Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated the Wagner mercenary force and the Russian army for what he called the “liberation” of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which Russia calls by its Soviet-era name of Artyomovsk.
In a statement published on the Kremlin website, Putin said that the battle - the longest and bloodiest of the 15-month war - had ended in a Russian victory:
The Head of State congratulated Wagner’s assault groups, as well as all members of the units of the Russian Armed Forces who provided them with the necessary support and cover on their flanks, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artyomovsk (Bakhmut).
All those who distinguished themselves will be presented with state awards.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has laid flowers at a cenotaph in Hiroshima honouring those who died after the US dropped an atomic bomb on the city in August 1945.
Accompanied by the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, Zelenskiy earlier visited the Peace Memorial Museum, where exhibits show the full horror of the attack, in which an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 people died instantly, with the death toll rising to 140,000 by the end of the year as more succumbed to burns and illnesses caused by exposure to radiation.
The names of more than 300,000 people whose deaths during the past 78 years have been attributed to the bombing are listed at the cenotaph, whose inscription reads: “Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil.”
After laying bouquets on podiums, Kishida and Zelenskiy lowered their heads and posed for a photograph before listening to an explanation of the memorial from the mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui.
Ukrainian forces have partly encircled the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut along the flanks and still maintain control of a private sector in the city, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar has said.
She made the remarks on the Telegram messaging app shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the battle had ended with a Russian victory.
Maliar said Ukrainian troops are continuing their advances along Bakhmut’s outskirts and have claimed part of the heights overlooking the city.
She wrote:
Our forces have taken the city in a semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy.
Therefore, the enemy has to defend himself in the part of the city he controls.
Maliar added that Ukrainian troops are still defending industrial and infrastructure facilities in Bakhmut.
Russia’s top lawmaker has called for a ban on Polish trucks transiting Russian territory and for Poland to compensate Moscow financially for what he said was the Soviet rebuilding of the east European country after the second world war.
In a statement, Vyacheslav Volodin, the chair of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, said Poland needed to be punished for having “betrayed the historical memory” of the Soviet Union’s liberation of the country from Nazi Germany with a series of hostile acts against Moscow.
In comments certain to deepen a feud with Warsaw, Volodin said Poland existed as a state only “thanks to our country”, said Warsaw should pay Russia more than $750bn to compensate it for Soviet investment in the country after 1945.
He said Poland should also hand back territory it received after the war.
There was no immediate reaction to his comments from Warsaw.
Volodin said a parliamentary committee would begin considering a ban on Polish trucks entering Russian territory as soon as Monday. Such a move, he said, would cause Poland significant financial pain and job losses.
Russia last month promised it would respond harshly to what it said was Poland’s illegal seizure of its embassy school in Warsaw, an act it called a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.
Reuters has posted a useful summary of the key Ukraine-related developments from the G7:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy sought support for Kyiv’s “peace formula” to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, telling G7 leaders at the summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima it was “an obvious expression of rationality”.
Meeting with Zelenskiy, US President Joe Biden announced a $375m package of military aid to Ukraine, telling him the US was doing all it could to strengthen Ukraine’s defence against Russia.
Potential allied training programmes for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 warplanes were a message to Russia not to expect to succeed in its invasion of Ukraine even in a prolonged conflict, said the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
Biden told G7 leaders that Washington supports the joint allied training programmes, senior US officials said, a significant endorsement as Kyiv seeks to boost its air power against Russia.
The Hiroshima summit gave Zelenskiy a chance to win over countries from the “global south” such as Brazil and India in an attempt to broaden support for his country in its war against Russia.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said G7 decisions at the summit were aimed at the “double containment” of Russia and China.
Canada will support Ukraine for as long and as much as necessary in its conflict with Russia, including the training of Ukrainian soldiers and possibly pilots, said the prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Britain published plans to ban imports of Russian diamonds, copper, aluminium and nickel and announced a new wave of sanctions against Russia, targeting companies connected to the alleged theft of Ukrainian grain.
Zelenskiy arrived on a French government-labelled military aircraft for the G7 summit in Hiroshima, after addressing an Arab League summit, marked an achievement for the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
A Russian-installed official in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region said that Kyiv had struck the Russian-held port city of Berdyansk with British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles, Reuters reports.
In a statement on Telegram, Vladimir Rogov said that seven missiles had been fired at the city, four of which were Storm Shadow missiles. He said six of the missiles had been intercepted and one had fallen on the edge of the city but had not caused any casualties.
Reuters could not independently verify his assertion.
The founder of Georgia’s national airline Georgian Airways has banned the country’s president from using its services after she said she would boycott the airline over its resumption of flights to Russia, Russia’s TASS news agency reports.
Russia announced this month it was lifting a four-year old ban on direct flights with Georgia and removing a decades-old visa requirement for Georgians travelling to Russia.
President Salome Zourabichvili urged Georgian authorities to thwart the Russian initiative, which they ignored.
Tamaz Gaiashvili, founder of privately-owned Georgian Airways, was cited by TASS on Sunday as saying that Zourabichvili was now “persona non grata” and would be banned until she “apologises before the Georgian people”.
There was no immediate reaction from Zourabichvili.
Although Georgian officials welcomed the resumption of flights, some Georgians who want the South Caucasus country to distance itself from Moscow in favour of the European Union demonstrated against it in central Tbilisi on Sunday.
Many Georgians oppose any rapprochement with Moscow whose troops garrison two breakaway regions - Abkhazia and South Ossetia - that make up around one fifth of the country’s territory.
Other Georgians are more open to the idea however, and the Georgian government has in recent years worked to improve ties with Moscow, declining to impose sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.
President Zourabichvili, whose position is largely ceremonial and whose relations with the government are strained, has warned that deepening ties with Russia could jeopardise the country’s chances of the EU one day.
The Guardian’s Justin McCurry has the full report on everything that’s happened at the G7 today, including the US military aid pledge and Zelenskiy’s speech:
US President Joe Biden has announced a new package of military aid of up to $375 million to Ukraine, telling President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the United States is doing all it can to strengthen Ukraine’s defence.
Biden, meeting with the Ukrainian leader on the sidelines of the G7 summit of world leaders in Japan, said the military aid package included ammunition, artillery, armoured vehicles and training.
He said:
Together with the entire G7, we have Ukraine’s back and I promise we’re not going anywhere.
In the meeting, Biden stressed his country’s readiness to help build Ukraine’s long-term capacity to defend against and deter Russian aggression and US support for a joint effort with allied and partner nations to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighter aircraft such as the F-16., the White House said.
Zelenskiy thanked the US for the new package, and for the financial assistance of $37 billion to date, his office said.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has told G7 leaders in an address on Sunday that Kyiv’s plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine is “an obvious expression of rationality”.
Zelenskiy, who is attending the G7 summit in Japan in person, has in recent months been seeking global support for a “peace formula”.
Thanking western leaders for achieving “a level of cooperation which ensures that democracy, international law, and freedom are respected”, he said:
The more we all work together, the less likely anyone else in the world will follow Russia’s insane path But is this enough?
He added that he planned to spend his day at the G7 discussing the Ukrainian Peace Formula.
We’re united by one more principle - rationality.
We always act practically protecting our values. And the Ukrainian Peace Formula is an obvious expression of rationality. I thank you for supporting our Formula.
Zelenskiy has pushed Western allies and other countries to go further on both economic and military measures to support Kyiv as Russia’s 15-month invasion drags on.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated the Wagner mercenary force and the Russian army for what he called the “liberation” of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which Russia calls by its Soviet-era name of Artyomovsk.
In a statement published on the Kremlin website, Putin said that the battle - the longest and bloodiest of the 15-month war - had ended in a Russian victory:
The Head of State congratulated Wagner’s assault groups, as well as all members of the units of the Russian Armed Forces who provided them with the necessary support and cover on their flanks, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artyomovsk (Bakhmut).
All those who distinguished themselves will be presented with state awards.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy did not confirm the capture by Russian forces of the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, his spokesman said on Sunday challenging earlier reports.
Sergii Nykyforov wrote on Facebook suggesting that Zelenskiy’s comments have been misinterpreted:
Reporter’s question: Russians said they have taken Bakhmut. President’s reply: I think no.
In this way, the president denied the capture of Bakhmut.
German police have opened an investigation after a Russian journalist and an activist who participated in a Berlin conference reported health problems that suggested possible poisoning, Agence France-Presse is reporting, citing the newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
“A file has been opened based on the information available,” a Berlin police spokesperson told the Sunday weekly. Berlin police were not immediately available to respond, according to AFP.
The Russian investigative media outlet Agentstvo published an investigation this week reporting on the health problems encountered by two participants at a meeting of Russian dissidents on 29 April and 30 organised by exiled former oligarch turned Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
One participant, identified as a journalist who had recently left Russia, experienced unspecified symptoms during the event and said they may have started earlier.
The report added that the journalist went to the Charite University hospital in Berlin where Putin critic Alexei Navalny was treated after being poisoned in August 2020.
Reuters is reporting Volodymyr Zelenskiy appeared to confirm the loss of the city of Bakhmut to Russia on Sunday, saying “I think no” when asked if it remained in Kyiv’s control.
“I think no,” he said ahead of a meeting with Joe Biden at the G7 summit, according to Reuters. “For today, it is only in our hearts.”
Among those not able to verify Wagner’s claim of victory in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, is US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War.
In its regular update, not only does it say, “ISW has not observed geolocated footage confirming Prigozhin’s claims as of this publication”, but it also goes on to assess if it really tactically matters anyway.
“Prigozhin’s claimed victory over the remaining areas in Bakhmut is purely symbolic even if true. The last few urban blocks of eastern Bakhmut that Prigozhin claimed that Wagner Group forces captured are not tactically or operationally significant,” it says.
“Their capture does not grant Russian forces operationally significant terrain to continue conducting offensive operations or any particularly strong position from which to defend against possible Ukrainian counterattacks.”
Welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine. I’m Christine Kearney and here’s a run through of the latest developments.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy is attempting to win support from the wider international community during a furious round of diplomacy on the final day of the G7 summit in Hiroshima.
He is due to meet US president Joe Biden for a bilateral meeting on Sunday afternoon amid speculation that Washington could announce a new weapons package for Ukraine.
French president Emmanuel Macron said the G7 summit in Japan was an opportunity to convince big emerging states such as India and Brazil regarding Ukraine. Macron said Zelenskiy’s surprise visit was a “game changer”. The Ukrainian president is due to speak at 7.15 pm (1015 GMT) on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Kyiv has denied a claim by the head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that the Russian mercenary group has full control of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Neither statement can be independently verified.
More on the G7 and other stories shortly. In other news:
Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin made the Bakhmut victory claim in a video in which he appeared in combat fatigues in front of a line of fighters holding Russian flags and Wagner banners. “Today, at 12 noon, Bakhmut was completely taken,” Prigozhin said. He said that his forces would withdraw from Bakhmut from 25 May for rest and retraining.
The Russian defence ministry also said the capture of Bakhmut had been ‘completed’ and president Vladimir Putin congratulated troops. He said those who had distinguished themselves would be given awards, domestic Russian news agencies reported.
Speaking before the Russian ministry’s statement, Ukraine’s military rejected Prigozhin’s claim and said its troops were continuing to fight in the ruined eastern city. “This is not true. Our units are fighting in Bakhmut,” military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi told Reuters. In its daily update early Sunday, the military also said: ‘Fighting for the city of Bakhmut does not stop.”
Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said the situation in Bakhmut was critical, with Ukrainian troops maintaining a defence in the south-western part of the city. “Heavy fighting in Bakhmut. The situation is critical,” she said on the Telegram messaging app. “As of now, our defenders control some industrial and infrastructure facilities in the area and the private sector.”
The G7 has condemned Russia’s “brutal” war on its neighbour Ukraine “in the strongest possible terms”, calling it a “serious violation of international law”, in its final communique from this week’s summit in Japan. The world leaders called for “just and lasting peace” and recommitted their intention to provide Ukraine with military, financial and humanitarian support.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had invited India to join Ukraine’s peace formula during his talks with the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the summit. Zelenskiy said on Telegram that they also discussed Ukraine’s needs in de-mining and mobile hospitals during their first face-to-face meeting since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Reuters reported.
The US president, Joe Biden, will announce a $375m military aid package for Ukraine while in Japan, a US official has said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Friday that the package would include artillery, ammunition and Himars rocket launchers, Reuters reported.
Western countries will be running “colossal risks” if they supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, the Tass news agency quoted the Russian deputy foreign minister, Alexander Grushko, as saying on Saturday. Biden has told G7 leaders that Washington supports joint allied training programmes for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters, senior US officials said.
Pope Francis has tasked a leading Italian cardinal with a mission in hopes it can “ease tensions” in the Ukraine war and lead to a path of peace, the Vatican said Saturday. In a brief written statement, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that Francis had entrusted the mission to Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who is close to the pontiff. The Associated Press reports that Bruni said the timetable and the mechanics of the mission “are currently under study.”
The international criminal court said on Saturday that it was “undeterred” after Russia put prosecutor Karim Khan on a wanted list over his issuance of an arrest warrant for president Vladimir Putin. Khan, who is British, issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March on the war crime accusation of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children. Khan’s picture could be seen in the Russian interior ministry’s database on Friday.
An aide to the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, has said the object that entered Poland’s airspace last year and was found in April was a Russian-made rocket. Associated Press reports that the aide, Paweł Szrot, said on Radio RMF FM on Friday that the nose of the rocket had been found and that it was “peculiar” because it was made of concrete. It was being examined by experts.
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2023-05-21 09:28:53Z
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