Life from the Russia-Ukraine war: UN to investigate deaths of prisoners of war; USA ratifies Sweden and Finland NATO bid | Ukraine
Summary and welcome
Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is what we know so far.
- The UN is conducting a fact-finding mission in response to requests from both Russia and Ukraine after 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in an explosion at a barracks in separatist-held Olenivka. The warring nations have accused each other of carrying out the attack. Ukraine claims it was a special operation planned in advance by the Kremlin, and carried out by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group. However, Russia’s defense minister claims that the Ukrainian military used rockets from the United States to knock down the prison.
- The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wants to speak directly with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, hoping that China can use its influence with Russia to bring the war to an end. According to a report in the South China Morning Post, Zelenskiy said: “It’s a very powerful state. It’s a powerful economy. So (it) can politically, economically influence Russia. And China is [also a] permanent member of the UN Security Council.” So far, China has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion and its President Xi Jinping told Putin it would support Russia’s “sovereignty and security”.
- The US Senate has ratified Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to NATO and voted 95-1 in favor. The United States is the 23rd member state to ratify what would be the most significant expansion of the 30-member alliance since the 1990s in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This historic vote sends an important signal about America’s enduring, bipartisan commitment to NATO and ensuring our alliance is prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. All 30 NATO members must ratify the accession before Finland and Sweden can become members.
- Ukraine withdraws its 40 peacekeepers from the NATO-led mission in Kosovo, which totals 3,800 members, according to news from Ukraine. In March, Zelenskiy issued a decree for all missions to return to Ukraine to support the war.
- A Russian official in Ukraine has claimed that Ukrainian forces are using Western weapons to attack the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is now controlled by Russian forces and used as a military base, according to Reuters. However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Ukrainian forces were not firing at Russian forces “lest there be a terrible accident involving the nuclear plant”. Reuters was unable to verify battlefield accounts from either side of the war.
- The first grain shipment to leave Ukraine under an agreement to ease Russia’s naval blockade has reached Turkey. The Sierra Leone-registered ship Razoni set sail from Odesa port for Lebanon on Monday under an agreement between Turkey and the United Nations. The vessel has been inspected by members of the Joint Coordination Center and is now expected to move through the Bosphorus “shortly”.
- Ukraine’s president has dismissed the importance of the first grain export from his country since Russia invaded, saying it carried a fraction of the crop Kyiv must sell to help save its shattered economy. IN disappointing comments, Zelenskiy said via video to students in Australia on Wednesday that more time was needed to see if other grain shipments would follow.
- The United Nations has said there have been more than 10 million border crossings into and out of Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion of the country on February 24. Data collected by UNHCR indicates that 6,180,345 individual refugees from Ukraine are now registered across Europe. Ukraine’s neighbors have taken the largest single figures. Poland has 1.25 million refugees.
- Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has been exposed for a private meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin after he traveled to Moscow on holiday to meet him. Schröder said in a lengthy interview with German media that he had nothing to apologize for because of his friendship with Putin, whom he met last week during a visit to the Russian capital.
- Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has insisted that Russia had no reason to delay the return of a gas turbine for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. The turbine is stranded in Germany, after servicing in Canada, in an escalating situation that has seen flows to Europe drop to a trickle, just 20% of capacity.
Key events
Russia can fabricate evidence of Olevinka’s strike, US says
U.S. officials believe Russia is working to fabricate evidence regarding last week’s deadly attack on the Olevinka detention center that killed 53 prisoners of war in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine.
A U.S. official familiar with the intelligence findings told The Associated Press that classified intelligence — which was recently downgraded — shows Russian officials may be planting munitions from medium-range High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or Himars, as evidence that the systems provided by the U.S. to Ukraine were being used in the attack.
Russia is expected to take action as it expects independent investigators and journalists to eventually gain access to Olenivka, the official added.
The US Senate gave near-unanimous bipartisan approval to NATO membership for Finland and Sweden on Wednesday, calling the expansion of the western defense bloc a “slam dunk” for US national security and a day of reckoning for Vladimir Putin.
The 95-1 vote in favor of two European countries that, until Russia’s war on Ukraine, had long avoided military alliances took a decisive step toward an expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its 73-year-old mutual defense pact between the United States and democratic allies in Europe .
Joe Biden, who has been the main player gathering global financial and material support for Ukraine, has sought quick entry for the two former non-military allies of the northern European countries.
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Ukraine is seeking an opportunity to speak directly with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to help end the war with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said. South China Morning Post.
In an interview with SCMP, the Ukrainian leader called on China to use its great political and economic influence over Russia to end the fighting.
“It’s a very powerful state. It’s a powerful economy,” Zelenskiy was quoted as saying in the report. “So (it) can politically, economically influence Russia. And China is [also a] permanent member of the UN Security Council.”
Zelenskiy told SCMP that Ukraine had officially asked for a talk with Xi but had so far failed.
Summary and welcome
Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is what we know so far.
- The UN is conducting a fact-finding mission in response to requests from both Russia and Ukraine after 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in an explosion at a barracks in separatist-held Olenivka. The warring nations have accused each other of carrying out the attack. Ukraine claims it was a special operation planned in advance by the Kremlin, and carried out by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group. However, Russia’s defense minister claims that the Ukrainian military used rockets from the United States to knock down the prison.
- The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wants to speak directly with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, hoping that China can use its influence with Russia to bring the war to an end. According to a report in the South China Morning Post, Zelenskiy said: “It’s a very powerful state. It’s a powerful economy. So (it) can politically, economically influence Russia. And China is [also a] permanent member of the UN Security Council.” So far, China has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion and its President Xi Jinping told Putin it would support Russia’s “sovereignty and security”.
- The US Senate has ratified Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to NATO and voted 95-1 in favor. The United States is the 23rd member state to ratify what would be the most significant expansion of the 30-member alliance since the 1990s in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This historic vote sends an important signal about America’s enduring, bipartisan commitment to NATO and ensuring our alliance is prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. All 30 NATO members must ratify the accession before Finland and Sweden can become members.
- Ukraine withdraws its 40 peacekeepers from the NATO-led mission in Kosovo, which totals 3,800 members, according to news from Ukraine. In March, Zelenskiy issued a decree for all missions to return to Ukraine to support the war.
- A Russian official in Ukraine has claimed that Ukrainian forces are using Western weapons to attack the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is now controlled by Russian forces and used as a military base, according to Reuters. However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Ukrainian forces were not firing at Russian forces “lest there be a terrible accident involving the nuclear plant”. Reuters was unable to verify battlefield accounts from either side of the war.
- The first grain shipment to leave Ukraine under an agreement to ease Russia’s naval blockade has reached Turkey. The Sierra Leone-registered ship Razoni set sail from Odesa port for Lebanon on Monday under an agreement between Turkey and the United Nations. The vessel has been inspected by members of the Joint Coordination Center and is now expected to move through the Bosphorus “shortly”.
- Ukraine’s president has dismissed the importance of the first grain export from his country since Russia invaded, saying it carried a fraction of the crop Kyiv must sell to help save its shattered economy. IN disappointing comments, Zelenskiy said via video to students in Australia on Wednesday that more time was needed to see if other grain shipments would follow.
- The United Nations has said there have been more than 10 million border crossings into and out of Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion of the country on February 24. Data collected by UNHCR indicates that 6,180,345 individual refugees from Ukraine are now registered across Europe. Ukraine’s neighbors have taken the largest single figures. Poland has 1.25 million refugees.
- Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has been exposed for a private meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin after he traveled to Moscow on holiday to meet him. Schröder said in a lengthy interview with German media that he had nothing to apologize for because of his friendship with Putin, whom he met last week during a visit to the Russian capital.
- Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has insisted that Russia had no reason to delay the return of a gas turbine for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. The turbine is stranded in Germany, after servicing in Canada, in an escalating situation that has seen flows to Europe drop to a trickle, just 20% of capacity.