Live blog: 'All communications' snapped in Russia-controlled Kherson region

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Ukraine reports 'shutdown of all communications' in Kherson region

Ukrainian officials are reporting a "shutdown of all communications" in the Russian-occupied southern region of Kherson.

In a statement, Ukraine's State Service for Special Communication and Information Protection said that an unspecified intrusion "by the occupation regime" had taken place and that equipment had been powered down and cables disconnected.

"The residents of the region are currently left without Ukrainian mobile communication and Internet access, as well as with no means to make national and international phone calls using landline phone devices," the agency said. Few other details were immediately available.

Russia closes in on key city as EU clinches oil deal

Russian forces now control "most" of eastern Ukraine's key city of Sievierodonetsk, a regional governor said, while EU leaders were split over banning gas from Moscow after agreeing to embargo most of its oil. 

Sievierodonetsk is one of the industrial hubs that lie on Russia's path to capturing the Donbass's Lugansk region, where Moscow has shifted the bulk of its firepower since failing to capture Kiev in the war's early stages.

"Unfortunately, today, Russian troops control most of the city," Lugansk governor Sergiy Gaiday said in a video, insisting Ukraine's military was not in danger of being surrounded. 

US won't send long-range rockets for use beyond Ukraine, White House 

Sending rocket systems to Kiev is still under consideration by the Biden administration, but Washington will not send long-range rockets for use beyond the battlefield in Ukraine, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. 

Berlin to supply arms to Greece, Athens to deliver Soviet weapons to Kiev 

Germany will deliver infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) to Greece so that the government in Athens can pass on Soviet-style weapons to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. 

"We will provide Greece with German infantry fighting vehicles," he told reporters after a two-day EU summit in Brussels, adding he had struck an agreement with the Greek prime minister.

Scholz gave no details as to what kind of infantry fighting vehicles Berlin will hand over to Greece - or what kind of weapons Athens will pass on to Kiev. 

UN had 'constructive' talks in Moscow on Russian grain, fertiliser exports 

A senior UN official had "constructive discussions" in Moscow with Russia's first deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov on facilitating Russian grain and fertiliser exports to global markets, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The UN official, Rebecca Grynspan, is now in Washington for further talks, Dujarric said. 

Ukraine calls for Macron visit before French EU presidency ends

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on French President Emmanuel Macron to visit his war-torn country before the end of France's EU presidency on June 30.

"It would be good that Macron came during the French EU presidency, and the best thing would be that he comes with more weapons deliveries for Ukraine. That's the most precious aid we can receive from France," he told French news channel LCI. 

Russia vows to stop natural gas shipments to Danish Orsted, Shell Energy Europe

In continuing fallout from the Ukraine conflict, Russian energy giant Gazprom vowed to cut off its natural gas flow to Denmark's Orsted and Shell Energy Europe starting Wednesday due to their refusal to make payments in roubles.

"On 31 May, Gazprom Export has informed Orsted that the company will halt the supply of gas to Orsted on 1 June 2022 at 6:00 CEST," Orsted said in a statement. 

Reiterating that Gazprom Export has maintained its demand that Orsted pay for gas supplies in roubles, Orsted stressed it is under no obligation to do so under the contract, and the company will continue to pay in euros.

Ukraine identifies 'few thousand war crimes' cases in Donbass

Ukraine has identified several thousand suspected 'war crimes' in the eastern Donbass region where Russian forces are pressing their offensive, Kiev's chief prosecutor said. 

"Of course we started a few thousand cases about what we see in Donbass," prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova told a news conference in The Hague as she met international counterparts.

"If we speak about war crimes, it's about possible transfer of people, we started several cases about possible transfer of children, adult people to different parts of the Russian Federation," she said. 

Ukraine, West must act to resolve food crisis – Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was up to the West and Kiev to resolve a growing global food crisis provoked by the conflict in Ukraine. 

Russia's offensive in Ukraine and Western sanctions have disrupted deliveries of wheat and other commodities from the two countries, fuelling concerns about the risk of hunger around the world.

Western countries "created a lot of artificial problems by closing their ports to Russian ships, disrupting logistics and financial chains," Lavrov told reporters during a visit to Bahrain. 

Key Ukraine city 'divided in half'

Russian forces have seized control of half of eastern Ukraine's key city of Sievierodonetsk, a senior official said, hours after EU leaders struck a watered-down deal to ban more than two-thirds of Moscow's oil imports.

Sievierodonetsk is one of several industrial hubs that lie on Russia's path to capturing the Donbass's Lugansk region, where Moscow has shifted the bulk of its firepower since failing to capture Kiev in the war's early stages. 

"Unfortunately, the front line divides the city in half. But the city is still defending itself, the city is still Ukrainian, our soldiers are defending it," said Oleksandr Stryuk, head of Sievierodonetsk's military and civil administration. 

Germany to end Russian oil imports by end of 2022 – Scholz

Germany is sticking to its goal of becoming independent from Russian oil imports by the end of the year, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, adding that options on how to handle the Schwedt refinery are still to be determined.

Asked whether a nationalisation of the Schwedt refinery was an option, Scholz said: "We will determine at the end (of our discussions) which way we will take, which way we think is the right one." 

"For now, it is important that we find a perspective that safeguards the jobs in Leuna and Schwedt," Scholz told journalists in Brussels after a summit with European Union leaders that agreed a gradual embargo on Russian oil imports. 

France's Macron "not excluding anything" about additional EU sanctions against Russia going forward

French President Emmanuel Macron said that following a sixth European Union package of sanctions against Russia nothing could be ruled out in terms of additional sanctions in the coming weeks. 

Speaking to reporters following an EU summit in Brussels, he also said he hoped that in the next days and weeks an agreement with Russia could be found for Ukrainian food exports.

Ukraine jails two Russian soldiers for shelling villages: Interfax

Two Russian soldiers were handed jail terms of more than 11 years each following a trial in central Ukraine, the Ukrainian Interfax news agency has reported.

The servicemen, Alexander Bobykin and Alexander Ivanov, were both handed sentences of 11 years and six months under legislation against "violating the laws and customs of war," for firing on two villages in the early days of Moscow's offensive.

"The guilt of Bobikin and Ivanov has been proven in full," Judge Evhen Bolybok said. Both acknowledged last week being part of an artillery unit that fired at targets in the Kharkiv region from the Belgorod region in Russia.

Senior Ukraine official: EU sanctions on Russia still 'not enough'

The latest European Union sanctions on Russia, which ban most imports of its oil, are "not enough" and the pace of sanctions so far has been too slow, a senior official in the Ukrainian president's office has said in a speech in Madrid.

In the bloc's toughest reprisals against Moscow over the Ukraine conflict, an EU summit in Brussels on Monday agreed measures that officials said would immediately cut more than two-thirds of oil imports from Russia, and 90 percent by the end of the year.

"If you ask me, I would say far too slow, far too late and definitely not enough," Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, said. Ukraine is "definitely not satisfied" with the pace of weapons deliveries from the West, he said. 

UK says Russia making slow inroads into Luhansk region

British military intelligence has said Russia is advancing slowly into Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, adding that the massing of its forces in a small area raised risks for others elsewhere.

"Progress has been slow but gains are being held. Routes into the pocket likely remain under Ukrainian control," Britain's Ministry of Defence said in a Twitter update.

"Russia has achieved greater local successes than earlier in the campaign by massing forces and fires in a relatively small area. This forces Russia to accept risk elsewhere in occupied territory."

Meeting held at The Hague over atrocities in Russia-Ukraine conflict

Representatives of a group of nations working together to investigate what Kiev and Western leaders call "war crimes" by Russia's forces are meeting in The Hague amid ongoing calls for those responsible for atrocities to be brought to justice.

Tuesday's coordination meeting at the European Union's judicial cooperation agency, Eurojust, of members of a Joint Investigation Team and International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan comes as Russian forces continue to pound Ukrainian towns.

Russian forces have been accused of killing civilians on the Kiev suburb of Bucha and of repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure including hospitals. Russia staunchly denies the claims. The Defence Ministry said earlier this month that “not a single civilian has faced any violent action by the Russian military.”

Russia's Sberbank says 'working as normal' after SWIFT cut-off

Russia's largest bank Sberbank has said it is not affected by fresh EU sanctions over Ukraine that excluded the bank from the SWIFT financial messaging system.

"We are working as normal — the main restrictions are already in place," the company said in a statement on Telegram, referring to earlier US and UK sanctions that have already isolated its financial system.

It added that the cut-off from SWIFT "does not change the current situation for international transactions", while transactions within Russia do not use the Belgium-based messaging platform.

Russia says it downed Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet in Mykolaiv region

Russia's defence ministry says its forces have downed a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet in Ukraine's Mykolaiv region and bombed a radar station and two ammunition depots in eastern Ukraine.

Separatists to nationalise ships in Mariupol

The leader of Russia-backed separatists who control part of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region says his administration will nationalise some of the ships in the port of Mariupol.

Denis Pushilin was quoted by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti saying that “some of the vessels will come under the jurisdiction of the Donetsk People’s Republic. The relevant decisions have been made.” It wasn’t immediately clear whether he was referring to Ukrainian vessels or ships from other countries.

Türkiye, Russia to discuss Ukraine exports corridor in talks on June 8

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will come to Türkiye with a military delegation on June 8 to discuss creating a potential sea corridor for Ukrainian agricultural exports, among other issues, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said.

Speaking to the Anadolu Agency, he said work was underway with the United Nations to reach an agreement on creating the corridor from the Black Sea. On Monday, Russia's Vladimir Putin told Türkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Moscow was ready to work with Ankara to free up maritime shipping blocked over the Ukraine conflict.

Cavusoglu also said there remained a possibility of bringing delegations of Ukraine and Russia together again, even at their leaders' level, as part of Türkiye's negotiation efforts.

Russia's Gazprom suspends gas supplies to Netherlands

Russia's Gazprom says it has halted gas supplies to the Netherlands after Dutch energy firm GasTerra refused to pay in roubles following the Russian military offensive in Ukraine. The Dutch rely on Russia for around 15 percent of their gas supplies, amounting to some six billion cubic metres a year.

"Gazprom has completely stopped gas supplies to GasTerra due to non-payment in rubles," the Russian gas giant said in a statement. The cutoff means that two billion cubic metres of gas will not be supplied to the Netherlands between now and October, partly state-owned GasTerra said.

Moscow has demanded that clients from "unfriendly countries", including EU member states, pay for its gas in rubles, a way to sidestep Western financial sanctions against its central bank over the Ukraine conflict.

First cargo ship sails from Mariupol since fall to Russia: Separatists

A cargo ship carrying metal has left Mariupol and headed to Russia, a pro-Moscow separatist leader has said, the first time a vessel had sailed from the Ukrainian port since it fell to Russian forces. The port of Mariupol was Ukraine's second-busiest, after Odessa on the Black Sea, before Russia launched its offensive.

"Today 2,500 tonnes of sheet metal rolls left the port of Mariupol, the ship is heading to Rostov," Denis Pushilin, the pro-Kremlin separatist leader in Donetsk, wrote on Telegram.

"This transport hub is very important for Donbass. This is the largest port on the Sea of Azov and the only one where all types of cargo can be handled, including in winter," he said.

Russians control 'part' of east Ukraine city Sievierodonetsk: Governor

Russian forces have taken partial control of the east Ukraine city of Sievierodonetsk, the Ukrainian official in charge of the region has said, as Moscow's army pushed deeper into the Donbass region.

"The situation is extremely complicated. Part of Sievierodonetsk is controlled by the Russians," Luhansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said in a statement on social media.

He said Ukrainian forces still retain some areas within the east Ukraine industrial city and that Moscow's troops "cannot move freely through the city". Gaiday also claimed "the enemy is planning an ope ration to clear the surrounding villages".

Russians, Ukrainians fight block by block in eastern city

Russian troops are fighting street by street with Kiev's forces in a battle that has left the strategic eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, once home to 100,000 people, in ruins. 

Artillery fire has destroyed critical infrastructure and damaged 90 percent of the buildings, and power and communications have been largely cut in the city, mayor Oleksandr Striuk said. He estimated that 1,500 civilians have died in the fighting.

Governors of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions — which make up the Donbass — said on Monday six civilians, including a journalist, were killed in shelling. Authorities in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, also reported one fatality. Meanwhile, the struggle continued for the southern Kherson region.

Russian forces face stiff resistance in Ukraine's Donbass

Russian forces have not advanced as rapidly as they had hoped in the battle for Sievierodonetsk, the easternmost city still in Ukraine's hands, a Moscow-backed separatist leader was reported by state-run TASS news agency as saying.

The leader of so-called  Luhansk People's Republic, Leonid Pasechnik, told TASS that a third of Sievierodonetsk was "already under our control" but progress less rapid than hoped. The advance of Russian troops was complicated by the presence of several large chemical plants in the area.

Russia has been seeking to seize the entire Donbass, consisting of Luhansk and Donetsk which Moscow claims on behalf of separatist proxies. Capturing the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk on the banks of the Siverskyi Donets river would give Moscow effective control of Luhansk.

Zelenskyy says Russia hopes for famine crisis

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the Russian blockade of Ukrainian seaports prevents Kiev from exporting 22 million tons of grain.

In his nightly address Monday, Zelenskyy said the result is the threat of famine in countries dependent on the grain and could create a new migration crisis. He charges that “this is something the Russian leadership clearly seeks.”

Zelenskyy accused Moscow of “deliberately creating this problem so that the whole of Europe struggles and so that Ukraine doesn’t earn billions of dollars from its exports”. He called Russia’s claims that sanctions don’t allow it to export more of its food a lie.

EU agrees ban on 'more than 2/3' of Russian oil imports

European Union leaders have reached a compromise to impose a partial oil embargo on Russia at a summit focused on helping Ukraine with a long-delayed package of sanctions that was blocked by Hungary.

The watered-down embargo covers only Russian oil brought in by sea, allowing a temporary exemption for imports delivered by pipeline.

EU Council President Charles Michel said on Twitter the agreement covers more than two-thirds of oil imports from Russia, "cutting a huge source of financing for its war machine. Maximum pressure on Russia to end the war."

European Union leaders agreed to send Ukraine $9.7 billion to support its economy in the face of Russia's assault, Michel announced.

For live updates from Monday (May 30), click here