Live text – short and concise on the highlights of Russia’s war in Ukraine on May 31. For the fourth month in a row, Ukraine has been heroically defending its land against the aggressor’s invasion
21:22. Russian troops have occupied half of Severodonetsk, the head of the city’s military administration, Oleksandr Stryuk, said on Tuesday. The front line stretches in the middle of the city, and fighting is continuing, Stryuk said. Severodonetsk is the last support point of the Ukrainian army in the Luhansk region. If it falls, the whole area will be under the control of Russian troops.
20:44. The European Union (EU) court has received applications from billionaire Pyotr Aven and his business partner Mikhail Friedman to appeal against the sanctions imposed by the EU, the agency LETA was clarified in court. Earlier, the Minister of Justice Jānis Bordāns (K) expressed the opinion that Avens has provided, among other things, propaganda support to the aggressor country – Russia, which means that he should be deprived of Latvian citizenship.
20:22. The Czech Republic has summoned the Russian ambassador to Prague over disputes over the use of diplomatic and consular property, the Czech foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Russia has about 50 properties in the Czech Republic. Many of them were acquired by Moscow during the time of the former Czechoslovak regime during the communist regime. Prague questions whether all these properties are really being used for consular and diplomatic work. The media reports that several apartments are rented to Russian individuals. Czech-Russian relations were strained before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
18:59. The partial embargo on Russian oil is a step in the right direction, which was agreed by the leaders of the European Union (EU) member states at a summit in Brussels on Monday, May 30, the Prime Minister of Latvia Krišjānis Kariņš (JV) told Bloomberg. He noted that this is one of the largest sanctions sanctions against Russia to date, which will reduce Russia’s oil supplies to the EU by about two-thirds. The politician also pointed out that, in his opinion, the EU should already move to the next step in sanctions, which would mean an embargo on Russian natural gas as well. At the same time, Kariņš understands that this will be a much more complicated process, given that the ways to transport gas are much more limited than oil.
18:32. Ukraine has identified more than 600 suspected war crimes committed by Russian troops, and about 80 of them have already been prosecuted, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova said on Tuesday. The list of suspects includes “high-ranking Russian military personnel, politicians and propaganda agents,” Venediktova said at a news conference in The Hague.
17:31. Prosecutor General Juris Stukāns has signed an agreement in The Hague on Latvia’s participation in the Joint Investigation Team (JIG), which focuses on the crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, the Latvian Prosecutor’s Office informed LETA.
16.07. Polish Prime Minister Matthew Moravecki would like to see Russian President Vladimir Putin completely removed from power. “If Europe and the free world lose this battle, lose this war, we will no longer be safe, because we will always be subject to Putin’s threats and blackmail,” Moraveckis told Sky News during a European Union (EU) summit in Brussels. “Of course we would like him to be removed altogether,” Moraveckis said, adding that Putin was a brutal power.
15.24. In Ukraine, two Russian soldiers were convicted of firing on settlements on Tuesday. Soldiers Alexander Bobikin and Alexander Ivanov have been convicted of violating the norms and customs of war. Ukraine’s Poltava district court has sentenced everyone to 11 years and six months in prison, the Ukrainian prosecutor general said.
14.42. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has said that the situation in the city of Severodonetsk, which has been besieged by Russian troops in Severodonetsk, has been crucified, warning that the situation in the city is getting worse.
14.26. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will arrive in Turkey next week to negotiate the unblocking of Ukraine’s grain exports, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlit Chavushoglu said on Tuesday. Lavrov will arrive in Turkey on June 8 “to negotiate the opening of a security corridor that includes the transportation of wheat in the Black Sea,” the Turkish minister said in a televised interview.
13.52. Three people have been killed in a shootout in various settlements in the Kharkiv region in the past 24 hours, and a 12-year-old child and woman have been killed in the morning of May 31, reports Oleh Sinehubov, head of the Kharkiv region administration.
12.42. Ukraine’s security service intercepted text messages sent by Russian soldiers and learned that the invaders had resumed eating dogs due to lack of food. “We eat dogs, we have nothing to eat. We ate york today. The Yorkshire Terrier,” reads one of the intercepted messages. According to the Ukrainian Security Service, the text messages were intercepted by a soldier in the occupied territory of Kherson Oblast.
11.43. The loss of life force of Russian troops in Ukraine has reached about 30,500 soldiers by Tuesday morning, the Ukrainian Army General Staff reports.
Since the beginning of the invasion on February 24, Russian forces have lost 1,358 tanks, 3,302 armored personnel carriers, 649 cannons, 207 multi-barrel jet launchers, 93 anti-aircraft guns, 208 airplanes, 174 helicopters, 515 unmanned aerial vehicles, 120 autopilots and 120 missiles. and 48 specialized vehicles.
11.30. In Ukraine, part of Severodonetsk in the Luhansk region is controlled by Russian troops, but the enemy soldiers can not move freely there, said Serhiy Haydy, head of the Luhansk region war administration, on the air marathon UArazom.
“The situation with us is extremely complicated. In Severodonetsk part of the city is unfortunately already controlled by the Russian army. They reported a few days ago that the city has already been captured, but this is not the case. There are our guys, give them back. is not free, “said the county governor.
11.23. Criticism of French President Emanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz over talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin is demagoguery, as France holds the EU presidency and Germany holds the G7 presidency, says Ojārs Skudra, associate professor at the University of Latvia’s Faculty of Social Sciences.
11.17. In the war against Ukraine, Russia’s main efforts in the direction of Donetsk have focused on efforts to occupy Severodonetsk in the Luhansk region, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports in a report on the situation on the morning of the 97th day of the war.
In the direction of Donetsk, the Russian army is firing on Ukrainian troops along the entire line of contact with minesweepers, barrel artillery, and multi-charge jets. Radio electronic combat equipment is being actively used.
10.17. Valentin Yumashev, the son-in-law of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who helped bring Vladimir Putin to power, has resigned as an adviser to the president, Reuters reported.
08.52. Ukraine will receive a new batch of high-precision guided missiles from the USSR, but it will not be able to shoot at targets deep into Russian territory, said former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFoll.
“Ukraine will receive a new party with high-precision guided missiles that have a longer range than Ukraine currently has, but not missiles that can be fired deep inside Russia,” the diplomat explains.
07.24. Street fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Severodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, continues in Ukraine, said Serhiy Haydy, head of the Luhansk Oblast’s military administration, on the Telegram messaging platform. “The writers have penetrated inside Severodonetsk, street fighting continues,” the governor confirmed.
The battles in Ukraine have reached their maximum intensity. The fiercest battles are taking place in Severodonetsk, Bahmut and Kurakhove.
07.07. Talks between Ukraine and Russia are continuing, but only on humanitarian issues, Mikhail Podolak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president’s office, told lb.ua.
“The negotiation process has been suspended today in the political-diplomatic part. In the humanitarian part, it works because there is an exchange of prisoners, there are humanitarian corridors, there are attempts to evacuate our people,” the official said.
01.43. European Union (EU) leaders agreed at a summit in Brussels on Monday night to ban more than two-thirds of Russia’s oil imports, European Council President Charles Michel said.
The European Commission had proposed a complete suspension of Russian oil imports, but Hungary opposed it.
00.10. The Russian army is trying to attack the eastern areas of Zaporizhia, reports pravda.com.ua.
00.05. At a meeting on May 31, deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine intend to express no confidence in Lyudmila Denisova, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada.
Live text of May 30 here: Ukraine heroically defends its land on the 96th day. Latest information
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