Russian forces appear to be stepping up an offensive to encircle its Ukrainian defenders. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk – known collectively as the Donbas – were being turned into “hell” and warned that what he called the “final stage of the war” would be the bloodiest.
- Russian troops fired on a school in Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region, killing three adults, according to a Ukrainian official. More than 200 people, including children, were sheltering at the school when the attack took place this morning, the head of the Luhansk regional state administration, Serhiy Haidai, said.
- At least seven people, including a child, have been injured in a Russian missile attack on the town of Lozova in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, according to reports. The missile had targeted “the newly renovated House of Culture” in Lozova, Zelenskiy said in a statement on social media.
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Zelenskiy has condemned the airstrike in the Kharkiv region, describing the attack as “absolute evil, absolute stupidity”. In his nightly address, Zelenskiy appealed to allies to hold Russia financially responsible for its aggression and called for “the prosecution of all Russian war criminals”.
- A Ukrainian fighter who shared a series of powerful photographs while defending the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol appears to have been taken captive by Russian forces. Dmytro Kozatskyi posted a link to a Google drive containing images he had taken of inside the plant, writing: “Well, that’s all. Thank you from the shelter, Azovstal is the place of my death and my life.”
- G7 industrialised nations have pledged $19.8bn (£15.9bn or €18.7bn) to bolster Ukraine’s public finances as Kyiv battles Russia’s invasion. Germany’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, told reporters that $9.5bn of the total was mobilised at meetings of the G7 finance ministers in Koenigswinter, Germany, this week.
- Russian gas giant Gazprom’s exporting arm, Gazprom Export, has confirmed it will suspend gas sales for Finnish state-owned gas wholesaler, Gasum, starting from Saturday. The Gasum CEO, Mika Wiljanen, described the news as “regrettable” and sought to reassure customers that there would be enough gas in the coming months.
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Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he will speak to Finland tomorrow regarding its bid to join Nato and maintained his opposition to Finland and Sweden’s membership bids. Erdoğan told reporters he had discussed the issue with the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, and that he would also be speaking to Britain tomorrow.
- A Russian tank commander who pleaded guilty earlier this week to shooting dead an unarmed Ukrainian civilian has said he will accept any punishment from the court. Vadim Shysimarin, 21, told courtroom No 201 of the Kyiv tribunal that he “was nervous about what was going on” on the day 62-year-old Oleksandr Shelipov died and that he “didn’t want to kill”, on the third day of the first war crimes trial resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
- The United States has accused Russia of holding the world’s food supply hostage amid growing fears of famine in developing countries. Dmitry Medvedev, a former president of Russia, warned that Russia would not continue food supplies unless the west eased its sanctions on the Kremlin.
- Senior Russian officials have proposed a new law that would eliminate age limits for military contract soldiers, in another sign the country is facing a shortage of infantry to continue its offensive in Ukraine. Currently, Russians aged 18-40 and foreigners aged 18-30 can enter into a first contract with the army.
– Léonie Chao-Fong, Gloria Oladipo, Pjotr Sauer, Maanvi Singh
Updated
Moody’s, the ratings agency, lowered Ukraine’s debt rating again.
Here’s a bit from AFP:
Moody’s on Friday cut Ukraine’s debt rating for the second time in three months and lowered the outlook to negative due to the growing risk the Russian invasion will affect the nation’s debt sustainability.
The ratings agency cut the grade a notch to Caa3, after lowering it two notches from B3 in early March, saying the country could face “a more protracted military conflict than Moody’s initially expected” following the invasion in late February.
That “increases the likelihood of a debt restructuring and losses being imposed on private-sector creditors,” the statement said.
Despite large financial support from the international community to help with immediate needs, “the resulting significant rise in government debt is likely to prove unsustainable over the medium term” and could “impede further access to official financing.”
The US Congress on Thursday approved a gargantuan $40-billion aid package for Ukraine to help fight Russia and keep the government operating, after a $14-billion package in March.
The International Monetary Fund in March approved a $1.4-billion aid package for the war-torn country, while the World Bank has approved a loan of $350 million as part of a total package of more than $700 million.
Thousands in Latvia have rallied, calling for a Soviet-era monument to be destroyed, the AFP reports:
The monument has become a rallying point in the Baltic state, to call for the World War II memorial to be destroyed.
“Such monuments commemorating oppressive regimes are a form of pollution. Not for the environment but rather for heads and minds,” Girts Kalnins, who organised the demonstration, told AFP.
Protesters could be seen carrying placards reading “Support Ukrainians” and “Our land, Our rules” and waved Latvian and Ukrainian flags.
Local media reported around 10,000 participants.
“If we finally got rid of the final remaining Soviet monuments, Latvia will finally lose that unlucky ‘post-Soviet’ name,” said Kaspars Zemitis, a jazz guitarist, before playing at the rally.
A crowdfunding effort to destroy the 79-metre high monument, which was built in 1985, has raised more than 250,000 euros ($263,000).
The city council has given a preliminary go-ahead for the structure to be taken down.
“Over the decades, that monument has turned from a war memorial into a meeting place for those who justify Russian war crimes in Ukraine,” said Martins Krusts, an economist.
Every year, thousands of ethnic Russians living in Latvia, who make up 30 percent of the population, rally at the monument on May 9 to commemorate the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
Updated
In his nightly address, Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to allies to hold Russia financially responsible for its aggression, and called for “the prosecution of all Russian war criminals”.
He said:
First of all, liberation. We must fight until we clear our land of the occupiers and guarantee Ukraine’s security.
Secondly, it is the prosecution of all Russian war criminals. In the Ukrainian courts, in the international tribunal and just on the battlefield while the war continues.
But, thirdly, we are working to ensure that Russia compensates in one way or another for everything it has destroyed in Ukraine. Every burned house. Every ruined school, ruined hospital. Each blown up house of culture and infrastructure facility. Every destroyed enterprise. Every shut down business, every hryvnia lost by people, enterprises, communities and the state.
Updated
Pjotr Sauer and Peter Beaumont report:
The last group of Ukrainian soldiers holed up in the smashed Azovstal steel works has surrendered, Russia’s defence ministry said late on Friday, marking an end to the three-month siege of the defenders’ last stronghold in Mariupol.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said the combatants would be treated in line with international norms for prisoners of war, though several senior Russian politicians demanded this week they be put on trial and one even called for their execution.
Earlier this week, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had registered “hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners of war” from the Azovstal plant and asked for immediate access to them.
“In accordance with the mandate given to the ICRC by states under the 1949 Geneva conventions, the ICRC must have immediate access to all PoWs in all places where they are held,” the the Geneva-based humanitarian agency said.
With its urban areas sprawling along the coastline of the Sea of Azov, the besieged city of Mariupol has become a symbol of the worst violence in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
It was one of the first major cities to be encircled and viewed as one of the Kremlin’s key objectives both for its economic importance and as a stepping stone in building a land bridge from Russia to Russian-occupied Crimea.
The city has been subjected to weeks of punishing Russian shell fire, which has targeted health facilities, including the city’s maternity hospitals. In March, hundreds of people are believed to have been killed when the Donetsk regional drama theatre was bombed.
Updated
The Russian Justice Ministry added chess champion Garry Kasparov and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky to a list of individuals acting as foreign agents, reports Reuters.
According to the ministry’s website, Kasparov and Khodorkovsky were added today. Both are prominent critics of the Russian government.
On the website, Ukraine was mentioned as a source of financing for Khodorkovsky, a public critic of Russia president Vladimir Putin. The website also alleged that Kasparov’s funds were sourced from Ukraine and the Human Rights Foundation.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has condemned an airstrike today that hit a cultural center in the Kharkiv region, describing the attack as “absolute evil, absolute stupidity.”
Zelenskiy posted the video of the moment a historical building in the town of Lozova was stuck on his Telegram channel, alleging that Russian forces were responsible for the attack.
Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said eight people had been wounded, including an 11-year-old girl.
US vice president Kamala Harris had a phone call with France president Emmanuel Macron about how to support Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion, among other issues.
Here is a readout of the phone call from the vice president’s office:
Vice President Kamala Harris today spoke with President Emmanuel Macron of France. The Vice President reiterated her strong support for the close alliance between the United States and France, and congratulated the President on his recent re-election.
Vice President Harris and President Macron discussed their determination to continue to support the people of Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion, as well as the global food and security challenges exacerbated by the conflict.
In the aftermath of the horrific mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, they discussed the importance of combatting the epidemic of hate, violence, and racism in both countries and around the world.
Russia has taken control of the Azovstal steel plant, the country’s defence ministry said on Friday evening.
“Underground structures of Azovstal where militants were hiding are now under full control of Russian armed forces,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that in total 2,439 Ukrainian fighters have surrendered.
Pro-Kremlin telegram channels also released a video with Sergei Volynsky, the commander of the 36th Marine Brigade unit, in which he said that his unit has surrendered. The unit was one of the main forces defending the steelworks.
If confirmed, the full abandonment of the bunkers and tunnels of the bombed-out plant would signify the end of the destructive siege that has been going on for two months.
Russia earlier said that over 900 Ukrainian troops who were at Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steel plant have been sent to a prison colony on Russian-controlled territory.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said the combatants would be treated in line with international norms for PoWs, though several senior Russian politicians demanded this week they be put on trial and one even called for their execution.
Updated
A Bosnia Serb nationalist leader has said that Bosnia cannot join EU sanctions against Russia in order to stay neutrality, reports Reuters.
Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik told European Council President Charles Michel on Friday that Bosnia needs to maintain neutrality and not join EU sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Michel visited Bosnia as part of his short tour of the Western Balkan countries aimed at reaffirming the bloc’s support for their EU integration plans and to invite them to join a new EU geopolitical community in light of the ongoing political and economic challenges.
While embracing the EU’s renewed commitment to supporting Bosnia’s path to joining the bloc, Dodik, who is a Serb member of the country’s three-man inter-ethnic presidency, used the opportunity to outline the stance of Bosnian Serbs towards the war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.
“I think it is of utmost importance for Bosnia to remain neutral,” Dodik said at a joint news conference with Michel and presidency Bosniak chairman Sefik Dzaferovic. “In conditions in which we exist, it would be a problem for us to impose any kind of sanctions and join the EU or global sanctions.”
Dodik was speaking on behalf of the Bosnian Serbs, who have been nurturing close ties with Russia based on their common Orthodox Christian religion, as has Serbia which also refused to impose sanctions on Russia.
“Besides showing solidarity with the European Union in this regard, I think that we could have grave economic consequences that would be multiplied compared to EU countries which have collective security mechanisms,” Dodik said.
Bosnia’s tripartite presidency has not adopted a common stance on the war in Ukraine but its Bosniak and Croat members have strongly condemned the Russian invasion and supported all EU decisions.’
Twenty-seven years after the end of a war that claimed about 100,000 lives, the three nationalist ethnic elites are keeping the Balkan country politically divided and prone to endemic corruption while its citizens are leaving en masse.
Russia has taken control of Azovstal steel plant
This just in: Russia just announced that they have taken control of the Azovstal steel plant. More details to come.
Updated
Russia has not used laser weaponry in Ukraine, said the US Pentagon today, reports Reuters.
After Russia claimed that it was fielding laser technology that could strike enemy drones, Pentagon officials quickly disputed the claim, saying that Russia has not used such technology before.
“We don’t have any indication of the use of lasers, at least weaponized lasers, in Ukraine. Nothing to confirm on that,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby during a news briefing.
Updated
A semi-naked demonstrator protesting sexual violence in Ukraine was escorted off the red carpet at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, reports Reuters.
Activist Crashes Cannes Red Carpet to Protest Rape in Ukraine https://t.co/uyT3jissSz pic.twitter.com/I3yOu7YdDS
— Jezebel (@Jezebel) May 20, 2022
While on the red carpet, the unidentified women tore off her gown, revealing the Ukrainian flag colours and the words “STOP RAPING US” written on her abdomen. Red handprints were also painted on her buttocks.
Security officials quickly wrapped a jacket around the woman and removed her from the red carpet.
A US consular officer visited detained basketball player Brittney Griner in Russia yesterday, reports Reuters.
State department spokesperson Ned Price commented on the visit today, saying:
The consular officer found her continuing to do as well as could be expected under these exceedingly challenging circumstances.
Following the visit, the US has insisted that Russia give the US regular access to Griner and other detainees.
Updated
Here’s more on intense fighting in near the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk from the Guardian’s Peter Beaumont:
Intense fighting has been reported around the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk as Russian forces appear to be stepping up an offensive to encircle its Ukrainian defenders.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk – known collectively as the Donbas – were being turned into “hell” and warned that what he called the “final stage of the war” would be the bloodiest.
“In Donbas, the occupiers are trying to increase pressure. There’s hell, and that’s not an exaggeration,” Zelenskiy said. “The brutal and absolutely pointless bombing of Severodonetsk … 12 dead and dozens wounded in just one day. The bombing and shelling of other cities, the air and missile strikes of the Russian army – all this is not just hostilities during the war.”
According to multiple sources, Russian troops were pushing west of the Russian-occupied town of Popasna and also attempting to gain ground to the north of Severodonetsk, advancing more than 10km in at least one region with residents fleeing under shellfire.
The focus of the main Russian advance appeared to be the town of Soledar amid speculation that their initial aim was to cut one of the main supply routes to thousands of Ukrainian defenders, who are outnumbered by Russian forces.
Read the full article here.
Summary
It is 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
- Intense fighting has been reported around the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk as Russian forces appear to be stepping up an offensive to encircle its Ukrainian defenders. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk – known collectively as the Donbas – were being turned into “hell” and warned that what he called the “final stage of the war” would be the bloodiest.
- Russian troops fired on a school in Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region, killing three adults, according to a Ukrainian official. More than 200 people, including children, were sheltering at the school when the attack took place this morning, the head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, Serhiy Haidai, said.
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At least seven people, including a child, have been injured in a Russian missile attack on the town of Lozova in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, according to reports. The missile had targeted “the newly-renovated House of Culture” in Lozova, Zelenskiy said in a statement on social media.
- Ukrainian soldiers have finally ended their defence of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, according to the commander of Ukraine’s Azov regiment, Denys Prokopenko. In a video statement, Prokopenko said civilians and heavily wounded Ukrainian fighters have been evacuated from the plant.
- A Ukrainian fighter who shared a series of powerful photographs while defending the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol appears to have been taken captive by Russian forces. Dmytro Kozatskyi posted a link to a Google drive containing images he had taken of inside the plant, writing: “Well, that’s all. Thank you from the shelter, Azovstal is the place of my death and my life.”
- G7 industrialised nations have pledged $19.8bn (£15.9bn or €18.7bn) to bolster Ukraine’s public finances as Kyiv battles Russia’s invasion. Germany’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, told reporters that $9.5bn of the total was mobilised at meetings of the G7 finance ministers in Koenigswinter, Germany, this week.
- Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, warned that Moscow is f0rming 12 new units in its western military district in response to Finland and Sweden’s Nato bid. He also said that almost 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers who were barricaded in Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks have surrendered so far. The number of combatants who have surrendered has not been independently verified.
- Russian gas giant Gazprom’s exporting arm, Gazprom Export, has confirmed it will suspend gas sales for Finnish state-owned gas wholesaler, Gasum, starting from Saturday. Gasum CEO, Mika Wiljanen, described the news as “regrettable” and sought to reassure customers that there would be enough gas in the coming months.
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Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he will speak to Finland tomorrow regarding its bid to join Nato and maintained his opposition to Finland and Sweden’s membership bids. Erdoğan told reporters he had discussed the issue with the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, and that he would also be speaking to Britain tomorrow.
- A Russian tank commander who pleaded guilty earlier this week to shooting dead an unarmed Ukrainian civilian has said he will accept any punishment from the court. Vadim Shysimarin, 21, told courtroom No 201 of the Kyiv tribunal that he “was nervous about what was going on” on the day 62-year-old Oleksandr Shelipov died and that he “didn’t want to kill” on the third day of the first war crimes trial resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
- The United States has accused Russia of holding the world’s food supply hostage amid growing fears of famine in developing countries. Dmitry Medvedev, a former president of Russia, warned that Russia would not continue food supplies unless the west eased its sanctions on the Kremlin.
- Senior Russian officials have proposed a new law that would eliminate age limits for military contract soldiers, in another sign the country is facing a shortage of infantry to continue its offensive in Ukraine. Currently, Russians aged 18-40 and foreigners aged 18-30 can enter into a first contract with the army.
That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, as I hand the blog over to my colleague, Gloria Oladipo, in New York. I will be back on Monday. Thank you.
Russia may scrap age limits for soldiers to bolster Ukraine invasion force
Senior Russian officials have proposed a new law that would eliminate age limits for military contract soldiers, in another sign the country is facing a shortage of infantry to continue its offensive in Ukraine.
Two members of the ruling United Russia party who introduced the law said the move would enable the military to utilise the skills of older professionals.
“For the use of high-precision weapons, the operation of weapons and military equipment, highly professional specialists are needed. Experience shows that they become such by the age of 40-45,” it said.
Currently, Russians aged 18-40 and foreigners aged 18-30 can enter into a first contract with the army.
The lawmakers added that the proposed legislation would also make it easier to recruit civilian medics, engineers and operations and communications specialists.
Military experts say Russia is facing unsustainable troop and equipment losses in Ukraine after a series of military setbacks that have forced Moscow to reduce its war aims.
Russia initially put about 80% of its main ground combat forces – 150,000 men – into the war in February, according to western officials. In the 82 days since, it has “suffered losses of one third of the ground combat force it committed,” British military intelligence claimed last week.
The Russian military has also faced issues of low morale among its troops, as reports have emerged that hundreds of troops are unwilling to fight in what Russia calls its “special military operation”.
“Russia lacks sufficient ground units with contract soldiers for a sustainable rotation. The troops are getting exhausted – they won’t be able to keep this up for a long period,” said Rob Lee, a military analyst.
The US has accused Russia of holding the world’s food supply hostage during the Ukraine crisis, amid growing fears of famine in developing countries.
Speaking at a UN security council meeting, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, demanded Russia lift its blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and enable the flow of food and fertiliser around the world.
At least seven people, including a child, have been injured in a Russian missile attack on the town of Lozova in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, according to reports.
The missile had targeted “the newly-renovated House of Culture” in Lozova, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in a statement on social media.
A video of the attack shared by Zelenskiy showed thick smoke enveloping a large building near residential complexes and passing cars.
Zelenskiy said:
The occupiers have identified culture, education and humanity as their enemies. And they do not spare missiles or bombs.
A statement by the chief of the local emergency medical centre, Viktor Zabashta, said at least seven people, including an 11-year-old child, were injured in the missile attack.
From Ukraine’s culture and information policy minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko:
‼️‼️Today in the middle of the working day, during the session of the city council in Lozova in Kharkiv region, a russian missile hit the recently restored a House of culture. 7 people were injured, the youngest is 11 years old… pic.twitter.com/84I5AXc7I4
— Tkachenko Oleksandr (@otkachenkoua) May 20, 2022
A trip to the mall in Russia is a different experience today than it was just a few short months ago.
“When I had my first child, there was all this choice. Mothercare, Zara, you name it,” said Evgenia Marsheva, a 33-year-old architect. But when she went shopping in Moscow this month for her newborn, many of those large retail brands had been shuttered.
“Now, I can only find very cheap or extremely expensive Russian products. I was brought up with tales of the limited choices that my parents had during the Soviet Union. I never thought that would come back.”
Three months into the war, Russia has become the most sanctioned country in the world, and almost 1,000 foreign brands – the majority of them voluntarily – have curtailed their operations there, according to records kept by the Yale School of Management. The exodus of companies continued this week with McDonald’s officially announcing it would leave Russia after three decades.
Helped by surging prices for oil and gas exports, the Kremlin has so far been able to continue financing its war efforts, with the country spending as much as $300m (£240m) a day on defence last month, double that of the prewar period, according to finance ministry data. Meanwhile, capital controls that Russia imposed to shield its financial sector in late February have made the rouble the world’s best-performing currency.
Yet, for many in Moscow and other Russian cities, the country’s growing political and economic isolation is having a direct impact on their livelihoods.
“Since the conflict started, every step in the production line is a struggle,” said Vladimir Kukushkin, a director of a printing company in Ekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city.
France’s foreign ministry said it launched its first medical evacuation flight from Poland for wounded Ukrainians and child cancer patients.
The flight today evacuated seven Ukrainians wounded in the war, as well as three Ukrainian children with cancer and their carers, the ministry said in a statement.
The patients will be treated at the expense of France in hospitals across the country, it said.
Gazprom confirms it will halt gas supplies to Finland
Russian gas giant Gazprom’s exporting arm, Gazprom Export, has confirmed it will suspend gas sales for Finnish state-owned gas wholesaler, Gasum, starting from Saturday.
Gazprom Export said the move was because the Finnish company had not paid it for gas delivered in April under new Russian rules requiring settlement in roubles, Reuters reports.
It added that it would defend its interests in arbitration proceedings initiated by the Finnish company.
Updated
Aerial footage appears to show a bridge in eastern Ukraine’s embattled region of Luhansk being blown up.
The video, released by Ukraine’s National Guard on Wednesday, is said to show a joint special operation between Ukraine’s security forces fighting to slow the advance of Russian troops in Luhansk.
The Guardian has independently verified the location, which shows the Borova River Bridge, connecting Severodonetsk and Lysychansk to the city of Rubizhne.
Today so far...
It’s almost 7pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
- Intense fighting has been reported around the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk as Russian forces appear to be stepping up an offensive to encircle its Ukrainian defenders. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk – known collectively as the Donbas – were being turned into “hell” and warned that what he called the “final stage of the war” would be the bloodiest.
- Russian troops fired on a school in Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region, killing three adults, according to a Ukrainian official. More than 200 people, including children, were sheltering at the school when the attack took place this morning, the head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, Serhiy Haidai, said.
- Ukrainian soldiers have finally ended their defence of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, according to the commander of Ukraine’s Azov regiment, Denys Prokopenko. In a video statement, Prokopenko said civilians and heavily wounded Ukrainian fighters have been evacuated from the plant.
- A Ukrainian fighter who shared a series of powerful photographs while defending the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol appears to have been taken captive by Russian forces. Dmytro Kozatskyi posted a link to a Google drive containing images he had taken of inside the plant, writing: “Well, that’s all. Thank you from the shelter, Azovstal is the place of my death and my life.”
- G7 industrialised nations have pledged $19.8bn (£15.9bn or €18.7bn) to bolster Ukraine’s public finances as Kyiv battles Russia’s invasion. Germany’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, told reporters that $9.5bn of the total was mobilised at meetings of the G7 finance ministers in Koenigswinter, Germany, this week.
- Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, warned that Moscow is f0rming 12 new units in its western military district in response to Finland and Sweden’s Nato bid. He also said that almost 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers who were barricaded in Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks have surrendered so far. The number of combatants who have surrendered has not been independently verified.
- Russia will stop gas flows to neighbouring Finland on Saturday morning, Finnish state-owned gas wholesaler Gasum said. Gasum CEO, Mika Wiljanen, described the news as “regrettable” and sought to reassure customers that there would be enough gas in the coming months.
-
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he will speak to Finland tomorrow regarding its bid to join Nato and maintained his opposition to Finland and Sweden’s membership bids. Erdoğan told reporters he had discussed the issue with the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, and that he would also be speaking to Britain tomorrow.
- A Russian tank commander who pleaded guilty earlier this week to shooting dead an unarmed Ukrainian civilian has said he will accept any punishment from the court. Vadim Shysimarin, 21, told courtroom No 201 of the Kyiv tribunal that he “was nervous about what was going on” on the day 62-year-old Oleksandr Shelipov died and that he “didn’t want to kill” on the third day of the first war crimes trial resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
- The United States has accused Russia of holding the world’s food supply hostage amid growing fears of famine in developing countries. Dmitry Medvedev, a former president of Russia, warned that Russia would not continue food supplies unless the west eased its sanctions on the Kremlin.
- US intelligence officials are reportedly sceptical that Vladimir Putin would be persuaded to end the war in Ukraine even if there was a dramatic change in Russian public opinion. Officials also doubt the war is likely to lead to the removal of the Russian president from power, at least in the short term, CNN reports.
Good afternoon from London, I’m Léonie Chao-Fong and I’ll continue to bring you all the latest developments from the war in Ukraine. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Canada has announced additional sanctions on Russian oligarchs as well as a ban on the import and export of targeted luxury goods from Russia.
The latest measures would put restrictions on 14 individuals including Russian oligarchs, their family members, and close associates of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, according to an official statement.
The statement read:
These individuals have directly enabled Vladimir Putin’s senseless war in Ukraine and bear responsibility for the pain and suffering of the people of Ukraine.
The import ban would target Russian goods including alcoholic beverages, seafood, and non-industrial diamonds.
The export ban would target luxury goods such as footwear, luxury clothing and jewellery.
Germany will deliver the first 15 Gepard tanks to Ukraine in July, a defence ministry spokesperson confirmed.
Germany’s defence minister, Christine Lambrecht, had agreed on this delivery in a conversation with her Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksii Reznikov, via video link, the spokesperson added.
Last month, Germany announced that it would for the first time supply Ukraine with heavy weapons, namely Gepard air-defence tanks, after accusations it had initially dragged its heels on heavy weapons deliveries to Kyiv.
Since then, Germany has also pledged seven self-propelled Howitzers to Kyiv and has started training Ukrainian troops on them.
The US embassy in Moscow said he was surprised, but not offended, by a proposal to name a nearby intersection ‘Defenders of Donbas Square’.
Earlier this week, the Russian capital’s city assembly said its members were considering naming the intersection after soldiers fighting alleged “Nazism” in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Kyiv and the West say the allegation of fascism is a baseless pretext for an unprovoked act of aggression.
In response, the US embassy suggested disingenuously that it was to honour Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russian aggression, Reuters reports.
The embassy said:
Surprised but not offended by the Russian government’s proposal to rename a part of downtown Moscow near the U.S. Embassy ‘Defenders of Donbas Square’, presumably in honour of Ukrainian soldiers bravely defending their homeland from Kremlin aggression.
The country should know its heroes.
Russian troops fired on a school in Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region, killing three adults, according to a Ukrainian official.
More than 200 people, including children, were sheltering at the school when the attack took place this morning, the head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, Serhiy Haidai, said.
Writing on Telegram, Haidai said police are trying to transport people to another shelter. Around 11,000 houses, of which almost 3,000 were high-rise buildings, have been “partially or completely destroyed” in Luhansk, he said.
The hospital continues to operate in the city, where several doctors and other staff remain, Ukraine’s Hromadske reports, citing the head of the Severodonetsk military administration, Oleksandr Stryuk.
Russian troops fired on a school in Severodonetsk on the morning of May 20, where people were hiding. Three adults died on the spot — head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration Serhiy Haidai.
— Hromadske Int. (@Hromadske) May 20, 2022
According to him, the occupiers fired artillery. More than 200 people, including children, were sheltered at the school.
— Hromadske Int. (@Hromadske) May 20, 2022
Luhansk police will try to transport people to another shelter.
It has not been able to independently verify this information.
Russian soldier says he will accept punishment for Ukraine war crime
A Russian tank commander who pleaded guilty earlier this week to shooting dead an unarmed Ukrainian civilian has said he will accept any punishment from the court, on the third day of the first war crimes trial resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Vadim Shysimarin, 21, told courtroom No 201 of the Kyiv tribunal that he “was nervous about what was going on” on the day 62-year-old Oleksandr Shelipov died and that he “didn’t want to kill”.
Standing in the glass defence box, wearing a grey and blue hoodie, his shaved head lowered, Shysimarin added: “I’m truly and sincerely sorry. I didn’t want that to happen, I didn’t want to be there, but it happened. I would like to apologise once again. And I will accept all the measures of punishment that I will be offered.”
In closing arguments, Shysimarin’s lawyer, Viktor Ovsyannikov, said his client was not guilty of premeditated murder and war crimes, and asked the judges to acquit him.
In an interview with the Guardian at the end of the hearing, Ovsyannikov said his client killed a civilian by order and therefore he did not consider it to be a breach of the rules of war.
“There is an absence of intent here,” he said. “It was an execution of an order … he didn’t want to kill him, and this has certain legal meaning.
“I would single out those bastards that shot at the back of civilians’ heads in Bucha during the occupation,” Ovsyannikov added. “It’s quite different from the circumstances my client was in.”
Read more of Lorenzo Tondo’s report from Kyiv: Russian soldier says he will accept punishment for Ukraine war crime
President Vladimir Putin has said that the number of cyber attacks on Russia by foreign “state structures” had increased, and that Moscow would need to bolster its cyber defences by cutting the risk of using foreign software and hardware.
“Purposeful attempts are being made to disable the Internet resources of Russia’s critical information infrastructure”, Reuters reports Putin saying.
Finland and Sweden have announced their intention to submit simultaneous requests to join Nato, in what is seen as a seismic shift in Europe’s security architecture. In this new video explainer, Jon Henley, our Europe correspondent, looks at why the Nordic countries are shifting away from years of neutrality, and what the move means for the war in Ukraine.
US intelligence officials are reportedly sceptical that Vladimir Putin would be persuaded to end the war in Ukraine even if there was a dramatic change in Russian public opinion.
Officials also doubt the war is likely to lead to the removal of the Russian president from power, at least in the short term, CNN reports multiple sources as saying.
Intelligence officials believe Putin is keenly sensitive to small shifts in public opinion, but his ability to crack down on protests and control the media has allowed him to be insulated against any significant popular rising.
The assessment reflects the extent to which the US believes Putin has cemented his control over Russia. Sources told CNN Putin directly participates in decision-making such as the location of attack lines and day-to-day operational goals.
One senior Nato official said:
He clearly is his own decision maker. He doesn’t seem to rely even on experts within the government or the cabinet very much. So it’s a bit hard to imagine that popular opinion sways him all that much.
The intelligence assessment raises questions about the effectiveness of Western sanctions against Russia, CNN reports.
Updated
Russian forces have turned the Donbas region, where Vladimir Putin’s soldiers are currently focusing their efforts, into “hell”, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his latest nightly address.
The Ukrainian president said Russian troops have killed “many” people in the Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine, and that Russia was engaged in a “deliberate and criminal attempt to kill as many Ukrainians as possible”.
The EU has disbursed €600m (£508m) to Ukraine as part of a financial assistance programme, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said.
Today, we disbursed a new tranche of €600 million in Macro-Financial Assistance to Ukraine
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 20, 2022
More is coming - we proposed an additional €9 billion loan for 🇺🇦 in 2022.
Beyond relief, we'll work on a reconstruction platform to help rebuild Ukraine as a free, democratic country. pic.twitter.com/zoZtzvEg7U
Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, tweeted that he was grateful to the European Commission and von der Leyen, adding:
We will win and rebuild Ukraine together.
Today, #EU disbursed a new tranche of €600 million under the emergency Macro-Financial Assistance Program to #Ukraine. Grateful to @vonderleyen and @EU_Commission for standing with us. We will win and rebuild Ukraine together 🇺🇦🇪🇺!
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) May 20, 2022
Updated
G7 pledges £15.9bn in aid to Ukraine
G7 industrialised nations have pledged $19.8bn (£15.9bn or €18.7bn) to bolster Ukraine’s public finances as Kyiv battles Russia’s invasion, a closing statement of the group’s finance ministers said.
The Group of Seven’s financial leaders – representing the US, Japan, Canada, Britain, Germany, France and Italy – promised enough money to keep Ukraine’s devastated economy afloat as long as the war continues.
Germany’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, told reporters that $9.5bn of the total was mobilised at meetings of the G7 finance ministers in Koenigswinter, Germany, this week.
A G7 statement read:
We agreed on concrete actions to deepen multilateral economic cooperation and underlined our commitment to our united response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and to our unwavering support to Ukraine.
The US treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, told reporters late yesterday:
The message was, ‘We stand behind Ukraine’. We’re going to pull together with the resources that they need to get through this.
Updated
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he will speak to Finland tomorrow regarding its bid to join Nato, Reuters reports.
Erdoğan told reporters he had discussed the issue with the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, today. He said he would also be speaking to Britain tomorrow, but did not specify who he would talk to in Finland or Britain.
He maintained his opposition to Finland and Sweden’s applications to join the military alliance.
A Ukrainian fighter who shared a series of powerful photographs while defending the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol appears to have been taken captive by Russian forces.
Dmytro Kozatskyi posted images of wounded soldiers holed up inside the besieged steel plant that made headlines worldwide.
In a message posted on Twiter this morning, he wrote:
Well, that’s all. Thank you from the shelter, Azovstal is the place of my death and my life.
Ну от і все. Дякую з прихисток Азовсталь - місце моєї смерті і мого життя. pic.twitter.com/uPa7bKyP1B
— Орест (@Kozatsky_D) May 20, 2022
In a separate tweet, he posted a link to a Google drive containing images he had taken of inside the plant, writing:
By the way, while I am in captivity, I will leave you photos of the best quality. Send them to all journalistic awards and photo contests.
If I win something, it will be very nice after the release. Thank you all for your support.
Доречі, поки я буду в полоні, залишу вам фото в найкращій якості, відправляйте їх на всі журналістські премії і фотоконкурси, якщо щось виграю, після виходу буде дуже приємно. Дякую всім за підтримку. До зустрічі ❤️ https://t.co/8KVaqrRgQB
— Орест (@Kozatsky_D) May 20, 2022
“Tweets from state-backed sources containing misinformation about the Ukraine invasion will be covered with a warning notice that users will have to click through before accessing the content, Twitter has announced.
The social media platform has unveiled a new crisis misinformation policy that will tackle false and misleading statements and coverage during times of crisis, such as armed conflict, natural disasters and public health emergencies.
Tweets that will be affected include: false coverage or event reporting; false allegations around the use of force or weapons; demonstrably false allegations of war crimes; and false information regarding international community responses or humanitarian actions.
Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of safety and integrity, said content that falls foul of the new policy will not be pushed to users, including in their home timeline, and warning notices will be appended to “highly visible” tweets including tweets from “high-profile accounts, such as state-affiliated media accounts, verified, official government accounts”.
Twitter said the first iteration of its policy will be focused on international armed conflict, starting with Ukraine. Russian state media organisations have already been banned in Europe across multiple social media platforms, including Twitter.
Updated
Russia’s state-owned oil company, Rosneft, said Germany’s former chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, and businessman, Matthias Warnig, had informed it they could not continue serving on the board of directors.
It comes after the European Parliament urged that Schroeder be blacklisted if he did not step down from the board of Rosneft, Reuters reports.
Schroeder, who served as German chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has come under intense public criticism for retaining his lucrative board position with Rosneft, which he had held since 2017.
In a statement, Rosneft said it was “sympathetic” to the decision by Schroeder and Warnig and thanked them for their “continued support”.
Updated
Civilians and heavily wounded Ukrainian fighters have been evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, according to the commander of Ukraine’s Azov regiment, Denys Prokopenko.
In a video statement, Prokopenko said:
We have constantly emphasised the three most important conditions for us: civilians, wounded and dead.
The civilians have been evacuated. The heavily wounded received the necessary assistance and they were evacuated, to be later exchanged and delivered to territory controlled by Ukraine
The process of taking out the bodies of those who had died defending Azovstal was still ongoing, he said.
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said almost 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers at the steel plant had surrendered so far, but the number of combatants has not been independently verified.
The fate of those troops who were holed up at the besieged Azocstal steel plant remains uncertain. The International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday that it was undertaking a process of registering those fleeing Azovstal into Russian detention as prisoners of war.
Updated
Russia to cut gas supplies to Finland on Saturday, says gas firm
Russia will stop gas flows to neighbouring Finland on Saturday morning, Finnish state-owned gas wholesaler Gasum said in a statement.
The company has refused to pay Gazprom Export in roubles as Russia has requested European countries to do.
The statement by Gasum read:
On the afternoon of Friday May 20, Gazprom Export informed Gasum that natural gas supplies to Finland under Gasum’s supply contract will be cut on Saturday 21 May at 04.00 (GMT).
The company will continue to supply gas to customers in Finland from other sources through the Balticconnector pipeline.
Gasum CEO, Mika Wiljanen, described the news as “regrettable” and sought to reassure customers that there would be enough gas in the coming months:
We have been carefully preparing for this situation and provided that there will be no disruptions in the gas transmission network, we will be able to supply all our customers with gas in the coming months.
Updated
Russia taking 'adequate countermeasures' against Sweden and Finland Nato bid, says defence minister
Some more lines from Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, who warned that Moscow is taking “adequate countermeasures” in response to Finland and Sweden’s Nato bid.
Sweden and Finland joining the military alliance have led to an increase in military threats near the border, Shoigu was quoted by Interfax as saying.
He was also quoted by Ria news agency, which is owned by the Russian state, as saying that Moscow would respond to these threats by forming 12 new units in its western military district.
Hello, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong with you today to bring you all the latest developments from the war in Ukraine. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Updated
Today so far …
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. Léonie Chao-Fong will be along next to continue our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Sweden’s foreign minister Ann Linde has hit back at claims by Turkey that her country harbours support for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). She has tweeted:
Due to the vastly spread disinformation about Sweden and the PKK, we would like to recall that the government of Olof Palme was first after Turkey to list PKK as a terrorist organization, already in 1984. EU followed suit 2002, when Anna Lindh was Sweden’s foreign minister. This position remains unchanged.
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has recently doubled down on his threat to veto Finland’s and Sweden’s applications for membership of Nato over the PKK issue.
Due to the vastly spread #disinformation about 🇸🇪 and PKK, we would like to recall that the 🇸🇪 Government of Olof Palme was first after 🇹🇷 to list PKK as a terrorist organization, already in 1984. EU followed suit 2002, when Anna Lindh was 🇸🇪 FM. This position remains unchanged.
— Ann Linde (@AnnLinde) May 20, 2022
Russian defence minister: almost 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers have now surrendered from Azovstal
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has said that almost 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers who were barricaded in Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks have surrendered so far, according to reports from the Tass news agency.
The number of combatants who have surrendered has not been independently verified. The International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday that it was undertaking a process of registering those fleeing Azovstal into Russian detention as prisoners of war.
Pro-Russian hackers accused of Italy attack
Pro-Russian hackers have attacked the websites of several institutions and government ministries in Italy, Italian police have said.
Italian cybersecurity group Yarix said in a statement the attack was launched on Thursday evening by the hacker group known as Killnet.
Earlier this morning, it was still not possible to access the websites of the Italian foreign ministry and its national magistrates association.
Reuters reports that a similar attack took place on 11 May, and last weekend police said they had thwarted a cyber-assault on the latter stages of the Eurovision song contest in Turin.
Updated
Russia’s lower house of parliament has published on its website a proposal to change the law to allow Russians over 40 and foreigners over 30 to sign up for the military.
Reuters reports the website claims “For the use of high-precision weapons, the operation of weapons and military equipment, highly professional specialists are needed. Experience shows that they become such by the age of 40-45.”
Previously only Russians aged 18-40 and foreigners aged 18-30 could enter into a first contract with the military.
Updated
The latest operational update from the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces carries these unverified claims:
Fourteen enemy attacks were repulsed in the Donetsk and Luhansk directions over the past 24 hours, eight tanks, fourteen units of combat armoured vehicles and six units of enemy vehicles were destroyed. Air defence units shot down one Orlan-10 drone.
They also say that “Russian enemy naval groups in the Black and Azov Seas continue to block civilian shipping”.
Here are some of the latest images that we have been sent from Mariupol over the newswires.
Updated
The governor of Lviv, Maksym Kozytskiy, has posted to Telegram to report that it was a quiet night in the region. He said there had been one air alert and added: “Thank you to our air defence forces that the sky over Lviv region remained calm.”
Lviv is in the far west of Ukraine, away from the main military theatre in the Donbas to the east of the country.
Updated
The Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko has been interviewed by Sky News in the UK, and has accused Russia of shelling “for the sake of shelling” in the Luhansk region. She accused the Russian forces of purposefully making it difficult to leave areas of conflict. She said:
They’re just shelling the cities in the Luhansk region for the sake of shelling, and of inflicting fear and more pain and tragedy among the population in an effort to make the people surrender.
She said she could not see an end to war, adding: “I personally do not believe in no peaceful resolution.”
I don’t see how it could be possible at this point in time, when both sides are extremely fired up to go on to the end. And the Russians with the propaganda that we hear coming from Russia, set on killing every single Ukrainian.
But, she said, it was down to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
He is the one who has started this war back in 2014. He is the one who gave the orders to escalate on the 24 February this year. And he is the one who can make the decision to actually sit down at proper negotiations and see what can be done to end this war.
Vasylenko had a defiant message for Russia, saying:
We as a nation are united around the fact that we fight until the victory of Ukraine. Right until the very last Russian soldier leaves the territory of Ukraine and is pushed back beyond the borders and back into Russia. Because we are fighting for our land and we want to live as a free and independent country.
Updated
Serhiy Gaidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, has given a short update on the situation in Severodonetsk. He writes on Telegram:
The Russians are shelling Severodonetsk very powerfully. Up to 15,000 people remain in bomb shelters. Wells in the old districts of the city were preserved to provide people with water. All mobile towers are de-energized. 70% of high-rise buildings are destroyed or damaged, many of them need to be demolished and new ones built.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, has just published a broadside on Telegram about Sweden’s move to join Nato. Claiming that there is little popular support for the move within Sweden, she asks why there is no referendum to be held on the change in policy. She accuses Sweden of being a puppet of the US, writing:
Speaking of “friends”, it is notable that US senators were visiting Stockholm on the day the “historic” decision was announced. Not rank-and-file congressmen, but leader of the Senate Republicans Mitch McConnell. Sweden has not yet joined the alliance, but the Americans are already dictating to the Swedish authorities what to say to their people. And this is just a demo of what is in store for them.
More than 200 years of neutrality, which guaranteed the Kingdom’s security and prosperity, are now history.
So why wasn’t there a referendum? Just because no one has been consulting Swedish public’s opinion on anything for a long time now. The Americans call the shots for the Swedes.
- This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog. You can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com
Updated
Russian shelling in Ukraine’s eastern region of Luhansk has killed 13 civilians over the past 24 hours, the regional governor, Serhiy Gaidai, has said according to Reuters.
Twelve were killed in the town of Sievierodonesk, where a Russian assault has been unsuccessful, he said. The town and the city of Lysychansk are in an area where Russian troops have launched an offensive.
More reporting well worth reading is the New York Times’ investigation of atrocities allegedly committed by Russian forces in Bucha, outside Kyiv. A warning that this report also contains distressing video and images.
The US paper has uncovered fresh video evidence tying Russian forces to the execution of eight Ukrainian captives on 4 March.
Moscow has repeatedly denied reports of wrongdoing during its occupation of the town and the Times said Russia’s ministries of defence and foreign affairs did not respond to fresh requests for comment.
New evidence — including three videos obtained by The New York Times — shows how Russian paratroopers rounded up and executed at least eight Ukrainian men in Bucha on March 4, a likely war crime. https://t.co/EnA2q943Ds pic.twitter.com/BRMDeGo0u6
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 19, 2022
A Russian senator has claimed that the reason for Russia’s slow progress in Ukraine is because its forces are basically fighting against fellow Russians, the BBC’s Francis Scarr reports.
Russia’s “special military operation” was proceeding with “quite some difficulty”, Frants Klintsevich said on Russian state television, adding that he didn’t want to offend anyone.
However, he reasoned, the slow progress was because “we’re fighting one of the strongest and best trained armies. We’re fighting against Russian soldiers and officers with exactly the same mentality as ours.”
Russian senator Frants Klintsevich has an ingenious new excuse for his country's slow progress in Ukraine
— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) May 19, 2022
He says Ukraine's army is "one of the strongest and best-trained" because it's comprised of "Russian soldiers and officers with exactly our mentality"
(with subtitles) pic.twitter.com/TgYqbLX5BW
Updated
Once Russia has secured Mariupol it will likely redeploy forces there to the Donbas, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update, adding that due to the pressure Russian commanders are under however, they will probably do so “without adequate preparation”.
Staunch Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol since the start of the war means Russian forces in the area must be re-equipped and refurbished before they can be redeployed effectively. This can be a lengthy process when done thoroughly.
Russian commanders, however, are under pressure to demonstrably achieve operational objectives. This means that Russia will probably redistribute their forces swiftly without adequate preparation, which risks further force attrition.
The MoD said up to 1,700 Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant had surrendered in recent days, with an unknown number still inside.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 20 May 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) May 20, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/AgtCk64rRw
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/W938cA16hU
In case you missed it, it is really worth checking out this extraordinary report from AP, based on the bodycam recordings of a Mariupol medic that were smuggled out in March by an AP team, the last international journalists in the city. A warning though, that the report contains graphic imagery and distressing scenes.
Yuliia Paievska is well known within Ukraine under the name Taira and was a member of the Ukraine Invictus Games for military veterans, where she was set to compete in archery and swimming. She had been given the camera in 2021 to film for a Netflix documentary series on inspirational figures being produced by Britain’s Prince Harry.
But when Russian forces invaded, she used it to shoot scenes of injured civilians and soldiers instead.
On 16 March, the day after she handed the camera’s data card to AP, Taira was captured by Russian forces, along with her driver, Serhiy. The last time she was seen was in a Russian news broadcast on 21 March, in which she reads a statement calling for an end to the fighting.
US Senate approves $40bn aid package for Ukraine
The US Senate has overwhelmingly approved a $40bn infusion of military and economic aid for Ukraine and its allies as both parties rallied behind America’s latest, and quite possibly not last, financial salvo against Russia’s invasion.
The 86-11 vote gave final congressional approval to the package, three weeks after Joe Biden requested a smaller $33bn version and after a lone Republican opponent delayed Senate passage for a week.
Another important day for 🇺🇦victory. The 🇺🇲 Senate has approved allocation of aid to 🇺🇦 in the amount of almost $ 40 billion.The G7 and int. fin. institutions have agreed to allocate $ 18.4 billion for 🇺🇦 for the next 3 months. These are decisive steps in defense of Freedom.
— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 20, 2022
Every voting Democrat and all but 11 Republicans – including many of the chamber’s supporters of Donald Trump’s isolationist agenda – backed the measure.
“Help is on the way, really significant help. Help that could make sure that the Ukrainians are victorious,” said the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, underscoring a goal that seemed nearly unthinkable when Russia launched its assault in February.
More on the US package here:
Updated
Russia has turned Donbas region into 'hell', Zelenskiy says
Russia is engaged in a “deliberate and criminal attempt to kill as many Ukrainians as possible,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said in his latest nightly address, accusing Moscow of committing genocide.
He also said Russian forces had turned the Donbas region, where they are currently focusing their efforts, into “hell” and said they had killed “many” people in the Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine. There was no “military explanation” for the killing and destruction, he said.
In Donbas, the occupiers are trying to increase pressure. There’s hell, and that’s not an exaggeration.
The brutal and absolutely pointless bombing of Severodonetsk ... 12 dead and dozens wounded in just one day. The bombing and shelling of other cities, the air and missile strikes of the Russian army - all this is not just hostilities during the war.
Russian strikes at the Chernihiv region, in particular the terrible strike at Desna, debris clearance continues, many dead; constant strikes at the Odesa region, at the cities of central Ukraine, Donbas is completely destroyed - all this doesn’t and cannot have any military explanation for Russia.
This is a deliberate and criminal attempt to kill as many Ukrainians as possible. Destroy as many houses, social facilities and enterprises as possible.
This is what will be qualified as the genocide of the Ukrainian people and for which the occupiers will definitely be brought to justice.
Updated
Summary and welcome
Hello, I’m Helen Livingstone, welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
A roundup of the most recent developments:
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said the Donbas, where Russia is now concentrating its main effort, has been “completely destroyed”. “There’s hell, and that’s not an exaggeration,” he said in his nightly address. “The bombing and shelling of other cities, the air and missile strikes of the Russian army – all this is not just hostilities during the war.”
- US secretary of state Antony Blinken has accused Russia of using “food as a weapon” by blockading Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. But Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and now senior security official, says the west should not expect Russia to continue food supplies if it slaps Moscow with devastating sanctions over Ukraine. “ Things don’t work like that, we’re not idiots.”
- The US Congress has approved $40bn in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, with both parties eagerly backing the effort. Final passage came as Blinken said the US had authorised shipping Ukraine another $100m worth of weapons and equipment from Pentagon stocks.
- Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukraine’s top presidential adviser and a member of the negotiating team, said a ceasefire with Russia was “impossible without total Russian troops withdrawal”. Podolyak said Kyiv was not interested in a new “Minsk”, referring to the 2015 Minsk agreement, brokered by France and Germany, which attempted to secure a ceasefire between the Ukrainian government and Russia-backed separatists in the east of Ukraine.
- Russia has said a further 771 Ukrainian troops have “surrendered” at Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steelworks, bringing the total number to 1,730 this week, while the International Committee of the Red Cross said it had started registering the Ukrainian prisoners of war who left the plant. It is not clear how many remain at the plant.
- Putin’s youngest daughter, Katerina Tikhonova, flew to Munich, Germany, “more than 50 times” between 2017 and 2019, travelling on chartered flights with full state support, according to an investigation by Germany’s Spiegel magazine and independent Russian media outlet iStories. Her enthusiasm for Europe appears to match that of the oligarch “scum and traitors” Putin has decried since the start of the war.
- Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old tank commander, asked a Ukrainian widow to forgive him for the murder of her husband after pleading guilty on Wednesday to killing an unarmed 62-year-old civilian in the north-east Ukrainian village of Chupakhivka on 28 February.
- Russia’s promise to use lasers to shoot down drones in Ukraine has prompted widespread scepticism that the novel and possibly nuclear-powered weaponry could be deployed on the battlefield or have any significant impact on the war. Zelenskiy described it as a “wunderwaffe” – a nonexistent “wonder weapon” that was originally a propaganda invention of the Nazis.
- The US president, Joe Biden, said Finland and Sweden “meet every Nato requirement and then some” to join the alliance and have the “full, complete backing” of the US. Speaking at a joint press conference at the White House with Sweden’s prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, and Finland’s president, Sauli Niinistö, he also said he was confident Turkey’s concerns regarding their membership could be addressed.
- The former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder will lose some of his post-office privileges after failing to cut his links with Russian energy companies over the Ukraine war, the Bundestag’s budgetary committee has decided. Schröder – chancellor from 1998 to 2005 – will be stripped of his office and staff, which cost about €419,000 ($443,000) in taxpayers’ money in 2021.
- G7 financial leaders have agreed on $18.4bn aid to help Ukraine and said they were ready to stand by Kyiv and “do more as needed”, according to a draft communique seen by Reuters. Finance ministers and central bank governors of the US, Japan, Canada, Britain, Germany, France and Italy are holding talks as Ukraine is running out of cash.
- McDonald’s has reached a deal to sell all its restaurants in Russia to one of its licensees in the country, the businessman Alexander Govor, who will operate them under a new name.
- More than a million Ukrainian refugees have already returned home, according to the country’s ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko. He said the mayors of Kyiv and Kharkiv had had to tell people not to return to the cities as it was still unsafe.
Updated
