Russia issues passports to Kherson and Melitopol, according to the U.S. Defense think tank
In its latest analysis, the American think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, reports that Russian occupation authorities have begun issuing Russian passports in Kherson and Melitopol, but adds that “they continue to facing the challenges of establishing control of society over the occupied territories and ending Ukrainian partisanship. ” actions ”.
ISW also provides the following comment on the conflict:
• Russian forces carried out unsuccessful assaults on the southeast and southwest of Izyum and west of Lyman, but are unlikely to make great strides toward Slovyansk. • Russian forces made small gains in the eastern part of Sievierodonetsk, but Ukrainian forces continue to launch localized counterattacks. • Russian forces did not attempt to launch assaults on Avdiivka. • Russian forces failed to regain lost positions northeast of Kherson Oblast and continued defending the positions previously occupied.
Updated at 07.28 BST
Summary
- Ukraine’s intelligence services are in contact with captured Azovstal steel fighters and Kyiv is doing everything possible to secure their release, according to Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskiy. Hundreds of Russian fighters were arrested in mid-May after being ordered to resign. They had spent weeks hiding in a tunnel and bunker cellar under the steel.
- The Ukrainian army said on Saturday that Russia had strengthened its troops and used artillery to carry out “assault operations” in Sievierodonetsk. On Friday, Ukraine said its forces had recaptured about 20 percent of the territory they lost in the city.
- The U.S. think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, reports that Russian occupation authorities have begun issuing Russian passports in the city of Kherson and Melitopol, but adds that “they continue to clash. to the challenges of establishing social control over the occupied territories. “
- Russian troops now occupy a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, according to Agence France-Presse, and Moscow has imposed a blockade on its Black Sea ports. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was defiant on Friday, saying “victory will be ours”.
- Vladimir Putin says exporting grain from Ukraine “is no problem” after the invasion of Moscow raised fears of a global food crisis. The Russian president said in a televised interview on Friday that the export could be done through Ukrainian ports, through others under Russian control, or even through Central Europe. Putin accused the West of “bragging” by claiming that Moscow was banning grain exports from Ukraine.
- The head of the African Union and Senegalese president Macky Sall said he was “calm” after meeting with Putin in Sochi on the food shortage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, he told Putin that Africans were the victims of the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s intelligence in communication with captured Azovstal fighters, the minister says
Ukraine’s intelligence services are in contact with captured Azovstal steel fighters and Kyiv is doing everything possible to secure their release, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said on Friday afternoon. Ukrainian Interior Denys Monastyrskiy, according to a Reuters report.
Uncertainty has surrounded the fate of hundreds of fighters who were arrested in Russia in mid-May after being ordered to resign. They had spent weeks hiding in a tunnel and bunker cellar under the steel, while Russian forces took control of the rest of the city. Many had serious injuries, with limited medical care and declining supplies.
Ukraine wants fighters to be returned in a prisoner exchange. However, some Russian officials have said that the forces could be tried or executed.
In comments made on Ukrainian television on Friday, Monastyrskiy said:
It is through them [intelligence services] that we are aware of the conditions of detention, food and the possibility of his release. We all know that they will all be here in Kyiv, and we are doing our best to do that. “
The Kremlin has said that surrendered fighters will be treated according to international standards.
Updated at 07.27 BST
Russia issues passports to Kherson and Melitopol, according to the U.S. Defense think tank
In its latest analysis, the American think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, reports that Russian occupation authorities have begun issuing Russian passports in Kherson and Melitopol, but adds that “they continue to facing the challenges of establishing control of society over the occupied territories and ending Ukrainian partisanship. ” actions ”.
ISW also provides the following comment on the conflict:
• Russian forces carried out unsuccessful assaults on the southeast and southwest of Izyum and west of Lyman, but are unlikely to make great strides toward Slovyansk. • Russian forces made small gains in the eastern part of Sievierodonetsk, but Ukrainian forces continue to launch localized counterattacks. • Russian forces did not attempt to launch assaults on Avdiivka. • Russian forces failed to regain lost positions northeast of Kherson Oblast and continued defending the positions previously occupied.
Updated at 07.28 BST
Lorenzo Tondo
More than 1,400 cases of treason and collaboration with the Russian army against Ukrainian citizens have been filed. Guardian correspondents Lorenzo Tondo and Shaun Walker in Kharkiv report on the difficult decisions facing prosecutors.
For the Ukrainian authorities, it is important to show that the punishment for those who helped the Russian invasion will be swift and severe. But at the same time, the process comes with many complicated questions.
These include whether Ukrainian prosecutors and judges, who have been fighting corruption and nepotism allegations for years, can be trusted not to abuse the process. Numerous high-ranking officials may also be asked questions about negligence at the beginning of the invasion, or even about betrayal.
The Ukrainian army said on Saturday that Russia had strengthened its troops and used artillery to carry out “assault operations” in Sievierodonetsk, Reuters reported.
But Russian forces had withdrawn after failed attempts to advance into the nearby city of Bakhmut and cut off access to Sievierodonetsk, the Ukrainian military said.
On Friday, Serhiy Gaidai, the head of the eastern Luhansk region, told national television that Ukrainian forces have recaptured about 20 percent of the territory they lost in Sievierodonetsk.
Luke Harding
From Odessa, Guardian correspondent Luke Harding reports on calls for a “de-Russification” campaign once Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine is over.
Ukraine has already twice dismantled the state symbols of the Soviet era. Many statues of Lenin, including those of Odessa, were removed in the 1990s. Kyiv’s parliament embarks on a new round of “excommunication” in 2014 following the Maidan uprising against pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych and the annexation of Crimea by Putin and his war in the eastern Donbàs region.
In areas occupied by Russia, this process is reversed. In April, Russian troops erected a new statue of Lenin outside the main administration building in the southern city of Henichesk in Kherson province. They have torn down blue and yellow Ukrainian flags from municipal buildings and hung Russian and Soviet flags in their place. This “redundancy” is part of Putin’s attempt to wipe out Ukraine, says Kyiv.
Updated at 05.53 BST
Images taken in Ukraine over the past 24 hours show the devastation of war, the challenge and the longing for peace.
Volunteers from the Borodianka community organize games and crafts for children in the suburbs of Kyiv on the main square, against the backdrop of the destroyed apartment blocks. The small town was occupied and badly damaged during the Russian invasion with many of the children’s facilities destroyed. Photo: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images Toilet paper with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s face in a shop in central Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: Carlos Barría / Reuters A woman walks down a street wearing a T-shirt that says “All we need is peace” in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: Natacha Pisarenko / AP
welcome
Hi, I’m Rebecca Ratcliffe and welcome to our ongoing coverage of the war in Ukraine.
These are some of the key news from the last few hours.
- Ukrainian forces have regained about 20% of the territory they lost in Sievierodonetsk since the invasion of Russia, according to Ukrainian officials. “While before the situation was difficult, the percentage [held by Russia] it was around 70%, now we have pushed them back by about 20%, “Serhiy Gaidai, the head of the eastern Luhansk region, told national television on Friday.
- “Victory will be ours,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video with the same key ministers and advisers who appeared with him on a defiant broadcast on February 24, the day his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin launch your unprovoked assault. “The armed forces of Ukraine are here. The most important thing is that our people, the people of our country, are here. We have been defending Ukraine for 100 days … Glory to Ukraine,” Zelenskiy added.
- Vladimir Putin says exporting grain from Ukraine “is no problem” after the invasion of Moscow raised fears of a global food crisis. The Russian president said in a televised interview on Friday that the export could be done through Ukrainian ports, through others under Russian control, or even through Central Europe. Putin accused the West of “bragging” by claiming that Moscow was banning grain exports from Ukraine.
- The head of the African Union and Senegalese president Macky Sall said he was “calm” after meeting with Putin in Sochi on the food shortage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, he told Putin that Africans were the victims of the war in Ukraine.
- US General Mark Milley has met with the Finnish …