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IMAGE: AP
Former US President George W Bush spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over a video call. Bush thanked Zelenskyy for his leadership and his commitment to liberty and saluted the courage of the Ukrainians. George Bush in an Instagram post stated that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy assured him they they will not become weak in their fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “barbarism and thuggery.” Former US President underscored that they will continue to support Ukraine and they have been inspired by the “fortitude and resilience.” Bush called Zelenskyy “the Winston Churchill of our time.”
A post shared by George W. Bush (@georgewbush)
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has announced that his country will diversify energy procurement as well as the use of nuclear reactors and renewables to lower dependency on Russian energy. Kishida made the remarks in his speech in London’s financial district. He stated that they would raise an investment of 150 trillion yen (₹8,81,77,71,00,00,000) in the next 10 years to meet energy needs, APA reported citing CNN. It is to mention here that ever since the Russian military offensive in Ukraine started on February 24, Japan has been announcing sanctions against Moscow and offering support to Kyiv.
The United Kingdom has announced sanctions against Evraz plc, a major manufacturer of Russian steel. According to the statement released by the UK government, Evraz plc produce 28% of all Russian railway wheels and 97% of rail-tracks in Russia. The UK government in the statement said, “Today’s asset freeze means no UK citizen or company can do business with them. Evraz plc’s core operations are in Russia where they are a major employer. These sanctions will further chip away at Putin’s financial reserves and siege economy, and support Ukraine’s continued resistance.”
US President Joe Biden spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. During the telephonic conversation, the two leaders underlined their commitment to continue holding Russia accountable for its brutal actions in Ukraine, according to the read out ot the phone call released by the White House. Biden and Scholz discussed their ongoing efforts to provide humanitarian and security assistance to Ukraine.
Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said that United Nations has documented 180 possible kidnappings on occupied territories and 8 on the Ukrainian side, Nexta reported. Bachelet asserted that the list of gross violations of international humanitarian law continues to rise every day. According to Michelle Bachelet, her office has recorded 6,731 civilian casualties since the Russian military offensive in Ukraine started on February 24. She added that the real figures were considerably higher. She called on the parties to order their forces to protect civilians.
“The list of gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law continues to grow each day. We cannot let the number of victims continue to rise,” Michelle Bachelet said in the statement.
“It is vital that all parties give clear instructions to their combatants to protect civilians and persons hors de combat, as well as to distinguish between civilian and military objects,” Michelle Bachelet added.
??#Ukraine: “All parties should give clear instructions to their combatants to protect civilians & persons hors de combat, & to distinguish between civilian & military objects” –@mbachelet tells the #UNSC.
“We must be steadfast in our efforts for peace.”https://t.co/qLYbTP29yV pic.twitter.com/8a9JRhqqKC
The UN recorded 180 possible kidnappings on occupied territories and 8 on the Ukrainian side
This was announced by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.According to her the list of gross violations of international human rights law continues to grow every day. pic.twitter.com/WoqyTlxS8n
Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, has announced that the Ukrainian government would continue to evacuate civilians from Mariupol on May 6 at noon. Taking to her Facebook account, Vereshchuk stated that the evacuated civilians will be taken to Zaporizhzhia. Earlier on 5 May, Iryna Vereshchuk stated that 344 people had been evacuated from Mariupol and they arrived in Zaporizhzhia.
US Defence Department Spokesperson John Kirby has said that Russian armed forces have made “some small progress” in the northern part of Donbass, The Kyiv Independent reported. He stressed that Ukrainian armed forces continue to put up a “stiff resistance” against Russian troops.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has decided to create an honorary award for “courage” to celebrate the military victories of the armed forces. The award will be presented to honour the bravery and heroism shown by the soldiers in the Ukrainian armed forces, National Guard of Ukraine, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Security Service of Ukraine, and State Special Communications Service in the fight for the independence of Ukraine. Zelenskyy has taken the decision of establishing the honorary award based on the proposal presented by the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.
“Establish an honorary award “For Courage and Courage” to honor special military merits, courage, bravery and heroism of personnel of military units (units) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, National Guard of Ukraine, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Security Service of Ukraine, State Special Communications Service and protection of information of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service, identified during the defense of state sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity of Ukraine, hostilities and combat (special) tasks,” according to the statement released on Ukrainian President’s website.
Президент @ZelenskyyUa заснував почесну відзнаку «За мужність та відвагу» для відзначення бойових звитяг о/с в.ч. ЗСУ та інших військових формувань, мужності та героїзму, виявлених в боротьбі за незалежність та територіальну цілісність України➡️ https://t.co/wrRErggsZO pic.twitter.com/vJDGYvjOjv
The Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy has announced that they are working on removing “Russian propaganda literature from Ukrainian libraries. The Ukrainian Culture Ministry further said that they will replace them with Ukrainian-language literature and books that have been published by Ukrainian publishers, as per the statement released by the ministry on Facebook. Larisa Petasyuk, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, has called “propaganda” a “dangerous weapon” and added, “Russian lies are poisons all around today.” The Ukrainian Ministry has stated that the process of removal of “propaganda Russian literature” will be based on relevant technical guidelines.
“Propaganda is a dangerous weapon. Russian lies are poisons all around today. We have all ways to deal with this phenomenon. At present, the Ministry has defined clear criteria by which Russian literature will be removed from Ukrainian library funds. We approach this issue carefully and carefully. We hope that all of this will positively affect the development of the Ukrainian bookstore,” Larisa Petasyuk said in the statement released on Facebook.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. During the telephonic conversation, the two leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine. Bennett and Putin talked about humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, including the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant, in cooperation with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. According to the statement released by Kremlin, Russian armed forces are willing to ensure the safe passage of civilians, however, Ukrainian authorities need to order the “militants” at the Azovstal plant to lay down their arms. Both the leaders stressed the special significance of May 9 for citizens of Russia and Israel, who honour the memory of all the fallen, including the victims of the Holocaust. Furthermore, Putin apologised to Bennett over the remarks made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about Jews.
The two discussed Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov’s remarks. The Prime Minister accepted President Putin’s apology for Lavrov’s remarks and thanked him for clarifying his attitude towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to travel to Ukraine. The announcement has been made by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Twitter. The decision regarding the visit of Annalena Baerbock was taken after German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy and “cleared up irritations.” Earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy had called his talks with Steinmeier “constructive and good.” Zelenskyy thanked his German counterpart for the strong support to Ukraine and expected the support from Germany to be “intensified.” Ukrainian President informed Frank-Walter Steinmeier about the situation in Mariupol.
Es ist gut, dass unser Bundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier und der ukrainische Präsident @ZelenskyyUa miteinander gesprochen und Irritationen aus dem Weg geräumt haben. Außenministerin @ABaerbock wird nun in die #Ukraine reisen – ein wichtiges Ergebnis des Gesprächs.
Had a good, constructive, important conversation with ?? Federal President Mr. Steinmeier. Thanked for strong support for ??. Expect it to be intensified. ??leadership is important to counter ?? aggression. Informed about situation on the frontline, critical situation in Mariupol
The Russian armed forces have ordered to use Russian-language sign for the name of the city in Mariupol, Nexta reported.
In #Mariupol, the invaders ordered to install a Russian-language sign with the name of the city. pic.twitter.com/KxxN9zpFuT
Zaporizhzhia Mayor Anatolii Kurtiev announced full-day curfew for May 9, The Kyiv Independent reported. The curfew will remain in effect from 7 pm on May 8 to 5 am on May 10.
Japan has announced additional sanctions against Russia, Nexta reported. Furthermore, the Japanese government has frozen assets of 140 people.
#Japan imposes additional sanctions against #Russia and freezes the assets of 140 individuals. pic.twitter.com/G71s5NG3dy
Russian President Vladimir Putin is aiming to draft a “more reliable” Russian version of Wikipedia with Ukraine war details.
Putin is going to create a #Russian analogue of Wikipedia, because he is not satisfied with the fact that they write objective information about the invasion of #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/thi271J0PP
US has learned a great deal about Russian military shortfalls and capabilities in the first two months of the war in Ukraine, top Pentagon leaders told Congress. But Moscow is also learning from its mistakes as the war shifts to a new phase, and that will shape the artillery and other weapons systems the US will provide, they warned.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that if Congress approves funding, the most critical things that Ukraine needs are anti-tank, anti-aircraft and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. Milley added that with the fighting now concentrated in the eastern Donbas region, Ukrainian forces also need more tanks and other mechanized vehicles, which the US and other nations are providing.
Credit: AP
Associated Press Report
The British military has warend that the ongoing military drill in Belarus “not currently anticipated” to threaten Ukraine might “nflate the threat posed to Ukraine.” The British Defense Ministry, in a statement on Thursday said that Belarus’ snap military drills may flare the threats of the war as via these exercises Russia might seek to “fix Ukrainian forces in the north.”
“Russia will likely seek to inflate the threat posed to Ukraine by these exercises in order to fix Ukrainian forces in the north, preventing them from being committed to the battle for the Donbas,” the British military said.
It added: “Deviation from normal exercise activity that could pose a threat to allies and partners is not currently anticipated.”
Credit: AP
France’s ecology minister says she is confident that the European Union’s 27 nations will quickly agree to a proposed ban on oil imports from Russia. Speaking to FranceInfo radio Thursday, the minister, Barbara Pompili, said the embargo could be agreed upon within days.
“I am confident,” she said. “It is normal that there are discussions because some countries are more dependent than others on Russian oil, so we have to try to find solutions so they can get on board with these sanctions.”
She added: “I think we’ll get there perhaps by the end of the week or at least as soon as possible.”
The European Union’s top official, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, proposed Wednesday that EU member nations phase out imports of Russian crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year. The proposals must be unanimously approved to take effect. Von der Leyen said that getting all 27 member countries — some of them landlocked and highly dependent on Russia for energy supplies — to agree on oil sanctions “will not be easy.”
Pompili said the embargo would be “for everyone” in the bloc and that “is to show Russia that Europe, from the end of this year, will completely do without its oil.”
Credit: AP
Source: Associated Press
A deputy commander of the Azov volunteer regiment Sviatoslav Palamar has appealed to the Ukraine’s Presdient Zelenskyy to rescue the trapped Ukrainian soldiers from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. In a recorded video address, Palamar said that wounded Ukrainian soldiers at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol “are dying in terrible agony from inadequate (medical) treatment.” He then asked the Ukrainian leader to evacuate the bodies of dead soldiers so they could be entitled to the military honours and Ukrainians can say “proper goodbye” to them.
The prime minister of Luxembourg says the European Union should carefully weigh a total embargo on all Russian oil gas imports given that some member nations “have no alternative” supply for energy generation. Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said after talks Thursday with the President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades that “just to say no to the gas today when we know that some countries then will have no alternative tomorrow is something we should put on the balance.”
What’s paramount at this time is to maintain EU solidarity and for all 27 members to find ways of becoming energy self-sufficient and less dependent on energy from third countries, Bettel said. He said one option is solar energy, referring to the east Mediterranean island nation’s potential to generate much more than Luxembourg.
Anastasiades said the war in Ukraine has refocused attention on discovered and potential natural gas reserves found in east Mediterranean waters off Cyprus and elsewhere as an alternative source of energy for Europe. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on the EU member states to ban oil imports from Russia and target the country’s biggest bank and major broadcasters in a sixth package of sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
Credit: AP
Source: Associated Press
Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said Thursday that Russia has decided to expel four diplomats with Denmark’s Embassy in Moscow.
“They have wrongfully become pieces in Putin’s cynical power play,” Kofod said. “It is a completely unjustified and deeply problematic decision, which underscores that Russia no longer wants real dialogue and diplomacy.”
Moscow said seven Danish diplomats were expelled. Danish media said that those expelled include four diplomats and three others without diplomatic status. They must leave within two weeks. Moscow’s tit-for-tat decision came after Denmark last month expelled 15 Russian intelligence officers who worked at Russia’s Embassy in Copenhagen. Several other European countries also expelled Russian intelligence officers.
Source: Associated Press
Ukraine’s government has launched a global fundraising platform so individuals can donate to help rebuild Ukraine, offer humanitarian aid, and raise money for demining. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the initiative, called United24, on Thursday.
The United States and Europe, among others, have offered billions of dollars in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Last week, US President Joe Biden asked Congress for $33 billion to bolster Ukraine’s fight against Russia. Ukraine’s newest fundraising drive is intended to give individuals a way to donate on their own with a single click, Zelenskyy said.
Credit: AP
A 500-million-euro ($530 million) Lithuanian-Polish natural gas transmission pipeline was inaugurated Thursday, completing another stage of regional independence from Russian energy sources. The Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania pipeline that runs more than 500 kilometers (310 miles), comes “at a time when Russia has once again tried to blackmail us using gas,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said at the inauguration.
Lithuania’s Prime Minister Ingridas Simonyte added that “any reduction or disappearance of this source of funding would have a very significant impact on the Russian economy and the ability to continue financing the war in Ukraine.”
The Lithuania-Poland leg is integrated with pipelines in the other two Baltic states — Estonia and Latvia — and Finland, and into the European Union gas transmission system. Before the pipeline was built, the four countries could only receive pipeline gas from Russia.
Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania (GIPL) is launched today.
The 508-km pipeline has linked the ?? & ?? gas markets to the rest of the EU.
This step strengthens the energy independence of the region and increases the possibilities of using the Klaipėda LNG terminal. pic.twitter.com/9nHaF0Nv9W
Germany has started to build its first terminal for importing liquefied natural gas from the United States and the Middle East in an effort to phase out the Russian energy reliance. Berlin has imported an estimated 55 percent of its total energy needs from Moscow, close to 35 percent of its oil were supplied by the Russian state owned oil corporation. Germany is building the liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals in Wilhelmshaven on the port located in Lower Saxony on the North Sea coast.
Habeck announced a €3 billion deal in order to lease at least four ships to “regasify” LNG for the German pipeline system. each of those vessels are estimated to have the capacity of five billion cubic metres per year.
“We have a good chance to do what is actually normally impossible in Germany: To build an LNG terminal within about 10 months, and to connect it to the German gas supply,” Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck reportedly said.
Credit: AP
Russia has been firing a barrage of missiles on central Kirovohrad Oblast from the Caspian sea that has hit a railway infrastructure in Dolinskaya, Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command said in an update. There were several deaths and injuries reported, said the Ukraine’s military, although the exact number of the casualties was not known. At least two missiles were shot down over the southwestern city of Vinnytsia, Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Interior Ministry of Ukraine further informed in the update.
European Union’s Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has warned that the ongoing war in Ukraine is posing increased risks to the civilian airlines, that could be accidently targetted. EASA also warned that there is an ncreased risk of a potential cyber attack that could jeopardize the safety of the passengers of the airplanes. The “misidentification is easy in confused arenas of warfare,” said the EASA.
“The development of this risk is common to all combatants. If we add in the likelihood of jamming of electronic aids that may be involved with navigation and or identification tools, then it is easy to see the potential for innocent aircraft being subject to missiles or radar-laid weapons,” it added.
“Military drones and aircraft operating in the conflict zone may inadvertently infringe adjacent civil airspace.”
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said that an estimated $6.5 billion has been raised at an international donors’ conference in Warsaw for providing aid to Ukraine. The conference on Thursday was co-hosted by Poland and Sweden and attended by prime ministers and ambassadors representing many European countries, as well as countries further afield and some businesses.
Much of the world has responded to the war in Ukraine with an outpouring of humanitarian support. But as the war drags on for weeks, the humanitarian needs in Ukraine have grown more acute. In addition to the thousands killed, millions of people have been displaced, and there are increasing reports of people being tortured and raped.
Credit: AP
Source: AP
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has testified at Russian war crimes hearings held by the Helsinki Commission In a Fcaebook post, Venediktova informed, “The Helsinki Commission of the US Congress held a hearing on Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine. I testified at the hearings about the horrific atrocities committed by the Russian army on our land: the deliberate bombing of civilian objects, killings and torture, the use of rape as a weapon.” Further she added, that at the hearing “the red lining were signs of genocide of the Ukrainian people and the prosecution of the main serial war criminal of the 21st century.”
A judge in Spain on Thursday ordered the provisional release of Anatoly Shariy, a Ukrainian politician-blogger accused of treason in his home country. Shariy was arrested on Wednesday in the coastal city of Tarragona on an international arrest warrant issued by Ukraine, according to Spain’s National Court. Court documents said Shariy is accused of “high treason and incitement of hatred.”
Shariy, who has reportedly lived in Spain since 2019, was ordered to turn in his passport and remain in the country. The court said officials in Ukraine now have 40 days to formally present a request for Shariy’s extradition. His arrest was announced by Ukraine’s security services on Thursday, who said there was reason to believe Shariy “was acting on behalf of foreign entities.” Shariy, the founder of a political party considered by many Ukrainians to be pro-Russian, has been a vocal and active critic of Ukraine’s government.
Source: Associated Press
A Ukrainian commander trapped inside the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol accused Russia of violating the truce and ensuing intense battle inside the plant. In a recorded message, Sviatoslav Palamar, the Azov regiment’s deputy commander said: “It’s been the third day that the enemy has broken through to the territory of Azovstal. Fierce bloody combat is ongoing.”
“The defenders of the city have been fighting alone for 71 days with the overwhelming forces of the enemy and show such endurance and heroism that the country must know what it means to be loyal to the motherland,” Palamar said in the video posted on Telegram.