Chornobyl radiation levels back to normal, IAEA says

Radiation detectors in the Exclusion Zone around Ukraine's defunct Chornobyl nuclear power plant are back online for the first time since Russia seized the area on February 24 and radiation levels are normal, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday.

"Most of the 39 detectors sending data from the Exclusion Zone ... are now visible on the IRMIS (International Radiation Monitoring Information System) map," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.

"The measurements received so far indicated radiation levels in line with those measured before the conflict."

(Reuters)

Some 800 civilians take refuge in chemical factory in Sievierodonetsk

Around 800 civilians have taken refuge in the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk, according to a lawyer for Dmytro Firtash, whose company owns the site.

"Among these 800 civilians are about 200 of the plant's 3,000 employees and about 600 residents of Severodonetsk." Lanny J. Davis, a US lawyer said in a statement published on the company website.

The workers had remained at the factory in an attempt to “secure” the remaining part of “the plant’s highly explosive chemicals” the statement said.

The situation is reminiscent of that of Mariupol, where hundreds of people, Ukrainian fighters and civilians, had taken shelter for weeks in the underground shelters of the immense metallurgical complex Azovstal, besieged by the Russians.

(AFP)

Russia punishes officers after conscripts were sent to Ukraine

Russia has prosecuted around a dozen army officers after hundreds of conscripts were sent to fight in Ukraine, a military prosecutor said on Tuesday.

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied that Russia is using conscripts, young men who are drafted by the state to serve in the army, saying only professional soldiers and officers are taking part in its military operation. 

However, the defence ministry acknowledged in March that some had been mistakenly sent to fight.

The ministry said that some of them, serving in supply units, had been taken prisoner by the Ukrainian army since the fighting began on February 24

(Reuters)

Lavrov arrives in Turkey to discuss maritime corridors for grain

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in Turkey for two days of talks aimed at unblocking grain exports from Ukraine, which have been stalled by Moscow's offensive.

Lavrov is due to meet the head of Turkish diplomacy Mevlüt Cavusoglu in Ankara on Wednesday.

Turkey offered its assistance in escorting maritime convoys from Ukrainian ports, following a request from the United Nations.

Though hurdles remain such as payment mechanisms for the agricultural products and mines floating in the Black Sea, both Moscow and Kyiv want a solution, Turkish Minister of Agriculture Vahit Kirisci said. 

“Both Russia and Ukraine trust us,” he said. "Discussions continue."

(AFP Reuters)

Nearly 600 Ukrainians detained and tortured in basements in the Kherson region says Ukraine

Ukraine has accused the Russian army of imprisoning and torturing nearly 600 people in basements in the Kherson region in the south of the country.

Tamila Tacheva, the Ukrainian Presidency’s permanent representative in Crimea, said in a briefing:

"According to our information, about 600 people are (...) detained in specially equipped basements in the Kherson region ", i

They are "mainly journalists and activists" who organized "pro-Ukrainian rallies in Kherson and its region" after the occupation of this territory by the Russians, she said.

"According to our information, they are being held in inhuman conditions and are victims of torture," Tacheva said in a tweet. 

Some of the Ukrainians detained in the Kherson region - civilians but also prisoners of war - were then sent to prisons in Crimea, according to Tacheva.

Bathed by the Black Sea and that of Azov, the Ukrainian region of Kherson, with an area of ​​some 28,000 square kilometres, or about the size of Brittany, had more than a million inhabitants before the start of the Russian invasion at the end of February. 

(AFP)

US begins training Ukrainian forces on advanced rocket system

The United States military has begun training Ukrainian forces on the sophisticated rocket systems that the Biden administration agreed last week to provide, but that Russia has said could trigger wider airstrikes in Ukraine.

Pentagon spokesman Marine Lt. Col. Anton Semelroth, said Ukrainian troops are training on the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, at Grafenwoehr training base in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

The US agreed to send four of the medium-range, precision rocket systems to Ukraine as part of a $700 million (€654) package approved last week, and officials said it would take about three weeks of training before they could go to the battlefront.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday that any Western deliveries of longer-range rocket systems would prompt Moscow to hit “objects that we haven’t yet struck.”

About 900 Ukrainian service members have received training on a variety of weapons by the U.S. so far, including on howitzers which are being delivered to the front lines.

The HIMARS is mounted on a truck and can carry a container with six rockets, which can each travel about 70 kilometres.

(AP)

Stalemate with Russia 'not an option', Zelenskyy says

Ukraine will fight to recover all its territory occupied by Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday, as his troops battled street-to-street in Sievierodonetsk in one of the bloodiest land battles of the war.

"We have already lost too many people to simply cede our territory," he said by video link at an event hosted by Britain's Financial Times newspaper.

Stalemate was "not an option", he said. "We have to achieve a full de-occupation of our entire territory."

Zelenskyy's remarks were a forceful response to suggestions that Ukraine must cede territory to Russia to end the war, now in its fourth month.

(Reuters)

Russia breaks ties with European human rights court

The Russian parliament has passed a set of laws allowing Moscow not to comply with the top European human rights court’s rulings.

The move formalises the broken ties between Russia and the Council of Europe, the continent’s foremost human rights body.

Under the new laws, Russian authorities are no longer obligated to comply with rulings of the European Court of Human Rights issued after March 15.

On that date, Russia announced it was withdrawing from the Council of Europe, only to be officially expelled the next day over what the Kremlin calls a special military operation in Ukraine.

Thousands of Russians in recent years have turned to the court as a last resort, after failing to win in Russian courts, on human rights issues ranging from political persecution to domestic violence.

State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on Telegram described the court as a “tool of a political battle against our country in the hands of Western politicians,” adding that “some of its rulings went directly against Russia’s Constitution, our values, our traditions.”

Volodin cited a ruling demanding that Russia recognise same-sex marriage, which was outlawed two years ago in a set of constitutional amendments.

(AP)

Allegations Russia is stealing gain must be investigated immediately, says UK Minister

Allegations that Russia is stealing grain from across Ukraine are very serious and must be investigated immediately, British farming minister Victoria Prentis said Tuesday.

Speaking at an International Grains Council conference in London, Prentis claimed she had heard first-hand allegations of grain theft by Russian forces from sources in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson.

Russia has strongly denied allegations that it is stealing wheat from Ukraine. 

Last week Ukraine accused Russia of shipping stolen grain to Turkey from Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

It also claimed Russia sent its ally Syria 100,000 tonnes of stolen Ukrainian wheat and looted metal via ship from Mariupol to Rostov-on-Don.

(Reuters)

97% of Luhansk seized by Russia, claims Russian minister 

Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said Moscow’s forces have captured 97% of the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk. 

Russian forces have also seized residential areas in the key eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and are fighting to take control of an industrial zone on its outskirts and the nearby towns, Shoigu claimed.

Luhansk governor, Serhiy Haidai, conceded that Russian forces control the industrial outskirts of the city, which is the largest in the Luhansk Oblast, according to the Associated Press. 

"Toughest street battles continue, with varying degrees of success. The situation constantly changes, but the Ukrainians are repelling attacks," said Haidai.

In nearby Lysychansk, the other Donbas city fending off Russian troops, Moscow's soldiers shelled a local market, school and  college building, destroying the latter, Haidai added. 

"Total destruction of the city is underway," he says, "Russian shelling has intensified significantly over the past 24 hours. Russians are using scorched earth tactics."

Shoigu also said Russian troops were pressing their offensive toward the town of Popasna, about 30km south of Sievierodonetsk, and that they have taken control of Lyman and Sviatohirsk and 15 other towns in the region.

The minister said 6,489 Ukrainian troops have been taken prisoner since the start of the military action in Ukraine, including 126 over the past five days.

Either side’s claims cannot be independently verfied. 

(AP) 

Six months needed to de-mine Black Sea, even if Russian blockade lifted, says Ukrainian official 

Ukrainian needs some six months to clear the water around its Black Sea port of mines, even if the Russian blockade was lifted, a Ukrainian official has said. 

If Russia does not lift its blockade, then Ukraine would only be able to export a maximum of 2 million tonnes of grain a month, Ukraine’s first deputy minister of agrarian policy and food, Taras Vysotskyi, said Tuesday.

Before the war, Ukraine could export up to 6 million tonnes of grain each month.

More than 20 million tonnes of grain are currently stuck in Ukraine’s silos and the country has faced severe capacity constraints while trying to export its grain by road, river and rail to help avert a global food crisis.

"I think we reached the limit," Vysotskyi told participants at an International Grains Council (IGC) conference. "The biggest amount we can export is about 2m tonnes a month."

Lifting the Russian blockade is essential to allow supplies of wheat and other foods to be exported from Ukraine, and so alleviate pressure on food prices. 

(AP)

Russia says two Ukrainian ports ready to ship grain

Russia said on Tuesday that two major Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov seized by Russian forces were ready to resume grain shipments, but the Kremlin said Kyiv still needed to de-mine the approaches to its ports for exports to take place.

Russia has seized large parts of Ukraine's coast in nearly 15 weeks of war and its warships control the Black and Azov Seas, blocking Ukraine's farm exports and driving up the price of grain.

Ukraine and the West accuse Moscow of weaponising food supplies. Russia blames the situation on what it says are Ukrainian mines, and on international sanctions against its own economy.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the ports of Berdyansk and Mariupol, the latter city destroyed after a three-month Russian siege, had resumed their operations.

"The de-mining of Mariupol's port has been completed. It is functioning normally, and has received its first cargo ships," Shoigu said in televised comments.

The Sea of Azov is shallower than the Black Sea and its ports are only accessible to smaller vessels. Ukraine's main port of Odesa remains blocked.

More than 20 million tonnes of grain are stuck in Ukraine awaiting shipment, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this could rise to 75 million by the autumn.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Ukraine still needed to de-mine its coast for grain exports to take place.

"This will allow ships, once checked by our military to make sure they are not carrying any weapons, to enter the ports, load grain and with our help, proceed to international waters," he said.

The United Nations is working on plans with Kyiv and Moscow for how to restart grain exports from Ukrainian ports, with Turkey possibly set to provide naval escorts to ensure safe passage out of the Black Sea.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Turkey on Wednesday to discuss the proposals.

Shoigu also said Russian forces had restored railway traffic across southern and eastern Ukraine and started delivering cargo to Mariupol, Berdyansk and Kherson on 1,200 kilometres of reopened tracks.

Creating a so-called "land corridor" between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, has been a major part of Russia's strategy since the start of its offensive.

(Reuters)

Moscow threatens US journalists with 'forceful measures' 

Moscow has threatened to strip the accreditations of US journalists in Russia in response to the treatment of Russian reporters in the United States, Reuters reports. 

“If they don’t normalise the work of Russian media on US territory, there will be forceful measures as a consequence,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, having invited US media representatives to the ministry.

At Monday’s meeting, Zakharova warned that US journalists “would have to leave” Russia if the treatment of their Russian colleagues did not improve, according to Reuters.

She reportedly also threatened tit-for-tat difficulties with visas, media accreditation and bank accounts for US reporters, while complaining of alleged harassment by US intelligence agencies of Russian journalists in the states.

Russian state media reported that representatives from The Wall Street Journal, CNN, the Associated Press, NPR and the U.S.-based Arabic-language broadcaster Alhurra had attended the meeting with Zakharova.

(Reuters)

Russia destroys western artillery, claims country's military 

The Russian military has said it destroyed several artillery systems given to Ukraine by the West, following a series of strikes on Ukrainian targets. 

Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov claimed Tuesday that Russian artillery hit a howitzer supplied by Norway and two other artillery systems from the United States.

In the barrage, he said Russia's artillery barrage had destroyed other Ukrainian equipment in the country’s east, while the Russian air force hit Ukrainian troops and equipment concentrations and artillery positions.

Konashenkov’s claims could not be independently confirmed by Euronews.

(AP)

Moscow claims it has 'completely liberated' areas of Sievierodonetsk

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday that the country's army had "completely liberated" the residential areas of Sievierodonetsk, an eastern Ukrainian city currently at the epicentre of fighting in the region.

"The residential areas of Sievierodonetsk have been completely liberated," he said during a briefing broadcast on television, adding that "the takeover of its industrial zone and neighbouring localities continues."

Euronews cannot independently verify this claim. 

Tuesday's statement by Shoigu comes after a series of claims and counterclaims from both Russia and Ukraine about the state of play in the city, which is currently witnessing fierce fighting between the two sides. 

(AFP)

Army rape claims orchestrated by Western spin, says Russia

Russia's representative at the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, has hit back at claims his country's soldiers have raped women, girls and boys in Ukraine. 

"These allegations fit in nicely in a depiction of Russian soldiers as beasts and brute barbarians, orchestrated by Western spin doctors – exactly like the Goebbels henchmen did at the close of WWII," said Nebenzya.

Read more below.

Russian army rape claims orchestrated by Western spin, says Nebenzya

Ukraine criticises IAEA over planned visit to Russian-occupied nuclear plant

Ukraine's state nuclear company Energoatom on Tuesday criticised an International Atomic Energy Agency plan to send a delegation to a Russian-occupied nuclear plant in southern Ukraine, saying it "did not invite" such a visit.

"We consider this message from the head of the IAEA as another attempt to get to the (power plant) by any means in order to legitimise the presence of occupiers there and essentially condone all their actions," Energoatom wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

On Monday, IAEA head Raphael Grossi said the organisation was working on sending an international mission of experts to the Russian-held nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, Europe's largest nuclear power plant. 

(Reuters)

Belarusian army engages in combat readiness training

The Belarusian armed forces have begun taking part in combat readiness training, the country's defence ministry said on Tuesday.

Belarus is a close ally of Russia and allowed it to launch the northern prong of its 24 February attack on Ukraine from Belarusian territory.

(Reuters)

Russian general killed in Donbas

The leader of the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine confirmed on Tuesday the death of a Russian general in the region.

In a message posted on Telegram, Denis Pushilin sent his "sincere condolences to the family and friends" of General Roman Kutuzov, "who showed by example how to serve the fatherland".

“As long as our generals fight alongside the soldiers, our country and our nation will be invincible,” the separatist leader wrote, posting a black and white photo of the officer.

General Kutuzov's death was reported on Sunday by Russian war correspondent Alexander Sladkov, but had not previously been confirmed by official sources.

The announcement of Kutuzov's death comes as Russian forces and their separatist allies continue their assault on the Donbas region, including fierce fighting in and around the city of Sievierodonetsk.

(Euronews / AFP)

Former Russian leader: 'They want death for us'

Dmitry Medvedev, the last president of Russia, has posted a strongly-worded message on Telegram Monday morning. 

"I am often asked why my Telegram posts are so harsh. The answer is I hate them. They are bastards and geeks. They want death for us, Russia. And while I’m alive, I will do everything to make them disappear," said Medvedev, in a post that has been seen 182,000 times. 

The target of the current deputy chairman of the security council's remarks is not directly said. But it is safe to say it is Ukraine and the West. 

Medvedev presided over Russia between 2008 - 2012.

Fiji jettisons seized Russian superyacht which is costing it 'dearly'

Fiji has ruled that a Russian-owned superyacht be removed from the Pacific island nation by the United States (US).

The reason being, according to the Fijian court's ruling, is that maintaining the vessel is a waste of money for Fiji, amid legal wrangling over its seizure.

The FBI said that the $300m (€280 million) luxury vessel has running costs of more than $25m (€23 million) per year, and the US would pay to maintain the vessel after it was seized.

However, the Fiji government has been footing the bill while an appeal by the vessel’s registered owner, Millemarin Investments, worked its way through Fiji’s courts.

The yacht is linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.

Fiji’s supreme court ruled that public interest demands the yacht “sail out of Fiji waters”, because having it docked in Fiji was “costing the Fijian Government dearly”, according to the judgement.

Reuters reports Fiji’s director of public prosecutions Christopher Pryde said in a statement “The Amadea has been handed over to US authorities and will now leave Fiji.”

(Reuters)

UK MoD: Russia needs a 'breakthrough' in battle for Sievierodonetsk

The UK's Ministry of Defence has issued its daily assessment of the situation on the ground in Ukraine, saying that Russia "needs to achieve a breakthrough" in the battle for the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk. 

"Over the weekend, Ukrainian forces have recaptured parts of Sieverodonetsk although Russian forces likely continue to occupy eastern districts," it said. "Russia’s broader plan likely continues to be to cut off the Sieverodonetsk area from both the north and the south."

The intelligence briefing continued: "Russia made gains on the southern, Popasna axis through May but its progress in the area has stalled over the last week.

"Reports of heavy shelling near Izium suggests Russia is preparing to make a renewed effort on the northern axis," it added. 

According to the UK MoD, Russia will "almost certainly need to achieve a breakthrough on at least one of these axes to translate tactical gains to operational level success."

This will allow it to progress towards its political objective of controlling all of Donetsk Oblast.

Russian troops storming Sievierodonetsk amid heavy fighting, says Ukraine's military 

Russian troops are continuing to storm the key eastern city of Sievierodonetsk where heavy fighting is raging, the Ukrainian military has said in an operational report. 

Ukrainian troops successfully countered and repulsed Russia’s offensive towards the towns of Nahirne, Berestov, Krynychne, and Rota, According to Ukraine’s general staff of the armed forces,

Meanwhile, its helicopters also struck enemy forces in the Kherson region, with planes hitting ammunition depots in the Mykolayiv region.

“The enemy lost more than 20 people and up to 10 units of military equipment,” the report added.

(Reuters)

Ukraine to 'accelerate European integration' by promoting English language 

The Ukrainian government is working on legislation that would designate English as the language of business in a bid to move closer to Europe, the country's prime minister has said Monday. 

“English is now used in business communication throughout the civilised world, so giving it such a status in Ukraine will promote business development, attract investment and accelerate Ukraine’s European integration,” wrote Denys Shmyhal on Telegram. 

He did not detail what the law would entail or how the government would go about promoting English in the country. 

Ukrainian is currently the sole official language of Ukraine. 

Approximately 50 per cent of the population speaks mostly or only Ukrainian and some 30 per cent speak mostly or only Russian, according to a 2019 survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.

English proficiency has been improving in the country but Ukraine still lags behind many of its eastern European peers. 

What has Macron said about the need not to 'humiliate Russia'?

The French president has been strongly criticised after repeatedly stressing the need to chart a diplomatic path with Russia once the fighting ends in Ukraine.

Read more in the link below 

What has Macron said about the need not to 'humiliate Russia'?

'You continue living, although you don't forget that there is the war' - Kyiv theatre reopens with sell-out shows

A theatre in Ukraine's capital has opened its doors for the first time since Russia launched its invasion, with tickets selling out for the weekend performances. 

“We were wondering how it would be, whether spectators would come during the war, whether they think at all about theatre, whether it’s of any interest,” said one of the actors at Theatre on Podil, Yuriy Felipenko.

“We were happy that the first three plays were sold out,” he added. 

Filipenko says the theatre, which is the latest cultural institution in Kyiv to reopen, is putting on plays with only a few actors.

Kostya Tomlyak, another thespian, said he was initially reluctant to perform amidst war. However, the floods of people returning to the Ukrainian capital have convinced him one must go on. 

“You continue living, although you don’t forget that there is the war," he says. "The main question is how actors can be helpful.”

Cinemas and the country's National Opera welcomed revellers at the end of May. 

(AP)

Russia 'pilfering' Ukraine's grain, says US Secretary of State

Amid a worsening global food crisis, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there are "credible reports" that Russia is "pilfering" Ukraine's grain exports to sell for profit.

Blinken said the alleged theft was part of broader Russian actions during its war in Ukraine that have hit Ukraine's ability to export its wheat crop.

Prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertiliser have soared since the Feb. 24 invasion.

Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies, while Russia is also a fertiliser exporter and Ukraine is an exporter of corn and sunflower oil.

(Reuters)

Situation changing 'hour by hour' in Sievierodonetsk

Fighting has continued into Tuesday in Sievierodonetsk, a key city in eastern Ukraine that has been subjected to a deluge of Russian fire and where the situation is changing "hour by hour," according to Kyiv.

"Our heroes are holding their positions in Sievierodonetsk. Intense street fighting continues," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Monday evening.

"In the Donetsk region, in addition to artillery fire, the enemy fires from planes and helicopters," said the Ukrainian army general staff on Tuesday morning, confirming that Sievierodonetsk remains "the enemy's core target," it said.

Kyiv is struggling to cope with the influx of Russian troops into Sievierodonetsk, the largest city still in Ukrainian hands in the Lugansk region.

The mayor of Sievierodonetsk, Oleksandre Striouk, said on Monday that "the situation was changing every hour" and that "intense street fighting" was taking place in the city.

For Russia, getting hold of Sievierodonetsk would be decisive in taking control of the entire industrial region of Donbas, partly held by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.

(Euronews / AFP)

61 Americans blacklisted by Russia

On Monday Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced that is levying sanctions on 61 US nationals.

It said the move was being taken “in response to the ever-expanding US sanctions against Russian political and public figures, as well as representatives of domestic business.”

The list includes US officials and former and current top managers of large American companies, such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

(AP)

Sexual violence in Ukraine conflict is a war crime, says European Council President

European Council President Charles Michel also pushed back against Russian forces using sexual violence as a weapon of war.

"Sexual violence is a war crime. A crime against humanity. A tactic of torture, terror, and repression," he said, describing it as shameful acts in a shameful war.

Michel added that he will be hosting, alongside the Mukwege Foundation and Nadia's Initiative, a second conference on women in conflicts on 9 June in Brussels.

Moscow’s UN ambassador storms out of meeting over grain accusations

European Council President Charles Michel accused Russia of using food supplies as “a stealth missile against developing countries” and blamed the Kremlin for the looming global food crisis, prompting Moscow’s UN ambassador to walk out of a Security Council meeting.

Michel addressed Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia directly at a council meeting Monday, saying he saw millions of tons of grain and wheat stuck in containers and ships at the Ukrainian port of Odessa a few weeks ago “because of Russian warships in the Black Sea.” He said Moscow’s attacks on Ukraine’s transport infrastructure and grain storage facilities, and its tanks, airstrikes and mines are preventing Ukraine from planting and harvesting.

“This is driving up food prices, pushing people into poverty and destabilising entire regions,” Michel said. “Russia is solely responsible for this looming food crisis. Russia alone.”

Michel accused Russian forces of stealing grain from areas in Ukraine that it has occupied “while shifting the blame of others,” calling this “cowardly” and “propaganda, pure and simple.”

Nebenzia walked out, giving Russia’s seat to another diplomat. Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky tweeted later on Telegram’s Russian channel that Michel’s comments were “so rude” that the Russian ambassador left the Security Council chamber.

(AP)