Ukraine condemns 'show trial' of foreigners

A Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman says the death sentences handed by a pro-Russian separatist court to British and Moroccan nationals fighting for Ukraine should be considered null and void.

“The so-called ‘trial’ of the military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the occupied Ukrainian territories is of no significance,” Oleh Nikolenko told the Interfax Ukraine agency.

“Such show trials put the interests of propaganda above the law and morality; they undermine the mechanisms for the return of prisoners of war. The Ukrainian government will continue to make every effort to release all the defenders of Ukraine,” Nikolenko added.

He stressed that all foreign citizens fighting as part of Ukraine’s armed forces should be considered Ukrainian military personnel, and protected as prisoners of war.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has said the trial is "a blatant violation of international humanitarian law on so many counts."

Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

“The three were members of the Ukrainian regular forces and under the Geneva Conventions, as prisoners of war, they are protected from prosecution for taking part in hostilities. The only exception is prosecution for alleged war crimes, in which case there must be sufficient admissible evidence, and fair trial standards must be ensured. Not only this is not the case in this scenario – they were not tried by an independent, impartial regularly constituted court but by Russian proxies. The so-called ‘charges’ against them would not constitute war crimes. And most outrageously of all, the taking of their lives as result of the grossly unfair proceedings would constitute arbitrary deprivation of life.

“In fact, wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the right to a fair and regular trial constitutes a war crime. Russia, as the occupying power, bears responsibility for the treatment of all prisoners of war and others deprived of their liberty. They must ensure this so-called ‘sentence’ is immediately quashed, and that these mean are treated in full compliance with international humanitarian law.”

(AP / Amnesty International)

Fighting continues in Sievierodonetsk, governor says

Luhansk's Governor, Serhiy Haidai says fighting is continuing in the key eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk.

Russian forces are pounding the city in fierce, street-by-street combat, but Haidai says Ukrainian troops are holding their positions in some parts of the city.

However, some may have to retreat from these positions if the intensity of Russian shelling continues.

"If the number and density of artillery shelling are as substantial as it is now, the time will come, and the positions will simply be entirely destroyed," he said.

"There will be no place for the soldiers to hide."

Haidai added that Russian forces continue to shell the neighboring city of Lysychansk using large-caliber weapons which “pierce even concrete.”

“It is extremely dangerous for civilians to remain, even in shelters,” Haidai said. 

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army says they are continuing to frustrate Russian attempts to take Sievierodonetsk.

“The occupiers, with the help of motorized rifle units and artillery, conducted assault operations in the city of Sievierodonetsk. They were not successful; the fighting continues,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

It added that Ukrainian forces had successfully repelled a Russian attack on the village of Toshkivka, on the northwestern outskirts of Sievierodonetsk.

(AP)

Putin likens himself to Peter the Great

Vladimir Putin compared himself to Peter the Great during a speech where he said Russia needed to “take back (territory) and defend itself”.

The Russian President was meeting with young entrepreneurs in Moscow.

Putin drew parallels between the conquering monarch’s founding of St. Petersburg and his government’s annexation of territory.

“When he founded the new capital, no European country recognised it as Russia. Everybody recognized it as Sweden,” Putin said. “And Slavic people had always lived there along with Finno-Ugric people, and the territory was under the control of the Russian state.”

“What was he doing? Taking back and reinforcing. That’s what he did. And it looks like it fell on us to take back and reinforce as well,” he said.

Putin also appeared to leave the door open for further territorial expansion, while asserting Russia's sovereignty.

“There is no state in between. A country is either sovereign or a colony,” he said.

“It’s impossible — do you understand — impossible to build a fence around a country like Russia. And we do not intend to build that fence,” Putin added.

(AP)

Ukraine disposes of shells and mines from Kyiv farms

Ukrainian military has been blowing up and removing shells and mines removed from farm fields in the Kyiv vicinity.

Brigadier general Valeryi Yembakov who supervised the disposal accused Russia of deliberately mining roads, bridges and farms.

"I have a well-founded suspicion that Russians deliberately mined not only roads and not only bridges but also our fertile lands. Evidence of this is in the field, mined before they escaped from here," he said.

Yembakov reported that a tractor had exploded after hitting a mine in a field last week, but no one was hurt.

There are fears that up to 30 per cent of Ukraine's farmland could be affected by mines.

Ukraine is fighting for 'every house and every street' in Severodonetsk, Ukrainian commander says

The battle for Sievierodonetsk is being waged house to house, says a Ukrainian commander.

Petro Kuzyk, commander of the Svoboda (Freedom) National Guard battalion, said Ukrainian fighters hope for the delivery of heavy weapons that might "turn the tide,"

He added that street fighting in the small industrial city in eastern Ukraine was at times raging under heavy Russian artillery barrages that endangered troops on both sides.

"We fight for every house and every street," Kuzyk told national television, describing fighting in which Ukrainian fighters had gone from "blind defence to small counter-offensives in some areas.

(Reuters)

UK government 'deeply concerned' about 'sham' death sentences handed to Britons

The British government says it is “deeply concerned” by the death sentences handed out to Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who were captured while fighting for Ukraine.

British Foreign Secretary Luz Truss condemned the sentencing as a "sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman Jamie Davies said that under the Geneva Conventions, POWs are entitled to immunity as combatants.

(AP)

Britons and a Moroccan captured fighting in Ukraine army sentenced to death  - Russian news agency

Two British men and a Moroccan national have been sentenced to death after they were captured by Russian forces fighting for the Ukrainian army, Russian state media is reporting.

"The Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic sentenced Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun to death, accused of taking part in the fighting as mercenaries," the official Russian news agency TASS said.

Russian-owned news agency RIA Novosti said the men pleaded "guilty" to acts aimed at seizing power by force. 

Pushing Ukraine into 'bad' compromise with Russia would be 'repugnant', warns UK PM Johnson

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned against any attempt on the part of the West to encourage Ukraine to accept a "bad" compromise with Russia, judging that it would be "morally repugnant".

"To encourage a bad peace in Ukraine is to encourage Putin and to encourage everyone in the world who thinks that aggression pays," said the leader in a speech in Blackpool, in the northwest of England.

"That would be a mistake and would open the door to more conflict, more instability, more uncertainty in the world and therefore more economic hardship," he added.

He said he "knows that some, not in this country but elsewhere, feel that the price of supporting the Ukrainians is now too high and that they should be encouraged to accept what Putin is asking for."

"Abandoning the Ukrainians would be morally repugnant," he continued.

Vladimir Putin "is never going to succeed in subjugating Ukraine and the sooner he understands that the better, and he must not be allowed to achieve partial success by swallowing up part of the country as he has done before and declare a ceasefire,” he insisted.

(AFP)

Premier League suspends its new broadcasting contract in Russia

The Premier League has suspended its €50 million contract with Russian broadcaster Match TV over the country's invasion of Ukraine.

A deal with Russian media group Rambler, which had held the broadcasting rights for the English championship until the end of the 2021-22 season, was suspended in March and replaced by the Match TV contract.

The deal with Match TV, which is owned by energy giant Gazprom, was for the 2022 to 2028 seasons. 

(AFP)

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'Impossible' to evacuate 10,000 civilians trapped in Sievierodonetsk - mayor

Sievierodonetsk mayor Oleksandr Stryuk has said some 10,000 civilians who are trapped in the city cannot be evacuated to safety, amid heavy fighting.  

Intense battles have raged for days in the southern Ukrainian city, which is now the main focus of Russia's war effort. 

Stryuk said defence lines were holding out in the face of a brutal Russian artillery bombardment. 

He claimed Ukrainian forces were still in control of the industrial zone and the areas surrounding Sievierodonetsk.

The situation is "difficult by manageable", said Stryuk. 

(Reuters)

UNHCR: Ukraine war 'one of largest displacement crises' in the world 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) described the war in Ukraine as one of the world's worst refugee crises Thursday. 

"The war in Ukraine has caused one of the largest human displacement crises observed in the world," UNHCR said. 

A total of 4,816,923 Ukrainians have been registered as refugees in 44 European countries since February 24, according to the latest figures published online by the UNHCR.

Many more Ukrainians have left the country in total. Up until 7 June, more than 7.3 million border crossings outside Ukraine without returns have been recorded.

2.3 million Ukrainians have returned to their country after leaving, says the UNHCR. They return to see their relatives, check the state of their properties, return to work or help others to leave, according to UN officials. 

90 per cent of those who have fled are women and children. Men aged 18 to 60 are legally bound to stay and serve in the country's armed forces.

The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) also estimates that more than 8 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced due to the war.

More than half of the border crossings from Ukraine were to Poland (3.8 million, including 1.15 million registered there as refugees), according to the UNHCR.

Hundreds of thousands of others have found refuge in neighbouring Hungary, Romania, Slovakia or Moldova. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees have been registered in each. 

However, other European countries have seen the most registrations. Some 780,000 in Germany, 367,000 in the Czech Republic, more than 118,000 in Spain and tens of thousands in many other countries.

"The level of solidarity towards refugees observed in (these) countries remains extraordinary", said the UNHCR.

It praised the special protection granted to Ukrainian refugees by the Member States of the European Union.

According to the UNHCR, more than 1.1 million people have left Ukraine for Russia, and nearly 17,000 for Belarus, an ally of Moscow, since the start of the invasion. No figures were available on the number of returns to Ukraine from these two countries.

(AFP)

No agreement on Ukraine grain exports

An agreement with Turkey on exporting Ukrainian grain shipments across the Black Sea is yet to be reached, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Turkey has been trying to broker a Russian-Ukrainian agreement to ease the global food crisis by securing a safe passage for grain stuck in Black Sea ports.

Ankara’s efforts have been met with resistance from both sides. 

Ukraine has said Russia is imposing unreasonable conditions, particularly surrounding Moscow's calls for Kyiv to de-mine the Black Sea. Meanwhile, the Kremlin says shipments will only take place if sanctions are ended. 

Speaking alongside his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov yesterday, Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said a United Nations plan to restart Ukrainian grain exports along a sea corridor was “reasonable” and required more talks with Moscow and Kyiv to ensure ships’ safe passage.

'Mercenaries' base destroyed, claims Russia

Russia's defence ministry claimed Thursday it destroyed a Ukrainian military base, where foreign fighters were allegedly being trained, with air-launched missiles. 

Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the training centre was in the Zhytomyr region, central Ukraine, some 125 kilometres (75 miles) from Kyiv. 

Ukraine has not commented on Russia's claim. 

Russia uses the term mercenaries to refer to foreign fighters in Ukraine. 

Konashenkov said Russian missiles also destroyed an ammunition depot and an anti-aircraft system elsewhere in Ukraine.

(AP)

Centre of Sievierodonetsk 'deserted', pounded by Russian bombardment, says Zelenskyy's advisor

An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office says Russian troops have changed their tactics in the battle for Sievierodonetsk.

Oleksiy Arestovych said Wednesday that Russian soldiers have retreated from the city and are now pounding it with artillery and airstrikes.

As a result, he says, the city centre is deserted.

In his daily online interview, Arestovych says: “They retreated, our troops retreated, so the artillery hits an empty place. They are hitting hard without any particular success."

Ukraine claims territory claw backs from Russia

Ukraine's defence ministry has said Thursday that its forces have won back some territory captured by Russian forces in the Kherson area of southern Ukraine in a counter-offensive.

It gave no further details but said Russian forces had “suffered losses in manpower and equipment”, Reuters reports. 

The defence ministry added that retreating Russian troops had mined Ukrainian territory and erected barricades to hinder its soldiers. 

Euronews cannot independently verify these claims. 

(Reuters) 

Hold the phone: Putin suspends marathon public phone-in for first time in 18 years 

Vladimir Putin’s annual telephone marathon, which allows ordinary citizens to speak with the Russian president about their daily problems, will not be held for the first time in almost two decades, The Moscow Times reports. 

It is the first time that the program, known as Direct Line, has been delayed since 2004. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reassured reporters that the event would take place at a later date, in a statement. 

No comment has been made why it was suspended. 

Last week the Russian government announced Putin would hold the hours-long phone-in during the Saint-Petersburg International Economic Forum between 15-18 June. 

Another regular presidential event, Putin’s address to Russia’s Federal Assembly, was also postponed in April, with no dates yet given for its return. 

'Millions of people may starve' if Ukraine cannot export grain - Zelenskyy

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reiterated his warning that the situation in Ukraine could trigger a global food crisis, in a televised address Thursday morning. 

With Ukraine unable to export its wheat, corn, oil and other products due to the war, which he said had a “stabilising role in the global market”, Zelenskyy warned a “terrible food crisis” was looming.

“This means that, unfortunately, there may be a physical shortage of products in dozens of countries around the world. Millions of people may starve if the Russian blockade of the Black Sea continues,” he said.

Blaming Russia for the blockade, Zelenskyy said that “while we are looking for ways to protect freedom, another person is destroying it. Another person continues to blackmail the world with hunger.”

Russia has said it is willing to allow exports of wheat from Ukraine, but said Kyiv must first de-mine the Black Sea.

(Reuters)

Russia commemorates Europe-looking Tsar 

Tsar Peter the Great, who worked to bring the Russian empire closer to Europe, is being commemorated in Russia Thursday, amid unprecedented hostility between Moscow and the West over the war in Ukraine. 

To mark the 350th anniversary of the birth of Peter the Great, who reigned first as Tsar and then as Emperor from 1682 until his death in 1725, Vladimir Putin is due to visit an exhibition dedicated to him in Moscow.

The Russian president "greatly appreciates the role of [Peter the Great] in the history of our country," according to a Kremlin spokesperson. 

Following a trip to Europe which convinced him Russia was lagging behind, Peter the First rapidly modernised the Russian empire, reforming the army, state and the church, creating a navy and initiating a cultural revolution which still has a legacy today. 

He also built Saint-Petersburg, the former imperial capital, which he saw as a "window open to Europe". 

Russia's second-largest city, Saint-Petersburg is also where most of the celebrations will take place on Thursday, with shows and public conferences planned.

Peter the Great is also associated with conquering territory around Russia and expanding the country's borders, alongside being a strong, convicted monarch.

(AFP)

'Did anyone speak like this with Adolf Hitler' - Polish president 

The Polish president has criticised western leaders' dialogue with Putin, comparing the Russian leader to Adolf Hitler. 

In an interview posted by the German Bild newspaper on Youtube, Andrzej Duda was sharply critical of both German chancellor Olaf Scholz and French president Emmanuel Macron for having phone conversations with Putin.

Comparing the situation to World War II, he said "did anyone speak like this with Adolf Hitler during World War Two? Did anyone say that Adolf Hitler must save face? That we should proceed in such a way that it is not humiliating for Adolf Hitler?

"I have not heard such voices," he added. 

At the weekend, Macron said the west "humiliate Russia" to help facilitate a diplomatic solution to the conflict, which was savaged by Ukraine. 

In a joint call with Putin on 28 May, Scholz and Macron urged Putin to release fighters captured at Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant and to speak directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to a statement from Macron’s Elysee Palace.

Zelenskyy rebuked suggestions that Kyiv cede territory to Russia and make concessions to end the war, saying it was reminiscent of appeasement in 1938.

(Reuters) 

Sievierodonetsk: Ukraine could 'clean up' in days with western weapons, says governor

Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, has said Thursday his country could 'clean up Sievierodonetsk in two or three days' with western long-range weapons. 

"If we quickly get western long-range weapons, an artillery duel will begin, the Soviet Union [sic] will lose to the west, and our defenders will be able to clean up Sievierodonetsk in two or three days," he wrote in a Telegram post. 

Haidai added that it was currently impossible to evacuate people out of the strategic eastern city, where fighting is currently raging between Ukrainian and Russian forces. 

"Evacuation from Sievierodonetsk is still impossible, as is the transportation of goods. Currently, the hospital has everything necessary to stabilise the wounded," he said, adding that "the enemy is powerfully pursuing the industrial zone."

However, Haidai emphasised that Russia was not in control of the Lysychansk-Bakhmut route, which is currently under siege. 

Euronews cannot verify the situation on the ground.

(Reuters)

Russia: Donbas region 'liberated ... very soon' 

Russia’s permanent representative to the UN has insisted Moscow is making progress in Ukraine and the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions will be “liberated ... very soon”.

Asked if after 100 days of armed conflict the Russian invasion of Ukraine is going according to plan, Vasily Nebenzya said "it seems to me that there is progress. No one promised a result in three days or a week."

He continued: "Now some experts assure that the Russian military operation has stalled and is going much slower than planned. But there is progress, it continues, and it’s clear as day.”

Vasily Nebenzya was interviewed on the BBC’s HardTalk by presenter Steven Sackur. 

In the interview Sackur pressed Nebenzya: “Do you admit that the original plan to take over Kyiv and install a pro-Russian regime there has completely failed?”

“I don’t know anything about such plans,” he replied, noting that no one from the Russian command had ever publically said Moscow intended to capture Kyiv. 

“The scale of your losses over the past 100 days is amazing," Sackur continued. "People living in Russia would be absolutely shocked by these figures if they knew about them.”

Nebenzya did not confirm these losses.  

“As I said, they are not officially disclosed, and in the course of any conflict, the parties tend to greatly inflate each other’s losses," he said. "I cannot tell you the numbers and I cannot comment that Ukraine or the US are talking about it there.”

When asked if the conflict had reached a stalemate, the Russian UN representative said the main goal now is the liberation of Donbas.

“Just give it time ... and you will see the Donetsk and Luhansk regions liberated. And, I hope, this will happen very soon.”

(BBC)

Ex-pro wrestler inspires Ukrainian family's journey to US 

Former pro-wrestler John Cena has met with one of his Ukrainian fans - a 19-year-old with Down Syndrome from Mariupol - after the teenager and his family fled Ukraine.

Misha Rohozhyn was promised by his mother, Liana, that the actor was waiting for them in America.

After fleeing Mariupol in March, Misha's mother told him they were on their way to find Cena to motivate him on their journey to safety.

Misha met with the 45-year-old actor in Huizen, Netherlands, where he and his relatives have sought refuge.

Cena became aware of the 19-year-old after he was chronicled in a piece for The Wall Street Journal in May that explored the impact of war on people with disabilities.

Russia hammering Sievierodonetsk, says Ukraine 

An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office has said that Russia is now pounding Sievierodonetsk with artillery and airstrikes, having pulled its troops from the city. 

Speaking Wednesday, Oleksiy Arestovych said this marks a change in Russian tactics as they battle with Ukraine for control of the strategic eastern city. 

The city centre of Sievierodonetsk is largely deserted due to the bombardment, he said.

“They retreated, our troops retreated, so the artillery hits an empty place," said Arestovych in an online interview. 

"They are hitting hard without any particular success," he added. 

UK most effected major economy by Ukraine war, says OECD

The UK economy will suffer more than any other major industrial country from the effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based think tank. 

The UK is forecast to slow to a standstill next year, after growing 3.6 per cent in 2022. 

Made in OCED's bi-yearly economic outlook, the figures represent a sharp downgrade from the estimated 4.7 per cent growth this year and 2.1 per cent next year made six months ago.

Ukraine's economy is expected to shrink by an estimated 45 per cent this year, reports the World Bank. 

Zelenskyy: World 'supposed' to weaken Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday evening that "we need to weaken Russia and the world is supposed to do it.”

Speaking via video link to North American corporate leaders, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is doing its part on the ground, but there needs to be even tougher sanctions to weaken Russia economically.

“We need to switch Russia off the global financial system completely," he told business leaders. 

According to Zelenskyy, Russia is unwilling to come to the negotiating table to end the war because it feels strong. 

Russia joining peace negotiations "is simply not possible now because Russia can still feel its power," he said. 

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine is willing to negotiate an end to the war with Russia but “not at the expense of our independence.”

(AP)

Good morning, it is Joshua Askew on the Euronews live blog this morning.