Ukraine news - live: Sanctions ‘have broken all logistics’ in Russia, says minister

Worldwide sanctions in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine have caused serious logistical problems in Russia, transport minister Vitaly Savelyev has said.

Russia’s supply chains are at risk of collapse, the former Aeroflot CEO has suggested, as a result of harsh economic sanctions imposed by many countries in the West.

He had told reporters on his visit to the Astrakhan region of southern Russia: “The sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation today have almost broken all logistics in our country. And we are forced to look for new logistics corridors.”

The Kremlin hopes that a North-South transport corridor – passing through the Caspian Sea ports of Astrakhan on the Volga, Olya on the Volga-Caspian Canal, and Makhachkala in the Caspian Sea – will help alleviate the problems, he said.

The corridor is a transit route for moving freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe – via ship, rail and road.

Key Points

• Russia’s war on Ukraine can only be resolved through ‘diplomacy’, says Zelensky

• Kyiv has ‘broken backbone’ of Russian army - Zelensky

• Russia bans almost 1,000 Americans, including Biden

• ‘At least 1.3m Ukrainians forcibly deported to Russia’

Poland’s Duda applauded as he enters Ukraine parliament

12:30 , Lamiat Sabin

Polish president Andrzej Duda was greeted with applause when he arrived at the Verkhovna Rada – Ukraine’s parliament – to address MPs.

In his speech, the first in-person address to the Ukrainian parliament since the war started in February, he said that only Ukraine has the right to decide its future.

Later, he will meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for talks.

Poland, which borders the northwest of Ukraine, has taken in the vast majority of millions of Ukrainian refugees since the Russian invasion started.

Russia preparing to resume attacks around Izium - official says

12:00 , Lamiat Sabin

Russian troops are preparing to resume attacks in the area around Izium, the administrative head of the Kharkiv region said.

The last battle in Izium lasted four weeks until 1 April, when the Ukrainian military confirmed Izium was under Russian control. Local authorities reported that 80 per cent of buildings had been destroyed.

Today – Oleg Sinegubov said on Telegram: “In the Izium region, the Russian occupiers are preparing to resume the offensive and are shelling the areas of the villages of Virnopillia, Dibrivne, and Dovgenke.

“But our Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding their positions and are not allowing the aggressors to advance.

“Fighting continues in [Kharkiv] Oblast. Around Kharkiv, the Russians are focusing, as in previous days, on maintaining the occupied borders and preventing the further advance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

Earlier – our correspondent Kim Sengupta, who has been in Kharkiv, spoke to a Ukrainian commander who said defenders have been engaged in a “hard and long fight” to defend Ruska Lozova – a village in the region.

The village has been bombarded by Russian troops intending to gain control of it, as its location would help them maintain supply lines to Izium. It’s part of a plan to cut Ukrainian forces off in Donbas, after Moscow had failed to capture Kyiv.

You can read his feature here:

Inside the recaptured village still under attack from Russian forces

Moscow urged to admit war crimes for peace talks to resume

11:30 , Lamiat Sabin

Peace talks will largely remain suspended until Moscow gets on the same page as Kyiv on a number of matters including alleged war crimes committed by Russian troops during the invasion of Ukraine, presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said.

Ceasefire negotiations would be on hold until Russia also understands Ukraine’s view of how “we should exit this war”, the adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Mr Podolyak said: “Just now, unfortunately, Russia has returned to such an ancient and not very clear understanding of global matters and its own role in them, it still doesn’t realise that it’s been fighting a war against Ukraine for 85 days now.

“It’s not a war against Nato, I emphasise. Of course, this is an obstacle that stops Russia from behaving properly and being prepared for negotiations ... If neither side has any mutual interests – don’t have a common denominator – then they won’t be interested in talking to each other.”

Russia ‘bombards Ukraine’s military in east and south’

11:00 , Lamiat Sabin

Russia has bombarded Ukrainian forces with airstrikes and artillery in hundreds of areas in the east and the south of Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry said.

Command centres, troops, and ammunition depots have been targeted, defence ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said.

Air-launched missiles hit three command points, 13 areas where troops and Ukrainian military equipment amassed, as well as four ammunition depots in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine – the spokesman said.

In Ukraine’s southern region of Mykolaiv, Russian rockets and artillery “hit 583 areas” including a mobile anti-drone system and an electronic warfare station near the settlement of Hannivka, around 100 km northeast of Mykolaiv city, he added.

Ukraine vows to ‘fight for return’ of Azovstal defenders

10:00 , Lamiat Sabin

Concern is mounting over Ukrainian troops who have been detained by Russia after they left steelworks in Mariupol, with Kyiv vowing to “fight” for their return.

The fighters were holed up in the Azovstal factory in dire conditions for months while the city was under siege.

Denis Pushilin, a pro-Kremlin head of the separatist-controlled Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, claimed that 2,439 people were in custody. He said on Russian TV that the figure includes some foreign nationals, but he did not provide further details.

The Russian defence ministry released footage of Ukrainian soldiers being detained after announcing that its forces had removed the last hold-outs from the steel plant’s underground tunnels.

Family members of the fighters have pleaded for them to be given rights as prisoners of war and eventually returned to Ukraine.

Deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Saturday that Ukraine “will fight for the return” of every one of them.

Convoys of buses, guarded by Russian armoured vehicles, left the plant on Friday. At least some Ukrainians were taken to a former penal colony, while Russian authorities said others were in hospital.

Among the plant’s defenders were members of the Azov Regiment. The unit’s link to the far-right – neo-nazis have been among its ranks – has been used by the Kremlin to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine 'repels four attempted attacks on Severodonetsk’

09:30 , Lamiat Sabin

Russian forces tried to advance on Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine, from four directions but the attempted attacks were repelled by Ukrainian forces – a local official said.

Serhii Haidai, head of Luhansk region’s military administration, wrote on Telegram: “The Russians tried to enter Sievierodonetsk from 4 directions at once, but they were repelled and retreated to their earlier positions.

“However, they continued to shell residential neighbourhoods with mortars and artillery. Almost every Ukrainian-controlled town and village sustained damage.”

Russian troops damaged a bridge through which humanitarian goods have been delivered to the region and people have been evacuated, Mr Haidai also wrote.

Russia has also been “deliberately destroying a multidisciplinary hospital,” he added.

“The seven-story building has in fact already become a four-story building. There are three doctors working there who say they will stay until the last.”

Poland’s president Duda arrives in Kyiv to address MPs

09:00 , Lamiat Sabin

Polish president Andrzej Duda arrived in Kyiv today for a surprise visit.

He is expected to become the first head of state to address the Verkhovna Rada – Ukraine’s parliament – in person since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February.

When he addresses parliament, he is expected to reiterate his call for the European Union to approve Ukraine’s application to join the bloc.

In April, Mr Duda visited the Ukrainian capital for talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as part of a delegation with the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

International sanctions ‘almost broken all logistics’ in Russia

08:30 , Lamiat Sabin

Russian transport minister Vitaly Savelyev said worldwide sanctions have caused serious logistical problems in Russia.

The former Aeroflot CEO told reporters on his visit to the Astrakhan region of southern Russia: “The sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation today have almost broken all logistics in our country. And we are forced to look for new logistics corridors.”

The Kremlin hopes that a North-South transport corridor – passing through the Caspian Sea ports of Astrakhan on the Volga, Olya on the Volga-Caspian Canal and Makhachkala in the Caspian Sea – will help alleviate the problems, he said.

‘Three dead after shelling’ of Bilozerka village in Kherson

08:00 , Lamiat Sabin

Three people were reportedly killed on Saturday night when Russian troops shelled the village of Bilozerka in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine.

Among the dead casualties were a teenage boy, a teenage girl, and a teacher – according to reports citing local residents.

Residents are quoted as saying: “We heard two ‘incomings.’ Gas pipes had been damaged. It happened near Kherson and Soborna streets.”

The exact number of casualties is yet to be officially determined.

‘Missile strike’ in Zaporizhzhia region results in casualties

07:43 , Lamiat Sabin

Russian troops are alleged to have carried out a missile strike on a village in the Vilniansk district of the Zaporizhzhia region.

There were casualties, but further details about injuries or deaths have not been publicised.

The region’s military administration posted on Telegram: “At 02:44 on 22 May, Russian troops launched missiles on civilian infrastructure in a village in Vilniansk District of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.”

Russia’s war can only be resolved through ‘diplomacy’, says Zelensky

07:18 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Ukraine’s bloody battle to victory against Russia’s invasion will be hard won through diplomacy, said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview marking the third anniversary of his inauguration.

“Victory will be bloody in battle. But the end will be in diplomacy. We want everything back. Russia does not want to give anything away,” Mr Zelensky said in the interview on Friday that was released on Saturday.

Emily Atkinson has more:

Russia’s war on Ukraine can only be resolved through ‘diplomacy’, says Zelensky

Mariupol facing health and sanitation 'catastrophe', says mayor

06:57 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Mariupol is facing a health and sanitation “catastrophe” from mass burials in shallow pits across the ruined city as well as the breakdown of sewage systems, its mayor said on Saturday.

Vadim Boychenko said summer rains threaten to contaminate water sources as he pressed Russian forces to allow residents to safely leave the city.

“In addition to the humanitarian catastrophe created by the (Russian) occupiers and collaborators, the city is on the verge of an outbreak of infectious diseases,” he said on the messaging app Telegram.

Earlier this week, Russia claimed to have taken full control of Mariupol.

The Russian defence ministry on Saturday released video of Russian troops taking into custody Serhiy Volynskyy, the commander of the Ukrainian Navy’s 36th Special Marine Brigade, which was one of the main forces defending the Azov steel plant.

Situation in Donbas 'extremely difficult', says Zelensky

06:28 , Sravasti Dasgupta

The Ukrainian military has reported heavy fighting in much of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

“The situation in Donbas is extremely difficult,” president Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Saturday.

“As in previous days, the Russian army is trying to attack Sloviansk and Sievierodonetsk.”

He said Ukrainian forces are holding off the offensive “every day”.

Sievierodonetsk is the main city under Ukrainian control in the Luhansk region while Sloviansk, in the Donetsk region, is critical to Russia’s objective of capturing all of eastern Ukraine.

Polish president to address Ukraine's parliament

06:04 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Polish president Andrzej Duda arrived in Ukraine on Saturday on an unannounced visit.

He will address the Ukrainian parliament on Sunday.Poland, which has welcomed millions of Ukrainian refugees since the start of the war, is a strong supporter of Ukraine’s desire to join the European Union.

Poland has also become a major gateway for western humanitarian aid and weapons going into Ukraine and has been helping Ukraine get its grain and other agricultural products to world markets.

Concerns grow about Mariupol prisoners of war

05:39 , Sravasti Dasgupta

With Russia claiming to have taken prisoner nearly 2,500 Ukrainian fighters from the besieged Mariupol steel plant, concerns have grown about their fate.

Denis Pushilin, the pro-Kremlin head of an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, said the captured fighters included some foreign nationals, though he did not provide any details, reported Associated Press.

He said they were sure to face a tribunal.

“I believe that justice must be restored. There is a request for this from ordinary people, society, and, probably, the sane part of the world community,” Russian state news agency Tass quoted Mr Pushilin as saying.

The family members of the captured fighters have pleaded for them to be given rights as prisoners of war and eventually returned to Ukraine.

Deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Saturday that Ukraine “will fight for the return” of every one of them.

Russia hints at possible exchange of Azovstal prisoners for detained Putin ally

05:07 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Russia intends to study the possibility of a prisoners’ exchange, between Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol’s Azov steel plant and Viktor Medvedchuk, president Vladimir Putin’s ally who has been held by Ukrainian forces.

“We will study the possibility of exchanging Medvedchuk for the Azov people. We are not the Liberal Democratic Party, but those people in Moscow who have such powers,” said Leonid Slutsky, a member of the negotiation process, chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, reported Interfax news agency.

According to the Russian defence ministry, since 16 May, 2,439 people from the Ukrainian Azov regiment and military personnel of the Ukrainian armed forces have surrendered at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.

Western sanctions lead Russia to use new logistics corridors

04:46 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Russia has said that due to the sanctions imposed by western countries for its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is using new logistic corridors.

Russian transport minister Vitaly Savelyev said that Western sanctions have forced Russia “to look for new logistics corridors,” Russian media Meduza reported.

Russia will now rely more heavily on the North-South transport corridor to move freight, Mr Savelyev was quoted as saying.

Ukrainian negotiator rules out ceasefire or concessions to Russia

03:15 , Emily Atkinson

Ukraine on Saturday ruled out agreeing to a ceasefire with Russia and said Kyiv would not accept any deal with Moscow that involved ceding territory.

Acknowledging that Kyiv’s stance on the war was becoming more uncompromising, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said making concessions would backfire on Ukraine because Russia would hit back harder after any break in fighting.

“The war will not stop (after any concessions). It will just be put on pause for some time,” he told Reuters in an interview in the heavily guarded presidential office, where some of the windows and corridors are protected by sandbags.

“After a while, with renewed intensity, the Russians will build up their weapons, manpower and work on their mistakes, modernise a little, fire many generals … And they’ll start a new offensive, even more bloody and large-scale.”

Podolyak dismissed as “very strange” calls in the West for an urgent ceasefire that would involve Russian forces remaining in territory they have occupied in Ukraine’s south and east.

“The (Russian) forces must leave the country and after that the resumption of the peace process will be possible,” he said.

Reuters

Watch: Ukraine is not looking to attack Russia, says Zelensky

02:15 , Emily Atkinson

Ukrainian director denounces Russian presence at Cannes

01:15 , Emily Atkinson

A Ukrainian director has criticised the Cannes Film Festival for including a Russian director in its line-up, as the debut filmmaker’s ‘Pamfir’ was shown at the annual event’s Directors Fortnight on Saturday.

The festival has banned official Russian delegations from attending, but Russian dissident Kirill Serebrennikov, who has spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine, premiered his in-competition film “Tchaikovsky’s Wife” at the festival on Wednesday.

“When he’s here, he is part of the Russian propaganda, and they can use him,” Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk told Reuters.

Russia’s war on Ukraine can only be resolved through ‘diplomacy’, says Zelensky

Sunday 22 May 2022 00:15 , Emily Atkinson

Ukraine’s bloody battle to victory against Russia’s invasion will be hard won through diplomacy, said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview marking the third anniversary of his inauguration.

“We did not start this war. But we have to finish it,” he said in the hour-long broadcast recorded on Friday and released on Saturday.

“Victory will be bloody in battle. But the end will be in diplomacy. We want everything back. Russia does not want to give anything away.”

An end to the fierce war can only be reached “at the negotiating table”, he added.

Read our digest on Saturday’s developments on the Russia-Ukraine war here:

Russia’s war on Ukraine can only be resolved through ‘diplomacy’, says Zelensky

US pledges $40 billion support package to Ukraine

Saturday 21 May 2022 23:14 , Emily Atkinson

In case you missed it...

US president Joe Biden today signed a bill to provide nearly $40 billion (£32bn) in aid for Ukraine as part of efforts to boost military support over Russia’s invasion, the White House said.

The new legislation will provide $20 billion in military assistance, ensuring a steady stream of advanced weapons that have been used to stymie Russia’s advances.

There’s also $8 billion in general economic support, $5 billion to address global food shortages that could result from the collapse of Ukrainian agriculture and more than $1 billion to help refugees.

But reports of the staggering support package from the US were later blunted by an announcement from Russia, proclaiming it was banning entry to 963 Americans including president Joe Biden, secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA chief William Burns.

Ukraine’s first lady makes rare appearance on national TV

Saturday 21 May 2022 22:39 , Emily Atkinson

An interview with president Zelensky’s wife, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, was also included in the historic broadcast marking his third year in office, in which she proclaimed the brutal invasion had not changed her husband.

She said: “I can’t say that he has changed. As he was a reliable husband and man, so he is.”

“Our family, like all Ukrainian families, is now torn. We didn’t see each other for two and a half months, we only talked on the phone. Thank you for this opportunity because we are spending time together now - dating on TV,” Zelenska added.

Russia’s war on Ukraine can only be resolved through ‘diplomacy’, says Zelensky

Saturday 21 May 2022 22:19 , Emily Atkinson

Ukraine’s bloody battle to victory against Russia’s invasion will be hard won through diplomacy, said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview marking the third anniversary of his inauguration.

“We did not start this war. But we have to finish it,” he said in the hour-long broadcast recorded on Friday and released on Saturday.

“Victory will be bloody in battle. But the end will be in diplomacy. We want everything back. Russia does not want to give anything away.”

An end to the fierce war can only be reached “at the negotiating table”, he added.

Ukraine military report widespread fighting in eastern regions

Saturday 21 May 2022 21:41 , Emily Atkinson

In its morning operational report, the Ukrainian military general staff reported heavy fighting in much of eastern Ukraine, including the areas of Sievierodonetsk, Bakhmut and Avdiivka.

The Ukrainian military said that Russia is expected to relaunch an offensive on the strategically important city of Sloviansk, in the Donetsk region.

The city is critical to Russia‘s objective of capturing all of eastern Ukraine and saw fierce fighting last month after Moscow’s troops backed off from Kyiv.

AP

Zelensky holds phone call with Italian counterpart over Ukraine’s blocked ports

Saturday 21 May 2022 20:55 , Emily Atkinson

President Volodymyr Zelensky today held talks with the Italian prime minister Mario Draghi in which, among a number of isssues, the pair discussed Ukraine’s ports, which are currently being blocked by Russian forces - sparking fears of famine in the Global South.

Tweeting this evening, Zelensky said: “Had a phone conversation with Mario Draghi at his initiative. Talked about defensive cooperation, the need to accelerate the 6th package of sanctions and unblock Ukrainian ports. Thanked for the unconditional support for Ukraine on the path to the EU.”

Why did Russia invade Ukraine? The conflict explained

Saturday 21 May 2022 20:30 , Emily Atkinson

Russia’s long-feared invasion of Ukraine continues to rage following Vladimir Putin’s announcement of his “special military operation” against the country in the early hours of 24 February, the Russian leader declaring, groundlessly, a need to “demilitarise and de-Nazify” the neighbouring state after eight years of fighting in the Donbas.

As Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky leads by example from the streets of Kyiv, tirelessly rallying the international community for support, his people mount an impressive resistence, holding back Russia’s armed forces as best they can.

The aggressor meanwhile continues to employ brutal siege warfare tactics, surrounding the country’s cities and subjecting them to intense shelling campaigns, a strategy previously seen in Chechnya and Syria.

But what are the key issues behind the conflict, where did it all begin and how might the crisis unfold? Thomas Kingsley and Joe Sommerlad have the details:

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Kremlin spokesperson offers response for accusations Russia has become ‘like Orwell’s 1984'

Saturday 21 May 2022 20:05 , Emily Atkinson

A Moscow foreign minsitry spokesperson today offered a response for Russians to use when foreign friends and relatives say the country has become like George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984.

Speaking today at a Q and A session in Yekaterinburg, a city east of the Ural Mountains, Maria Zakharova said: “For many years we thought Orwell had been describing totalitarianism. This is one of the world fakes.

The translation from BBC Monitoring continues: “Orwell was writing about the end of liberalism. He wrote how liberalism would drive humanity into a dead end.

“He wasn’t writing about the USSR, he was writing about the society in which he was living, about the collapse of the idea of ​​liberalism. But the notion has been imposed on you that he was writing about you.

So tell them that he wasn’t writing about us, but about them. Tell them “it’s you abroad who are living in a fantasy world, where people can get cancelled”.”

Saturday 21 May 2022 19:38 , Emily Atkinson

A woman plants flowers at the grave of Stanislav Hvostov, 22, a Ukrainian serviceman killed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the military section, in Kharkiv cemetery number 18 in in Bezlioudivka, eastern Ukraine.

Kyiv has ‘broken backbone’ of Russian army, says Zelensky

Saturday 21 May 2022 19:15 , Emily Atkinson

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has applauded his country’s forces for breaking the “backbone” of the Russian military, which he described as “one of the strongest armies in the world.”

Speaking during an interview with journalists makring the third anniversary of his inauguration, he also said he considers the lives of Ukrainian civilians and troops alike to be the most valuable.

According to a translation by the news website Ukrayinska Pravda, Zelensky said: “I believe that no matter what appetite different sections of our population have, the most valuable thing is to save more people, soldiers. These are brave people who are ready to give their lives. I believe that this is our great value and treasure. As the result of this invasion has shown.

“So.. we shouldn’t be too greedy at this point, even though it’s not entirely just. Because justice will be when we take everything back.

“No one just gives anything away, but there is land that they entered and occupied, and there are some areas where they have advanced very far in.

“To reach the line that existed before the 24 February without unnecessary losses, I think... that would be a victory for our country.

“Everything will be returned anyway. We have broken the backbone of one of the strongest armies in the world. We’ve already done that. Including psychologically. They won’t get back on their feet for the next few years. But let’s not forget that all our soldiers also want to live.”

Latest UK intelligence update on situation in Ukraine:

Saturday 21 May 2022 18:47 , Emily Atkinson

High loss of Russian drones in Ukraine could compromise its forces’ operational effectiveness, according to an intelligence update from UK military officials.

Tweeting earlier on Saturday, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) wrote: “The Russia-Ukraine war has seen Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) playing a pivotal role for both sides although they have suffered a high rate of attrition. UAVs have proved vulnerable both to being shot down and to electronic jamming.

“Russia has attempted to implement the concept of ‘Reconnaissance Strike’ it refined in Syria, which uses reconnaissance UAVs to identify targets to be struck by combat jets or artillery.

“Russia is likely experiencing a shortage of appropriate reconnaissance UAVs for this task, which is exacerbated by limitations in its domestic manufacturing capacity resulting from sanctions.

“Crewed Russian aircraft mostly continue to avoid conducting sorties over Ukrainian territory, likely because of the threat from intact Ukrainian air defence missiles systems.

“If Russia continues to lose UAVs at its current rate, Russian forces intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability will be further degraded, negatively impacting operational effectiveness.”

Russia claims complete control over Mariupol after ‘capturing Azovstal steel plant’

Saturday 21 May 2022 18:25 , Emily Atkinson

In case you missed it...

Russia has claimed to have captured Mariupol in what would be its biggest victory yet in its war with Ukraine, after a nearly three-month siege that reduced much of the strategic port city to a smoking ruin, with over 20,000 civilians feared dead.

Defence minister Sergei Shoigu reported to president Vladimir Putin the “complete liberation” of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol — the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in the city— spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

There was no immediate confirmation from Ukraine.

Russia claims complete control over Mariupol after ‘capturing Azovstal steel plant’

‘Sane part’ of global community want Azovstal fighters to face tribunal, says Donetsk head

Saturday 21 May 2022 17:56 , Emily Atkinson

Defenders of Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks - considered heroes by their fellow Ukrainians - are sure to face a tribunal for their actions during the conflict, Denis Pushilin, the head the Moscow-backed separatist region of Donetsk, has said.

“I believe that justice must be restored. There is a request for this from ordinary people, society, and, probably, the sane part of the world community,” Russian state news agency Tass quoted Pushilin as saying.

Watch: Ukraine is not looking to attack Russia, Zelensky says

Saturday 21 May 2022 17:33 , Emily Atkinson

Damaged Russian tanks put on display in Kyiv

Saturday 21 May 2022 17:17 , Emily Atkinson

People view a Russian tank and armoured vehicles that have been put on display in Saint Michaels Square for public viewing in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Following Russia's retreat from areas around the city, signs of normal life have returned to Kyiv, with residents taking advantage of shortened curfew hours, businesses reopening, and foreign countries returning their diplomats.

Ankara needs to see cooperation on terrorism for Nato bids, Erdogan tells Stoltenberg

Saturday 21 May 2022 17:00 , Emily Atkinson

Turkey’s President has told the cheif of the Nato military alliance that Ankara will not look positively on Sweden and Finland’s membership bids unless they clearly show cooperation on the fight against terrorism and other issues.

In a statement by the presidency on Saturday, Erdogan said he supported Nato’s open door policy.

In a tweet following the call, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said the security concerns of all allies must be taken into account and talks need to continue to find a solution.

Russia’s ambassador to UN claims Ukraine paying for Western weaponry with grain

Saturday 21 May 2022 16:45 , Emily Atkinson

A top Russian official has expressed suspicion that Ukraine could be paying for European weapons with grain exports.

A tweet posted by Russia’s UK embassy, relaying comments made by Moscow’s ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya, reads: “Grain is exported from Ukraine at very high pace, by rail and barges through Danube. Where to?

“We suspect it’s not for the needs of those starving in the global South, but rather ends up in European storages. This looks how is paying for Western weapons deliveries.”

Portugal’s PM pledges funds for Ukraine during visit to Kyiv

Saturday 21 May 2022 16:20 , Lamiat Sabin

Portugal will provide financial assistance to Ukraine, it was announced at a meeting between the two heads of state.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met Portuguese PM Antonio Costa in Kyiv.

Prior to the meeting, Mr Costa had visited Irpin in the Kyiv region to see the damage caused to the city by Russian invaders.

The amount of money to be given by Portugal has yet to be publicised.

Mr Zelensky said: “I appreciate the readiness to provide financial assistance to our country. Relevant agreements on Portugal’s provision of financial assistance will be formalised today at the governmental level.”

The pair also discussed the provision of further security assistance, post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, and bringing Russian war criminals to justice.

Erdogan warns Nato hopeful Finland about ‘terror’ group

Saturday 21 May 2022 16:00 , Lamiat Sabin

Finnish president Sauli Niinisto said he held “open and direct” talks with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan today to discuss Finland’s bid for Nato membership.

Last week, before the two Nordic nations submitted their applications, Mr Erdogan publicly questioned whether Finland and Sweden should be allowed to join the military alliance.

During the call, Mr Erdogan told Mr Niinisto that overlooking terrorist organisations that pose a threat to a Nato member is not in the spirit of the alliance.

Mr Erdogan also said Ankara expected support for its fight against terrorist organisations that threaten its national security and people, according to a statement by the Turkish presidency.

After the call, Mr Niinisto tweeted: “I stated that as Nato allies Finland and Turkey will commit to each other’s security and our relationship will thus grow stronger. Finland condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Close dialogue continues.”

Mr Erdogan has also spoken to Magdalena Andersson to outline his expectations from Stockholm – including concrete steps to address Turkey’s concerns about people linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) living in Sweden.

Turkey’s demands for Nato hopeful Sweden amid Ukraine war

Saturday 21 May 2022 15:30 , Lamiat Sabin

Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan told Sweden’s PM Magdalena Andersson today that Ankara expects concrete steps regarding its concerns about terrorist organisations, the state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.

In a phone call, Mr Erdogan also said an arms exports embargo imposed on Turkey after its Syria incursion in 2019 should be lifted, according to Anadolu.

Finland and Sweden formally applied to join Nato on Wednesday, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey surprised Nato allies last week by objecting to the two countries’ membership, but Western leaders have expressed confidence that Ankara’s objections will not be a roadblock to the Nato accession process.

Ankara says Sweden and Finland harbour people linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group and followers of Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt.

Reuters

War ‘killed 232 Ukrainian children and injured another 430'

Saturday 21 May 2022 15:00 , Lamiat Sabin

At least 232 children have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion.

This number was reported by the press service of the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office.

Another 430 have been injured since Vladimir Putin launched the invasion on 24 February, it added on Telegram.

The death and injury tolls per region are as follows: Donetsk –145, Kyiv – 116, Kharkiv – 102, Chernihiv – 68, Kherson – 48, Luhansk – 48, Mykolaiv – 45, Zaporizhia – 28, Sumy – 17, city of Kyiv – 16, Zhytomyr – 15.

Zelensky ‘convinced’ diplomacy will end invasion of Ukraine

Saturday 21 May 2022 14:30 , Lamiat Sabin

Volodymyr Zelensky said he is “convinced” that Ukraine will see an end to the Russian invasion via diplomacy.

The Ukrainian president said, in a televised interview alongside his wife Olena on the third anniversary of his inauguration, said that this is the only way that the “bloody” war will end.

He said: “The victory will be difficult, it will be bloody and in battle, but its end will be in diplomacy. I am very convinced of this.

“There are things that we can’t bring to an end without sitting at the negotiation table. That’s how it is because we would like to get everything back, and Russia doesn’t want to give back anything.”

He said many Ukrainian pilots had died while transporting medication, food and water to the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol before the evacuation of Ukrainian troops started earlier this week.

Mr Zelensky said: “Many of our pilots died heroically, knowing that flying to Azovstal was almost impossible ... to bring medication, produce and water, and to evacuate the wounded.

“All of this was happening, details of which nobody could comment on officially.”

‘At least 1.3m Ukrainians forcibly deported to Russia’

Saturday 21 May 2022 14:15 , Lamiat Sabin

More than 1.3 million people – including almost a quarter of a million children – have been deported to Russian territory, according to a Ukrainian official.

This includes 17,306 people in the last 24 hours alone, Ukrainian parliament human rights commissioner Liudmyla Denisova announced on Telegram.

She said: “As of the morning of May 21, Russia has deported 1,377,925 people to its territory, including 232,480 children. Over the last day – 17,306, including 2,213 children.”

More than 32,000 people have been taken to a filtration camp in the village of Bezimenne, in the Novoazovsk district in southern Ukraine – close to the border with Russia – Ms Denisova said.

She said: “It is impossible to determine how many of them ended up in torture chambers in the temporarily occupied territories due to ‘disloyalty’ to the Russian invaders and a ‘special operation.’”

Ms Denisova said that Russia’s claims that the Ukrainians have voluntarily resettled in Russian territory are false and that Ukraine has strong evidence of people being forcibly held at filtration camps before being taken to Russia.

Russia bans almost 1,000 Americans, including Biden

Saturday 21 May 2022 13:33 , Lamiat Sabin

Russia said today it was banning entry to 963 Americans including US president Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA chief William Burns.

Biden signs bill to send $40bn aid to Ukraine

Saturday 21 May 2022 13:00 , Lamiat Sabin

US president Joe Biden today signed a bill to provide nearly $40 billion (£32bn) in aid for Ukraine as part of efforts to boost military support over Russia’s invasion, the White House said.

Mr Biden, who is in Seoul for his first summit with new South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol, also signed a bill aimed at improving access to baby formula, the White House said.

Russia ‘putting millions at risk of hunger by blocking exports’

Saturday 21 May 2022 12:30 , Lamiat Sabin

Global hunger is at risk of getting worse as Russia is “blocking” shipments of Ukrainian crops that are exported to developing countries, Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

He tweeted: “Russia puts millions of people at risk of hunger by blocking our ports. Together with partners, Ukraine has established two alternative land routes to deliver food exports and save Africa and other regions from hunger.

“Russia must end its blockade to allow full and free export.”

Meanwhile, the UN’s World Food Programme warned that the blocking of exports “is worsening an already catastrophic global hunger crisis” that has been exacerbated by rising food and oil prices.

Millions of tonnes of corn and wheat are “trapped” in silos because ports – such as the one in Odesa – are not in operation during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it said.

West’s weapon delivery to Ukraine ‘destroyed’ - Russia says

Saturday 21 May 2022 12:00 , Lamiat Sabin

The Russian military said today that it had destroyed a major arms consignment delivered to Ukraine by the West.

The attack allegedly happened in Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv.

Russian armed forces launched Kalibr cruise missiles from the sea toward the consignment, Interfax news agency reported.

Russia lost 28,850 troops so far, says Ukraine’s army

Saturday 21 May 2022 11:30 , Lamiat Sabin

About 28,850 Russian troops have died during the invasion of Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian armed forces.

Also – 1,278 tanks, 3,116 armoured combat vehicles, 596 artillery systems, 462 drones, 204 aircraft, 169 helicopters, and 13 ships have been destroyed, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

Three more die in Donetsk – with region’s death toll at 400

Saturday 21 May 2022 11:00 , Lamiat Sabin

Three civilians were killed yesterday in Donetsk, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko – the head of the local administration.

About 400 people are known to have been killed in the region of eastern Ukraine that – along with Luhansk – had been declared independent by Russia ahead of the invasion on 24 February.

Mr Kyrylenko said: “On 20 May, the Russians killed 3 more civilians in the Donetsk region. All three of them [were killed] in the Lyman amalgamated territorial community: in Lyman, Novoselivka and Sosnove.

“In total, we have verified information about 400 Russian civilians killed in Donetsk Oblast since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.”

Five people were also injured due to shelling in the region on Friday, he said.

Russian troops ‘paying people 10,000 rubles each for data’

Saturday 21 May 2022 10:30 , Lamiat Sabin

Russian invaders are reportedly paying pensioners and public sector workers money in exchange for their personal data.

The troops are giving 10,000 rubles (about £130) to people in the seized city of Melitopol, in the Zaporizhzhia region.

The soldiers have reportedly claimed that this is so pensioners and workers can be financially supported.

This is according to the local military administration on Telegram, which said personal data is also being bought in the urban settlement of Mykhailivka.

“However, it is yet unclear what the personal data collection is really being collected for in all these cases,” the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration stated.

Family killed and injured in Severodonetsk school basement

Saturday 21 May 2022 10:00 , Lamiat Sabin

In Severodonetsk in southeastern Ukraine, two people died when Russian troops fired at a school where residents of the city had been hiding since the beginning of the invasion.

This is according to Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, who said the attack happened on Friday amid Russia’s increasing efforts to destroy and seize the region.

The two dead and three others that were wounded are reportedly members of the same family.

On Friday night, a man and a woman were killed near their home in Severodonetsk and two women were killed by Russian shelling in nearby cities Lysychansk and Pryvillia – he said.

Trade delegates walkout of meeting in protest against Russia

Saturday 21 May 2022 09:30 , Lamiat Sabin

Five countries’ representatives walked out of an Asia-Pacific trade ministers meeting in Bangkok today to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials said – according to Reuters.

The walkout at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting involved representatives from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and Australia.

They exited the room while the Russian representative was making a speech at the opening of the two-day meeting of the group of 21 economies.

Russia trying to destroy Severodonetsk city, says local offical

Saturday 21 May 2022 09:00 , Lamiat Sabin

Russia has apparently launched a major attack to seize the last remaining Ukrainian-held territory in Luhansk.

Luhansk, in southeastern Ukraine, is one of two provinces – together with Donetsk – that Moscow proclaims as independent states.

Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, said in a social media post early this morning that Russia was trying to destroy the city of Severodonetsk and that there has been fighting on the outskirts of the city.

“Shelling continues from morning to the evening and also throughout the night,” he said in a video post on the Telegram messaging app.

He added: “The enemy’s plans are to surround the region or set fire to it, as they did in Popasna. This is the difficult fate of the Luhansk region – to prevent the Russians from moving further.”

Capturing Luhansk and Donetsk provinces would allow Moscow to claim victory after announcing last month that this has been its current objective. Russia changed its plan after it had failed to capture Kyiv.

“This will be the critical next few weeks of the conflict,” said Mathieu Boulegue, an expert at London’s Chatham House think tank. “And it depends on how effective they are at conquering Severodonetsk and the lands across it.”

Moldova should be armed to ‘Nato standard’, says Liz Truss

Saturday 21 May 2022 08:38 , Lamiat Sabin

Ukraine‘s neighbour Moldova should be “equipped to Nato standard” to guard it against possible Russian aggression, UK foreign secretary Liz Truss said.

There is a need to ensure that Ukraine is “permanently able to defend itself”, and this also applies to other “vulnerable states” such as Moldova, which is not a Nato member – she added.

Russia “absolutely” poses a security threat to Moldova, she said, as Vladimir Putin “has been clear about his ambitions to create a greater Russia.”

Read the full story here by Emily Atkinson

Moldova should be armed ‘to Nato standard’ to guard against Russia, says Truss

Russia ‘could be experiencing shortage of drones’ – MoD

Saturday 21 May 2022 08:00 , Lamiat Sabin

Russia is likely experiencing a shortage of appropriate reconnaissance Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

The drones are used to identify targets to be struck by combat jets or artillery.

The shortage is exacerbated by limitations in its domestic manufacturing capacity resulting from worldwide sanctions imposed in response to its invasion of Ukraine, the MoD’s report said.

If Russia continues to lose UAVs at current rate, Russian forces’ ability to garner intelligence and conduct surveillance reconnaissance will be further degraded, it adds.

Finland cut-off from Russian gas supply, Gazprom confirms

Saturday 21 May 2022 07:30 , Lamiat Sabin

Russia’s Gazprom has confirmed that it had cut-off gas exports to neighbouring Finland.

Earlier, Finnish system operator Gasgrid Finland said: “Gas imports through Imatra entry point have been stopped.”

It came after Gazprom Export has demanded that European countries pay for Russian gas supplies in roubles because of sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine – which Finland has refused to do so.

Moody's cuts Ukraine's debt rating

Saturday 21 May 2022 06:49 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Moody’s on Friday downgraded Ukraine’s foreign currency sovereign credit rating to “Caa3” from “Caa2”.

The ratings agency cited increased risks to the government’s “debt sustainability” following Russia’s invasion.

“While Ukraine is benefiting from large commitments of international financial support, helping to mitigate immediate liquidity risks, the resulting significant rise in government debt is likely to prove unsustainable over the medium term,” it said in a statement.

It added that it expects the war in Ukraine to be more prolonged than initially assumed and forecasts that the country’s real gross domestic product (GDP) would shrink by about 35 per cent in 2022.

Russia halts gas flow to Finland

Saturday 21 May 2022 06:22 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Russia’s state energy giant Gazprom has stopped exporting natural gas to Finland.

“Gas imports through Imatra entry point have been stopped,” Gasgrid Finland said in a statement.

The Finnish gas system operator said that the latest escalation comes amid an energy payments dispute with Western nations.

Moscow said it took the decision because Finland had refused to pay for gas in roubles, something the Putin regime demanded after western sanctions were imposed.

Read more:

Russia to cut natural gas supplies to Finland days after it applied to join Nato

Cannes: Woman protests against sexual violence in Ukraine

Saturday 21 May 2022 06:00 , Sravasti Dasgupta

A woman ran onto the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday to protest against sexual violence in Ukraine.

She stripped off her coat to reveal the words “stop raping us” painted on her body, along with the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

Ukrainian authorities have noted that sexual violence has been reported in several parts of the country during the Russian invasion, which began on 24 February.

Read more:

Ukraine protestor removed from Cannes by security after stripping on the red carpet

Inside the recaptured Ukrainian village still under attack from retreating Russian forces

Saturday 21 May 2022 05:30 , Emily Atkinson

The first mortar rounds are outgoing, aimed at Russian forces beyond a ridge. But the ones that follow are incoming, heading for Ukrainian positions, and land near the troops in their base, writes Kim Sengupta - The Independent’s defence and security editor.

The exchanges take place at Ruska Lozova, a village set in a landscape of woodland, valleys, streams and fields, which was officially liberated at the end of last month by Ukrainian troops, driving away the Russian forces that had laid siege to nearby Kharkiv.

It is just six miles north of the city, and the presence of Russian forces here, with tanks, artillery and air support, is an illustration of the fragmented front line here in the northeast of Ukraine.

His dispatch can be read in full here:

Inside the recaptured village still under attack from Russian forces

36 Russian soldiers dead in last 24 hours, Ukraine says

Saturday 21 May 2022 05:17 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Ukraine’s Operational Command said that Russia has lost at least 36 soldiers, three T-72 tanks, a Grad missile launcher, and a number of vehicles along Ukraine’s southern frontlines over the past 24 hours.

40 countries of Ukraine contact group to meet on 23 May

Saturday 21 May 2022 05:05 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said that 40 countries of Ukraine Contact Group will meet again on 23 May.

The group, led by US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin, will discuss further support for Ukraine.

Mr Austin will speak with Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksii Reznikov ahead of the virtual meeting.

The group first convened at Germany’s Ramstein Air Base last month.

Kasparov and Khodorkovsky added to Russia's 'foreign agents' list

Saturday 21 May 2022 04:55 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky have been added to the Russian Justice Ministry’s list of individuals acting as foreign agents, according to the ministry’s website.

Both men are prominent critics of the Russian government.

Russia alleged that Ukraine is a source of financing for Khodorkovsky, while it claimed Kasparov’s funds have been sourced from both Kyiv and the Human Rights Foundation.

Watch: Footage captures major blast in Ukraine's Kharkiv region

Saturday 21 May 2022 04:30 , Emily Atkinson

Russian soldier in Ukraine war crimes trial says he did not want to kill

Saturday 21 May 2022 03:30 , Emily Atkinson

In case you missed it...

A 21-year-old Russian soldier told a court on Friday he had not wanted to kill an unarmed civilian and that he sincerely repented, as he delivered his final words at the first war crimes trial arising from Russia’s invasion.

Vadim Shishimarin, a tank commander, has pleaded guilty to killing Oleksandr Shelipov, a 62-year-old civilian, in the northeast Ukrainian village of Chupakhivka on 28 February.

“I sincerely repent. I was nervous at the time, I did not want to kill... that’s how it happened,” Shishimarin said.

Shishimarin is accused of firing several shots with an assault rifle at a civilian’s head from a car after being ordered to do so.

Defence lawyer Viktor Ovsiannikov told the court that Shishimarin had only fired the rounds after twice refusing to carry out the order to shoot and that only one out of three-to-four rounds hit the target.

Russia considers allowing over-40s to fight Ukraine war

Saturday 21 May 2022 02:30 , Emily Atkinson

Russia’s parliament could allow people over 40 to join the military, as it struggles to make territorial gains in eastern Ukraine, writes Rory Sullivan.

Russia considers allowing over-40s to fight Ukraine war

Watch: Putin takes breaks during meetings for treatment, claims ex-British spy

Saturday 21 May 2022 01:30 , Emily Atkinson

Zelensky says Russia should pay for destruction in Ukraine

Saturday 21 May 2022 00:40 , Emily Atkinson

President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded that Russia be held financially responsible for the damage inflicted on Ukraine by its forces.

Speaking during his nightly video address, Zelensky said Moscow should be made to pay for every home, school, hospital and business it destroys.

He said a legal mechanism should be created through which everyone who suffered from Russia‘s actions would be able to receive compensation.

“That would be fair,” Zelensky said. “And Russia would feel the true weight of every missile, every bomb, every shell that it has fired at us.”

Watch: Protestor removed from Cannes red carpet

Saturday 21 May 2022 00:00 , Emily Atkinson

Protester crashes Cannes carpet at George Miller premiere

Friday 20 May 2022 23:40 , Emily Atkinson

A woman who stripped off her clothes to reveal a message against rape written on her body crashed the Cannes Film Festival red carpet premiere of George Miller‘s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” on Friday.

The unidentified woman tore off her clothes during the film’s red carpet procession to reveal the message “Stop raping us” written across her torso next to the blue and yellow colors of the Ukraine flag. Red was also painted on her legs and groin.

While she yelled “Don’t rape us!” security quickly encircled her and took her off the red carpet.

Protester crashes Cannes carpet at George Miller premiere

Zelensky reveals how supplies were delivered to Azovstal defenders

Friday 20 May 2022 23:21 , Emily Atkinson

President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed that Ukrainian pilots had taken part in treacherous missions to deliver supplies to the defenders holed up in the Azovstal steel mill.

He said the operation could not be reported sooner as no safe corridor had been established.

Zelensky said the pilots risked Russian anti-aircraft fire to fly medicine, food and water to the sprawling plant on helicopters, suffering a large amount of casualties.

In an interview published on the third anniversary of his inauguration as president on Friday, he said the effort also included retrieval of bodies and picking up the wounded.“They are absolutely heroic people, who knew that it would be difficult, knew that to fly would be almost impossible,” Zelensky said.

US to arm Ukraine with anti-ship missiles

Friday 20 May 2022 22:38 , Emily Atkinson

In case you missed it...

US officials are considering arming the Ukrainian military with advanced anti-ship missiles, the Reuters agency has reported.

Citing Biden administration officials, the report says the White House could offer Kyiv Boeing Harpoon and Naval Strike missiles with which to target the Russian Black Fleet, which is currently blockading Ukrainian ports.

UK defence officials have said that around 20 Russian Navy vessels, including submarines, are active in the region.

Officials are said to believe the arms could help force Russian ships away from Ukrainian territory and allow shipments of grain and other agricultural products to resume.

But the missiles, which cost around $15m (£12m) per round and have a range of 300km, are mainly sea-based missiles, meaning Ukraine could face difficulty firing them from shore.

Friday 20 May 2022 22:22 , Emily Atkinson

Here are some of the latest images of the southern port city of Mariupol, which was today claimed by Russia to be in its full control:

Moscow says last group of Azovstal soldiers has surrendered

Friday 20 May 2022 21:58 , Emily Atkinson

Russia‘s defence ministry on Friday said the last group of Ukrainian forces holed up in Mariupol’s Azovstal steel works had surrendered, marking an end to a weeks-long attack that left the city in ruins.

“The territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant... has been completely liberated,” the ministry said in a statement.

It said the group that had surrendered comprised 531 people.

“The underground facilities of the enterprise, where the militants were hiding, came under the full control of the Russian armed forces,” said the Russian statement, adding that a total of 2,439 defenders had surrendered in the past few days.

Russia adds Kasparov and Khodorkovsky to 'foreign agents' list

Friday 20 May 2022 21:39 , Emily Atkinson

Ex-world chess champion Garry Kasparov and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, two prominent critics of the Kremlin, have been added to the list of individuals acting as foreign agents, according to the website for Russia’s jutsice ministry.

Watch: Sajid Javid says UK support for Ukraine is 'unwavering' as 5.8 million items of aid sent

Friday 20 May 2022 21:21 , Emily Atkinson

Moscow claims to take full control of Mariupol after three-month siege

Friday 20 May 2022 21:03 , Emily Atkinson

Russia has claimed to have taken full control of the sprawling Azovstal steelworks in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol - the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance.

Moscow’s announcement would mark the end of a three-month siege which has seen the once-bustling hub razed to the ground, leaving more than 20,000 people feared dead.

Reporting to Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday, defence minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol has been “completely liberated” from Ukrainian defenders.

AP adds:Russia‘s state news agency RIA Novosti quoted the ministry as saying that a total of 2,439 Ukrainian fighters who had been holed up at Azovstal have laid down their arms and surrendered since May 16, including 531 on Friday.

There was no immediate confirmation from Ukraine that Mariupol has fallen completely to the Russians.

Wimbledon stripped of ATP ranking points after Russian and Belarusian player ban

Friday 20 May 2022 20:50 , Emily Atkinson

Wimbledon has been stripped of ranking points for male players for this year’s tournament by the ATP, following their decision to ban players from Russia or Belarus from competing at SW19.

In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian players have been banned by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) from all UK grass-court events, which includes the third grand slam of the year.

And in a statement, the ATP - who run the men’s world ranking system and weekly tennis tour - intimated they had been left with no decision but to announce that players will not recieve ranking points for competing at Wimbledon.

Luke Baker has more:

Wimbledon stripped of ATP ranking points after Russian and Belarusian player ban

No indication of Russia using lasers in Ukraine, Pentagon says

Friday 20 May 2022 20:30 , Emily Atkinson

The Pentagon has said there were no indications that Russia had used laser weaponry in Ukraine, following claims by Moscow that it was fielding a new generation of powerful lasers there to strike enemy drones.

“We don’t have any indication of the use of lasers, at least weaponized lasers, in Ukraine. Nothing to confirm on that,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

Watch: Footage captures moment missile strike blasts cultural centre in Lozova

Friday 20 May 2022 20:10 , Emily Atkinson

Kyiv shares images of Lozova blast

Friday 20 May 2022 19:50 , Emily Atkinson

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service has released a number of chilling images of the damage caused by the missile strike against the House of Culture in Lozova, Kharkiv.

One local health official, Viktor Zabashta, told Interfax: “No-one has died yet.”

Russia has not yet issued any comment on the strike.

Missile strike on Kharkiv cultural centre ‘evil’, Zelensky says

Friday 20 May 2022 19:37 , Emily Atkinson

Ukraine’s president has hit out at a video of a missile strike launched on a cultural centre in the Kharkiv region, which he described as “absolute evil, absolute stupidity.”

Volodymyr Zelensky shared the startling CCTV footage of the blast as it collided with the House of Culture in Lozova on his Telegram channel.

He has accused Russia of launching the attack on the eastern city.

Zelensky said that seven people, including an 11-year-old, were injured.

“The occupiers have identified culture, education and humanity as their enemies,” he said, adding: “What is in the heads of people who choose such targets?”

Alarm over global food supplies has hit ‘level 10’, says UN official

Friday 20 May 2022 19:22 , Emily Atkinson

The US ambassador to the UN has warned that her alarm over dwindling global food supplies has hit “level 10.”

Speaking of her concern over Russia’s bloackading of vital Ukrainian ports, Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the BBC’s Newshour programme: “I can tell you on a scale of one to 10, I’m probably at the 10 level of alarm. This crisis has exacerbated what is already a serious food insecurity issue.”

“The Ukraine war and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, its blockade of the ports, blocking Ukrainian wheat from getting to the market, has exacerbated this situation and made it even more dire and the impact is being felt across the world.”

‘Ukraine will defeat the darkness,’ says adviser to Zelensky

Friday 20 May 2022 19:08 , Emily Atkinson

A top adviser to president Volodymyr Zelensky has said the country’s authorities will do “everthing” it can not to let down the Ukrainian people.

Posting to Twitter on Friday, Mykhailo Podolyak said: “Every day I receive dozens of messages from people who‘ve lost their loved ones, their home.

“From those whose relatives have been captured or deported to Russia. Ukraine will defeat the darkness, but pays a terrible price. We’ll do everything not to let our people down.”

Luhansk faces continuing Russian bombardment, says governor

Friday 20 May 2022 18:50 , Emily Atkinson

Lysychansk and Severodonetsk in Ukraine’s eastern region of Luhansk is facing continued Russian bombardment in Moscow’s bid to isolate the area from the rest of Ukraine, the region’s governor said.

Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press that Russia’s forces were focused on the Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway, which he said is the only road for evacuating people and delivering humanitarian supplies.

Contacting the agency via email, he said:“The road is extremely important because it’s the only connection to other regions of the country.

“The Russians are trying to cut us off from it, to encircle the Luhansk region.”Haidai said Putin’s troops are constantly shelling the road from multiple directions, but Ukrainian armored transports are still able to get through.

Families of Azovstal fighters fear defenders are moving ‘from one hell to another hell'

Friday 20 May 2022 18:33 , Emily Atkinson

The loved ones of the Ukrainian fighters who defended the Azovstal steelworks have said they are worries about the fate of their family members after they were ordered to stand down.

Speaking at a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey, Natalia Zarytska, wife to one of the Mariupol fighters who had surrendered, said she had not had contact with her husband other than a 10-minute message exchange via Telegram two days ago.

She said: “So my husband messaged me two days ago and the situation is really hard and horrible and my husband is on the way from one hell to another hell, from Azovstal steel plant to a prison, to captivity.”

Zarytska also said she believes that her husband is still alive and that one day he will return home.

The group, comprising three wives and a mother of Azovstal fighters, have been in Turkey this week to ask the country to help secure the safety of the fighters at the steel plant.

Donbas under fire in pictures

Friday 20 May 2022 18:15 , Emily Atkinson

US could offer Ukraine advanced anti-ship missiles to break through Russian naval blockade

Friday 20 May 2022 17:58 , Emily Atkinson

The White House is looking to aid Ukraine with advanced anti-ship missiles against Russia’s naval blockade either via direct shipment or with help from a European ally that can facilitate the transfer, officials said on Thursday.

The warships being considered include Boeing’s Harpoon and Kongsberg and Raytheon’s Naval Strike Missile, in a move that could bring Washington in increased conflict with Moscow.

The move is a response to a shopping list provided by Kyiv, that included a request for missiles to end the Russian navy’s control of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports so it can resume the trade of grains and other agricultural produce.

Arpan Rai reports:

US could offer Ukraine advanced anti-ship missiles to break through Russian blockade

Undisclosed number of Ukrainian soldiers remain at Azovstal steel plant

Friday 20 May 2022 17:40 , Emily Atkinson

The number of Ukrainian soldiers still holed up at Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks remains unclear, but Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu said more than 1,900 had surrendered in recent days.

According to Denis Prokopenko, commander of the Azov Regiment, which had led the defence of the plant, the bodies of soliders who died, who he referred to as “fallen heroes”, are still being held in the plant.

He said: “I hope soon relatives and the whole of Ukraine will be able to bury the fighters with honours.”

He also said that the defenders of Mariupol have received an order to “cease the defence of the city”. The intention is to “save the lives and health of the servicemen of the garrison”, he said.

Italy submits peace plan for Ukraine to UN

Friday 20 May 2022 17:21 , Emily Atkinson

Italy has submitted a peace plan for Ukraine to UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, the country’s foreign minister has said.

Speaking during a Council of Europe meeting in Turin, Italy, Luigi Di Maio said that the plan submitted calls for local ceasefires to evacuate civilians along humanitarian corridors, and creating the conditions for a general cease-fire leading “to a long-lasting peace.”

In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was aware of the plan, adding the European Union is “putting all our efforts into trying to bring this conflict to an end.”

Borrell said it’s up to Ukraine to decide the terms of any negotiations.

He said that he hopes that “when the time comes for negotiations to take place, Ukraine will be able to negotiate from a position of strength.”

Russia to cut natural gas supplies to Finland days after Helsinki applied to join Nato

Friday 20 May 2022 17:03 , Emily Atkinson

Russia will stop exporting natural gas to Finland from Saturday, just two days after Helsinki applied for Nato membership in response to security concerns triggered by the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Gazprom, the Russian state energy giant, confirmed the move to the Finnish company Gasum on Friday.

It is expected that Russia will cut supplies around 4am on Saturday morning.

Here’s Rory Sullivan with the full story:

Russia to cut natural gas supplies to Finland days after it applied to join Nato

Russia suffers fresh blow from new Canadian sanctions

Friday 20 May 2022 16:46 , Emily Atkinson

We have a few more details to top-up our earlier post on the new wave of Canadian sanctions imposed today on Russia.

According to an official statement, the new measures would put restrictions on 14 individuals including Russian oligarchs, their family members, and close associates of president Vladimir Putin.

An import ban will also target Russian goods including alcoholic beverages, seafood, and non-industrial diamonds, while an export ban will target luxury goods such as footwear, luxury clothing and jewelry.

Putin promises to bolster Russia’s cyber security

Friday 20 May 2022 16:26 , Emily Atkinson

Russia’s president has claimed that the frequency of cyberattacks on the country by what he called foreign “state structures” had increased several times over.

It follows a flurry of reports that the websites of various state-owned companies and news websites had suffered sporadic hacking attempts in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Targeted attempts are being made to disable the internet resources of Russia‘s critical information infrastructure,” president Vladimir Putin said, adding that media and financial institutions were among those that had been targeted.

He said: “Serious attacks have been launched against the official sites of government agencies. Attempts to illegally penetrate the corporate networks of leading Russian companies are much more frequent as well.”

He told members of the security council that Moscow must bolster its cyber defences by reducing the use of foreign software and hardware.

He continued: “Restrictions on foreign IT, software and products have become one of the tools of sanctions pressure on Russia.

“A number of Western suppliers have unilaterally stopped technical support of their equipment in Russia.”

German ex-Chancellor Schröder leaves Rosneft board

Friday 20 May 2022 15:59 , Thomas Kingsley

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder will leave the board of directors of Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft, the company has announced.

Rosneft said Schröder and Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline firm CEO Matthias Warnig informed the company that it was "impossible to extend their powers on the board of directors".

"We are sympathetic to their decisions and thank them for their continued support," Rosneft said in the statement.

On Thursday, Mr Schröder was stripped of some of his official perks in Germany - including his taxpayer-funded office - over his continued involvement in the Russian energy industry.

Schröder, who was chancellor between 1998 and 2005, chairs the boards of Russian state oil firm Rosneft and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline firm. He is due to join the supervisory board of Russian gas giant Gazprom in June.

US could offer Ukraine advanced anti-ship missiles to break through Russian naval blockade

Friday 20 May 2022 15:20 , Thomas Kingsley

The White House is looking to aid Ukraine with advanced anti-ship missiles against Russia’s naval blockade either via direct shipment or with help from a European ally that can facilitate the transfer, officials said on Thursday.

The warships being considered include Boeing’s Harpoon and Kongsberg and Raytheon’s Naval Strike Missile, in a move that could bring Washington in increased conflict with Moscow.

The move is a response to a shopping list provided by Kyiv, that included a request for missiles to end the Russian navy’s control of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports so it can resume the trade of grains and other agricultural produce.

Read the full story below:

US could offer Ukraine advanced anti-ship missiles to break through Russian blockade

US targets a second Abramovich plane over sanctions violations

Friday 20 May 2022 15:00 , Thomas Kingsley

US authorities on Friday moved to ground additional aircraft believed to be in violation of sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, including a second airplane owned by businessman Roman Abramovich.

The Commerce Department said a 787 Dreamliner owned by Abramovich had likely violated US export controls, after having identified in March a first aircraft owned by the Russian businessman suspected to be in violation of restrictions.

It also said that it was issuing an order denying export privileges to Rossiya Airlines due to ongoing export violations, the fifth Russian airline to which it has done so.

The Commerce Department warned that providing any service to aircraft subject to its Export Administration Regulations (EAR) that may have violated those controls requires US government authorization.

Failure to do so could result in "substantial jail time, fines, loss of export privileges, or other restrictions," the Commerce Department said.

"By preventing these aircraft from receiving any service, including from abroad, international flights from Belarus or Russia on these aircraft are effectively grounded," the department said.

The department "is further updating the tail numbers of planes already on the list that have flown into Russia and/or Belarus in apparent violation of the EAR."

Canada imposes fresh sanctions on Russian oligarchs

Friday 20 May 2022 14:45 , Thomas Kingsley

Canada imposes additional sanctions on Russian oligarchs in response to Vladimir Putin’s continued aggression on Ukraine.

‘I did not want to kill’ Russian soldier pleads guilty to killing an unarmed Ukrainian civilian

Friday 20 May 2022 14:29 , Thomas Kingsley

A 21-year-old Russian soldier has told a court he had not wanted to kill an unarmed Ukrainian civilian and that he had “sincerely repented”, at the conflict’s first war crimes trial.

Vadim Shishimarin, a tank commander, pleaded guilty to killing Oleksandr Shelipov, a 62-year-old civilian, in the northeast Ukrainian village of Chupakhivka on 28 Feb.

“I sincerely repent. I was nervous at the time, I did not want to kill... that’s how it happened,” Mr Shishimarin said.

Read the full report below:

‘I did not want to kill,’ Russian soldier tells Ukraine war crimes trial

Putin’s daughter flew to Germany 50 times in two years

Friday 20 May 2022 14:14 , Thomas Kingsley

One of Vladimir Putin’s daughters flew from Moscow to Munich more than 50 times between 2017 and 2019, an investigation has found.

The disclosure about Katerina Tikhonova’s numerous visits to the Bavarian city comes just two months after her father criticised Russians who spend too much time in the west.

In a tirade made shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian president claimed this group “mentally exist there, and not here”, adding that they could be a potential “fifth column”.

Read the full story here

Turkey’s Erdogan to speak to Finland as Nato application row simmers

Friday 20 May 2022 13:59 , Thomas Kingsley

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he will speak to Finland on Saturday, while maintaining his opposition to Finnish and Swedish Nato membership bids over their history of hosting members of groups Ankara deems terrorists.

Finland and Sweden formally applied to join Nato on Wednesday, following Russia's 24 February invasion of Ukraine.

Me Erdogan said he had discussed the issue with the Dutch prime minister on Friday and would also speak to Britain on Saturday. He did not specify the people he would speak to in Finland and Britain.

"Of course we will continue all these discussions for the sake of not interrupting diplomacy," Mr Erdogan told reporters.

Click here to read the full blog on The Independent's website