Zelensky shuts down anchor’s suggestion that Trump would have stopped Russian invasion
The brutal siege underway in Ukraine’s eastern Sievierodonetsk is going to decide the fate of separatist territory Donbas, Volodymyr Zelensky said as the Russian invasion entered its 106th day today.
Calling it the epicentre of the confrontation in Donbas, Mr Zelensky said: “This is a very fierce battle, very difficult. Probably one of the most difficult throughout this war. I am grateful to everyone who defends this direction. In many ways, the fate of our Donbas is being decided there.”
The region’s governor said that the Ukrainian forces have been pushed back by a Russian bombardment in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and now only control its outskirts.
“…Our (forces) now again control only the outskirts of the city. But the fighting is still going on, our (forces) are defending Sievierodonetsk, it is impossible to say the Russians completely control the city,” he said.
Putin’s Russia will not seek diplomatic end to war – Zelensky
Volodymyr Zelensky on Weednesday told a Yale University summit of business leaders that the Vladimir Putin-led Russian invasion of Ukraine will not seek a diplomatic end to the ongoing siege unless the world comes together to back the Ukrainian fighters.
“We are an independent, righteous, normal country,” Mr Zelensky said.
On his troops’ war efforts, he said: “We do it on our land and we slowly push them back. That’s how we’re going to keep on moving.”
Arpan Rai9 June 2022 06:39
In photos: Focus turns to Donbas as Russian soldiers snatch away key city
Local residents walk past a burning college after a strike in Lysychansk, eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on 7 June
(AFP via Getty Images)
A photograph taken on 8 June shows books scattered outside a school destroyed after a strike in Bakhmut, eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas
(AFP via Getty Images)
A local resident reacts in front of a destroyed school after a strike in the city of Bakhmut, eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on 8 June
(AFP via Getty Images)
Ivan Sosnin, 19, stands in front of his destroyed house in the city of Lysychansk at the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on 7 June
(AFP via Getty Images)
Arpan Rai9 June 2022 06:30
Intelligence report reveals Ukraine forces outgunned up to 40 to one by Russian forces
A new intelligence shows that the Ukrainian troops are suffering massive losses as they are outgunned 20 to one in artillery and 40 to one in ammunition by Russian forces.
A report seen by The Independent reveals concern for the first time about Ukrainian soldiers deserting, and says Ukraine forces are restricted to a range of 15.5 miles, while the enemy can strike from 12 times that distance.
The grinding battle in eastern Ukraine is having “a seriously demoralising effect on Ukrainian forces as well as a very real material effect; cases of desertion are growing every week,” it says.
Read the full story here:
Arpan Rai9 June 2022 06:10
Ukraine war increasing suffering of millions, says UN
The Russian
war on Ukraine has “exacerbated a global cost of living crisis unseen in at least a generation”, the UN Global Crisis Response Group said on on Wednesday, as it pointed that the ripple effects of the war are increasing the suffering of millions.
This has been caused by rising food and energy prices and a worsening financial crisis, even as the nations continue to reel from the impat of Covid-19 pandemic and climate change.
The war on Ukraine is underming UN aspirations to end extreme poverty around the globe and achieve 16 other goals for a better world by 2030, it said.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said that the “war’s impact on food security, energy and finance is systemic, severe and speeding up”.
With other crises, this war “is threatening to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake,” Mr Guterres said.
Arpan Rai9 June 2022 05:28
More bodies fill morgues in Mariupol: ‘Endless caravan of death’
Officials in Mariupol are finding 50 to 100 bodies in building every day, as workers comb through the bombed port city days after weeks-long Russian siege ended.
Now under Russian control, Mariupol’s mayoral aide Petro Andryushchenko said that his workers are pulling out scores of bodies in an “endless caravan of death” to a morgue, landfills and other places.
The authorities have said that the bodies are being pulled out of smashed buildings where Ukrainian officials have estimated at least 21,000 civilian deaths during Russian attacks.
Arpan Rai9 June 2022 04:53
Fate of Donbas being decided in Sievierodonetsk, warns Zelensky
Volodymyr Zelensky said that the fighting underway in Sievierodonetsk is one of the most difficult through the 105 days of the Russian invasion.
“According to the results of this day, the 105th day of the full-scale war, Sievierodonetsk remains the epicentre of the confrontation in Donbas,” Mr Zelensky said, as he added that the Ukrainian fighters continued to “defend our positions, inflict significant losses on the enemy.”
“This is a very fierce battle, very difficult. Probably one of the most difficult throughout this war. I am grateful to everyone who defends this direction. In many ways, the fate of our Donbas is being decided there,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly address.
Arpan Rai9 June 2022 04:31
Zelensky says still not enough pressure on Russia to end war
Volodymyr Zelensky said the leading business and a majority in American and European societies do not think there is enough pressure on Russia to end the war.
“…it would be right for politicians to hear this position. Leading business and the majority in American and European societies believe that there is still not enough pressure on the Russian Federation to end this war, Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address.
Such an audience believes that sanctions against Russia should be strengthened, he said, adding that he is referring to the most influential part of American business.
He said that he spoke with the leaders of major American companies. “This is the 133rd such summit, and this year it brought together the leading forces of global business. We discussed how business can help Ukraine withstand. I urged them to leave the Russian market and not to support this war with their taxes,” he said.
Arpan Rai9 June 2022 04:18
ICYMI: Hacked Russian radio station plays Ukrainian anthem
A Russian radio station was hacked today and, after, was broadcasting the Ukrainian national anthem and anti-war songs.
Kommersant FM was then quickly pulled off the air.
The station said in a statement: “The radio station has been hacked. The internet stream will soon be reinstated.”
Some Twitter users posted videos of the Ukrainian national anthem being played on Kommersant FM.
The anti-war tunes included Russian rock band Nogu Svelo!’s song ‘We Don’t Need a War’.
Lamiat Sabin9 June 2022 00:01
Ukraine-Russia war developments: Politics and economy
* Russia’s proxies in occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia province announced plans to stage a referendum on joining Russia at an unspecified date later this year.
* Russian shelling destroyed the warehouses of one of Ukraine‘s largest agricultural commodity terminals in the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv at the weekend, the region’s head said.
* Ukraine could export a maximum of only two million tonnes of grain a month if Russia refuses to lift its blockade of the country’s Black Sea ports, said Ukraine‘s first deputy minister for Agrarian Policy and Food.
* The World Bank board has approved $1.49 billion (£1.2bn) of additional financing for Ukraine to help pay government and social workers’ wages.
* Under heavy pressure from Western sanctions and airspace bans, Russian state airline Aeroflot said it planned to raise up to 185.2 billion roubles ($3bn, or £2.4bn) in an emergency share sale.
Lamiat Sabin8 June 2022 23:33
Ukraine-Russia war developments: Conflict and diplomacy
* Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said defenders in the city of Severodonetsk were inflicting major losses on Russian troops during what he called a very fierce and very difficult battle.
* Russian forces control most of the strategic city of Sievierodonetsk and are heavily shelling the twin city of Lysychansk, causing major damage, the governor of Luhansk region said.
* Russia is attacking food and agriculture targets in order to scare the world into agreeing a deal to reopen the Black Sea on Moscow’s terms, according to the head of the region where a major agricultural storage facility was struck at the weekend.
* Zelensky said Ukraine would launch next week a “Book of Executioners” to detail war crimes. Russia denies targeting civilians and has rejected allegations of war crimes.
* Two Britons and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for Ukraine could face the death penalty after pleading guilty in a court of one of Russia’s proxies in eastern Ukraine, Russian news agency RIA reported.
* Over 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered in the city of Mariupol have been transferred to Russia for investigation, Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency reported, citing a Russian law enforcement source.
* Turkey hosted Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov for talks aimed at restarting the stalled Ukraine peace process and finding a way to reopen Ukrainian ports for shipments of grain.
* Following the talks, Turkey said a proposed U.N. plan to reopen the Ukrainian ports was reasonable, but more negotiations were necessary.
* Lavrov said Ukraine would have to remove mines from its ports to allow them to reopen.
* Lavrov said a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Zelensky could happen only after peace talks resume.
Lamiat Sabin8 June 2022 23:00