Ukraine
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Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for remarks made by his foreign minister who claimed Adolf Hitler may have had "Jewish blood".
During an interview with Italy's Rete 4 channel last Monday, Sergei Lavrov was asked how Russia could say it needed to "denazify" Ukraine, when the country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was Jewish.
"When they say 'What sort of nazification is this if we are Jews', well I think that Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it means nothing," he said, speaking through an Italian interpreter.President Putin spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in a phone call today.
A statement from Mr Bennett's office said: "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." -
The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has said the bloc is "almost there" on agreement on a new package of sanctions against Russia.
This would include an oil embargo.
The High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said: "I hope that they will get an agreement. They are almost there."And we need this agreement because we have to push still more our economic and financial pressure on Russia," he added, speaking at an event in Italy.
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Why are we continuing sanctions 🤣 they’re obviously not working
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Yea they are difficult to 100% to stop them but Putin is using 1 billion per day to keep the ruba where it is . I known he’s worth hundreds but eventually it will affect things . It’s bad for all the citizens of Russia and Ukraine. And us to a lesser extent
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FYI
How the World’s Biggest Cyberwar is Happening in Ukrainehttps://youtu.be/30jNrC4l40U
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Putin may make 'grave mistake' in days that could spark revolution in Russia, expert says
Speculation has intensified in recent days around Vladimir Putin's plans for Russia's Victory Day celebrations on Monday.
Indeed, Ukraine has claimed he will use the annual commemoration of the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany to announce mass mobilisation of his reserves.Independent researcher and Russia expert Kamil Galeev suggests there is a real possibility that the president could opt for such a measure - which he says would be a "grave mistake" that could have far-reaching consequences for the leader.
"Judging from the Putin's nature and habits, I would estimate a probability of him declaring a mass mobilisation on May 9 at 20%," he says.
"He can raise the stakes largely for the PR effect and for boosting his legitimacy. It, however, will probably be a grave mistake.
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"Putin absolutely can declare the mass mobilisation. But it will be conducted in a situation of almost no infrastructure and almost no organisational capacities for such a mobilisation and within a military doctrine that effectively excludes a possibility of such a mobilisation.
"In case of total mobilisation, we'll have barracks and training facilities overcrowded by the enormous number of poorly motivated recruits under a weak leadership. And these recruits know they'll be sent to Ukraine where they are likely to be KIA. That's a revolutionary situation.
"Right now I estimate the probability of a *successful* mass revolt in Russia as close to zero. In case of the mass mobilisation however, it's gonna skyrocket. You'll have tons of armed people with an immediate self-interest in overthrowing the regime."
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Russia claims it has destroyed large ammunition depot in Ukrainian city
Russia's defence ministry has said its missiles destroyed a large ammunition depot in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.
It also said its air defences shot down two Ukrainian warplanes, an Su-25 and a MiG-29, in the eastern Luhansk region.
Sky News has not verified the claims. -
US says it shared intelligence with Ukraine before sinking of Russian warship
The US has said it shared intelligence with Ukraine about the location of the Russian missile cruiser Moskva before the strike that sank the warship, an incident that was a humiliation for Vladimir Putin's military.
An American official said Ukraine alone decided to target and sink the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet using its own anti-ship missiles.
But given Russia's attacks on the Ukrainian coastline from the sea, the US has provided "a range of intelligence" that includes locations of those ships, said the official, who was not authorised to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Biden administration has ramped up intelligence sharing with Ukraine alongside the shipment of arms and missiles to help it repel Russia's invasion.
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60 feared dead after school bombed in east Ukraine
Some 60 people sheltering in a village school in east Ukraine are feared dead after it was hit by an air strike, the Lugansk regional governor said this morning.
"Bilogorivka (village) was hit in an air strike," on Saturday said Sergii Gaidai.
"The bombs fell on the school and unfortunately it was completely destroyed. There were a total of 90 people, 27 were saved," he said on the Telegram messaging app.
"Sixty people who were in the school are very probably dead." -
Putin wishes Ukraine a ‘peaceful and just future’
Russian President Vladimir Putin today vowed that "as in 1945, victory will be ours" as he congratulated former Soviet nations on the 77th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II.
"Today, our soldiers, as their ancestors, are fighting side by side to liberate their native land from the Nazi filth with the confidence that, as in 1945, victory will be ours," said Mr Putin, who sent Russian troops into Ukraine in February.He also said he wished "all Ukraine's inhabitants a peaceful and just future".
The United Nations has confirmed 3,309 civilian deaths, including at least 234 children, in Ukraine since Russia invaded its ex-Soviet neighbor on 24 February.
The agency also reported 3,493 civilian injuries in the conflict so far. -
The UN also estimates that over five million people in Ukraine have fled their homes since the war began.
Tomorrow, Moscow will officially commemorate victory over Nazi Germany with a giant military parade.
"It is our common duty to prevent the rebirth of Nazism which caused so much suffering to the peoples of different countries," said Mr Putin.
He added he hoped "new generations may be worthy of the memory of their fathers and grandfathers".
Mr Putin also made multiple references not just to soldiers but also civilians on the "home front... who smashed Nazism at the cost of countless sacrifices"."Sadly, today, Nazism is rearing its head once more," charged the Russian president.
He has insisted that Ukraine is in the grip of fascism and a threat to Russia and the Russian-speaking minority in Ukraine's east which Moscow claims to be "liberating."
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"Our sacred duty is to hold back the ideological successors of those who were defeated" in World War II, which Moscow dubs "the great patriotic war," said Putin, as he urged Russians to "take revenge."
Under President Putin, Russia has justified its offensive in Ukraine, launched on 24 February, as a "special operation" to "demilitarise" and "de-nazify" its neighbour, a former Soviet republic which declared independence in 1991.
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Day 75 :
Ukraine says 60 dead in school bombing: Some 60 people sheltering in a village school in east Ukraine died after a Russian air strike, says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during an address to the G7 summit by video conference.
G7 meets on Ukraine: White House says the G7 is "committed to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil".
Washington also announces new sanctions on three major Russian television stations and says it will deny Russian companies and wealthy individuals access to US accounting and consulting services.
US First Lady Biden, Canada's Trudeau visit Ukraine: US First Lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to Ukraine, meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Olena Zelenska at a school.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid a separate visit to Irpin outside Kyiv, saying Russian leader Vladimir Putin is "responsible for heinous war crimes". -
Mariupol steelworks soldiers vow no surrender: Ukrainian forces in the sprawling Azovstal steelworks in the Russian-controlled city of Mariupol vow to fight on.
Ukraine has said all women, children and elderly civilians have been evacuated from Azovstal as part of a UN and Red Cross humanitarian mission.Battle for eastern city: Ukrainian forces are struggling to hold on to the nearly surrounded city of Severodonetsk, the easternmost city still held by Kyiv which, if captured, would give Russia de facto control of Luhansk - the smaller of the two republics comprising the eastern war zone.
A local official says about 15,000 civilians remain in the city. -
We will win': Ukraine defiant on anniversary of World War II victory
Mr Zelensky said Ukrainians were a free people who had fought to defend their land many times in history and had their "own path".
"Today we are waging war on this path and we will not give anyone a single piece of our land ... and we will not give anyone a single piece of our history," he said."We are proud of our ancestors who, together with other nations in the anti-Hitler coalition, defeated Nazism. And we will not allow anyone to annex this victory, we will not allow it to be appropriated."
He added: "There are no shackles that can bind our free spirit. There is no occupier who can take root in our free land. There is no invader who can rule over our free people. Sooner or later we win." -
Putin accuses West of 'preparing an invasion on our land'
In a speech marking Russia's Victory Day, President Vladimir Putin has hailed the Soviet Union's "triumph" over Nazi Germany.
He says it was an "unprecedented feat of heroism" and that Russia must ensure the "horror of a global war will never be repeated".
But he hits out at NATO countries, saying Russia had tried "in vain" to compromise on security issues.
"NATO countries didn't want to hear us... this means that in reality they had quite different plans," he says.
He accuses it of "openly preparing another punitive operation" in Ukraine's Donbas region and says there is an "unacceptable threat to us right at our borders".He accuses the West of "preparing for the invasion of our land, including Crimea" - an area of Ukraine that was annexed by Russia in 2014.
The war on Ukraine was a "preventative strike against the aggressor", he says. -
He ends the speech with the words: "Glory to our glorious armed forces, for Russia, for victory! Hooray!"
There had been fears the Russian president could officially declare war on Ukraine - prompting a full mobilisation of reservists and allowing conscription - but Mr Putin did not go there. -
UK's Wallace says Putin 'mirroring fascism' of 77 years ago
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his generals are mirroring the fascism and tyranny of 77years ago and their invasion of Ukraine dishonours its military past, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said.
"Through the invasion of Ukraine, Putin and his inner circle of generals are now mirroring fascism and tyranny of 77 years ago, repeating the errors of the last century's totalitarian
Referring to Russian generals, Mr Wallace said: "For them and for Putin there can be no victory day, only dishonour and surely defeat in Ukraine."
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Putins victory day parade quotes:
On security guarantees demanded by Putin: "Despite disagreements in international relations, Russia has always advocated the creation of a system of equal and indivisible security, a system that is vital for the entire international community.
"In December last year, we proposed the conclusion of an agreement on security guarantees. Russia called on the West to enter an honest dialogue, in search of reasonable compromise solutions, to take each other's interests into account. It was all in vain."
"NATO countries did not want to listen to us, meaning that they in fact had entirely different plans, and we saw this. Openly, preparations were under way for another punitive operation in Donbas, the invasion of our historical lands, including Crimea.
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"In Kyiv, they announced the possible acquisition of nuclear weapons, the NATO bloc began actively taking military control of territories adjacent to ours. As such, an absolutely unacceptable threat to us was systematically created, and moreover directly on our borders.
"Everything indicated that a clash with the neo-Nazis, the Banderites [Ukrainian Nazi sympathisers], backed by the United States and their junior partners, was inevitable."
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On decision to launch 'special military operation': "We saw military infrastructure being ramped up, hundreds of military advisers working and regular deliveries of modern weapons from NATO. (The level of) danger was increasing every day. Russia preventively rebuffed the aggressor. It was necessary, timely and ... right. The decision of a sovereign, strong, independent country."
On eastern Ukraine: "Today, the volunteers of the Donbas, together with the soldiers of the Russian Army, are fighting on their own lands...
"I am now addressing our Armed Forces and the Donbas volunteers. You are fighting for the Motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War. So that there is no place in the world for executioners, punishers and Nazis."
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On military losses: "The death of each one of our soldiers and officers is our shared grief and an irreparable loss for their friends and relatives. The state, regions, companies and public organisations will do everything to care for and help these families. We will give special support to the children of dead and wounded comrades. A Presidential Decree on this was signed today."
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Invasion will fail - EU's Michel
European Council President Charles Michel says Russia will fail to "execute" Ukraine's "freedom" on a surprise trip to Odessa during which he is forced to take cover when missiles again strike the Black Sea city.
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On possible nuclear strike, Russia says - it's all in our military doctrine
Asked if Russia would rule out a preemptive tactical nuclear strike on Ukraine, Russia's deputy foreign minister said that a decision on the possible use of nuclear weapons was clearly set out in Russia's military doctrine, RIA reported.
"We have a military doctrine - everything is written there," Alexander Grushko was quoted by state news agency RIA as saying.
Russia's official military deployment principles allow for the use of nuclear weapons if they - or other types of weapons of mass destruction - are used against it, or if the Russian state faces an existential threat from conventional weapons.The decision to use Russia's vast nuclear arsenal, the biggest in the world, rests with the Russian president, currently Vladimir Putin.
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Ukraine death toll 'thousands higher' than reported - UN rights official
The head of the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine said that thousands more civilians had been killed in the country since the war began than its official toll of 3,381.
"We have been working on estimates, but all I can say for now is that it is thousands higher than the numbers we have currently given to you," Matilda Bogner, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, told a press briefing in Geneva, when asked about the total number of deaths and injuries.
"The big black hole is really Mariupol where it has been difficult for us to fully access and to get fully corroborated information," she added.
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Ukrainians forced into Russia, says Pentagon:
The Pentagon says it has seen indications that Ukrainians caught up in the invasion are being forcibly removed from their homeland and sent to Russia.
Kyiv has said some 1.2 million Ukrainians are being sent to Russia and placed in camps.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby calls the alleged actions "unconscionable" and "not the behaviour of a responsible power".
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Over 1,000 Ukraine fighters still in Azovstal plant: Kyiv
More than 1,000 Ukrainian troops, many of them injured, remained in the sprawling Azovstal steel works in the Russian-controlled port city of Mariupol.
"More than a thousand" Ukrainian soldiers remain in the plant, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, told AFP.
"Hundreds are injured. There are people with serious injuries who require urgent evacuation. The situation is deteriorating every day."
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Blinken says Russia launched cyber attacks to disrupt Ukraine during invasion
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia launched cyber attacks in late February against commercial satellite communications networks to disrupt Ukrainian command and control during Moscow's invasion of its neighbour.
Those actions had spillover impacts into other European countries, Mr Blinken said in a statement.The United States and its allies and partners are taking steps to defend against Russia's actions, Mr Blinken said.
The United States has developed new mechanisms to help Ukraine identify cyber threats and recover from cyber incidents, he said. -
Putin ready for 'prolonged conflict'
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not end the Ukraine war with the campaign in the eastern Donbas region, said US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, warning he could make a play for the breakaway region of Transnistria in Ukraine's neighbour to the west, Moldova.
"We assess President Putin is preparing for prolonged conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond the Donbas," Ms Haines told a Senate hearing.
She also said Mr Putin could order martial law in Russia to support his ambitions in Ukraine but will use nuclear weapons only if he considers Russia faces an "existential threat".
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