UKRAINE WRAP | Jailed Kremlin foe Navalny lambasts Putin's 'stupid war' in Ukraine

May 24 2022 - 16:48

Russia says it has completed demining of Azov Sea port of Mariupol

Russian forces have completed removing mines in the Azov Sea port of Mariupol, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.

Mines have been removed from the territory of the port and nearby waters, the ministry added in a statement. Russia said it had established full control of Mariupol last week after Ukrainian fighters surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steelworks where they had held out for many weeks.

Reuters

May 24 2022 - 16:41

Eighty-two percent of Ukrainians oppose territorial concessions: poll

Eighty-two percent of Ukrainians believe that Ukraine should not sign away any of its territories as part of a peace deal with Russia under any circumstances, according to a new survey by one of the country's top pollsters.

In the poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology between May 13-18 and released on Tuesday, 82% of respondents said they did not support territorial concessions, even if it prolonged the war and increased the threat to Ukraine's independence.

Ten percent of the 2,000 people surveyed found it acceptable for Ukraine to concede territory to achieve peace, while eight percent were undecided. According to the poll, 77% of Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territory opposed any land concessions.

Ukraine’s government has repeatedly stated that it does not intend to make any territorial concessions to Russia and has said it is not currently seeking a ceasefire despite calls from European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

In an interview with Reuters on Saturday, Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said that any ceasefire at present would simply delay further fighting.

Reuters

May 24 2022 - 16:34

Hungary's Orban says EU summit should not discuss oil sanctions next week

The EU's proposed new sanctions including an oil embargo against Russia should not be discussed at next week's summit of EU leaders, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote to the President of the European Council in a letter.

In the letter, dated May 23 and obtained by Reuters, Orban said it was unlikely a solution could be found by then, and that Hungary was not in a position to agree to the proposed EU sanctions until all outstanding issues are resolved.

Reuters

May 24 2022 - 13:44

Russia launches all-out assault to encircle Ukraine troops in east

Russian forces were launching an all-out assault to encircle Ukrainian troops in twin cities straddling a river in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, a battle which could determine the success or failure of Moscow's main campaign in the east.

Exactly three months after Russia invaded Ukraine, authorities in the second-largest city Kharkiv were expected to open the underground metro, where thousands of civilians had sought shelter for months under relentless bombardment.

The reopening is a symbol of Ukraine's biggest military success over the past few weeks: pushing Russian forces largely out of artillery range of Kharkiv, as they did from the capital Kyiv in March.

May 24 2022 - 13:00

Don't trade your security for economic profits, NATO tells countries

Western countries must not trade their security for economic profits, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Tuesday, referring to the debate over the use of Chinese technology in 5G networks and the Nord Stream 2 construction.

We must recognise that our economic choices have consequences for our security. Freedom is more important than free trade," Stoltenberg told business leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos.

"I am not arguing against trade with China but I am saying that for instance the control over 5G networks is of vital security importance," he said.

"We cannot say that in the interest of profits and free trade we just open up those networks also for suppliers that actually are not reliable when it comes to our security," Stoltenberg added. 

Reuters 

May 24 2022 - 12:35

Ukraine's banking sector increases losses as war rages

Ukraine's banking system posted a net loss of 7.4-billion hryvnias ($253m) in January-April, a rise from 0.16-billion hryvnias in January-March, as Russia pressed on with its military offensive, central bank data showed on Tuesday.

In April, banks had to transfer an additional 11.2-billion hryvnias of their earnings to reserves to cover possible future losses linked to the war. In March, banks transferred to reserves almost 15.8-billion hryvnias.

Russia's invasion on February 24 has harmed business activities, prevented many companies and individuals from servicing their loans and led to the banking system's first losses since 2017.

The central bank said the return on assets ratio of the banking system — an indicator of profitability — had worsened to minus 1.11% as of end-April from minus 0.03% as of end-March.

The central bank has said the war could cause Ukraine's economy to contract by at least one-third in 2022 and drive up inflation to over 20%.

Reuters 

May 24 2022 - 12:17

Russia releases Jehovah's Witness follower from prison

A Danish adherent of the Jehovah's Witnesses was released from a Russian prison on Tuesday after serving five years on extremism charges as part of Moscow's crackdown on the religious group, it said.

Dennis Christensen, a 49-year-old builder, was arrested at a prayer meeting in Oryol, 320km south of Moscow, in 2017. It was the first of dozens of arrests of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

Russia's supreme court banned the Jehovah's Witnesses as an extremist organisation in April 2017 and ordered it to disband nationwide.

The group has around 140,000 adherents in Russia, where the crackdown has seen dozens of adherents detained and hundreds face charges.

In its original ruling, the supreme court cited what it called the Jehovah's Witnesses' "propaganda of exclusivity" in ruling to ban the group and dissolve its organisations.

Christensen was sentenced to six years in prison in 2019, with two years deducted for time spent in pretrial detention. He ultimately served five years of his sentence.

The Jehovah's Witnesses, a pacifist Christian group based in the United States, have long come under suspicion in Russia, where the Orthodox Church is championed by President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian Orthodox Church has depicted the Jehovah's Witnesses as a dangerous foreign sect, allegations the group denies. 

Reuters 

May 24 2022 - 11:30

EU's von der Leyen says Russia is using food supplies as a weapon

 Russia is using food supplies as a weapon with global repercussions, acting the same way as it does in the energy sector, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the annual World Economic Forum held in Davos, she said "global cooperation" was the "antidote to Russia's blackmail."

"In Russian-occupied Ukraine, the Kremlin's army is confiscating grain stocks and machinery (...) And Russian warships in the Black Sea are blockading Ukrainian ships full of wheat and sunflower seeds," von der Leyen added.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine - and the West's attempt to isolate Moscow as punishment - have sent the price of grain, cooking oil, fertiliser and energy soaring.

The Kremlin said on Monday that is was the West that was responsible for the global food crisis by imposing the severest sanctions in modern history on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Reuters 

May 24 2022 - 11:15

Russia's Avtovaz will restart production in early June, RIA reports

Russia's top carmaker Avtovaz said it will resume production in early June, the RIA Novosti news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the company's new CEO.

The Lada-maker partially halted production in March due to a shortage of electronic parts, as the conflict in Ukraine and imposition of Western sanctions have disrupted Russian supply chains.

"At the beginning of next month we should launch production," RIA Novosti quoted CEO Maxim Sokolov as saying on Tuesday.

French auto giant Renault struck a deal last week to sell its majority stake in Avtovaz to a Russian science institute, reportedly for the symbolic sum of just one rouble, with a six-year option to buy it back.

Reuters 

May 24 2022 - 11:00

Jailed Kremlin foe Navalny lambasts Putin's 'stupid war' in Ukraine

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Tuesday lambasted President Vladimir Putin in a live court hearing, casting him as a madman who had started a "stupid war" in Ukraine based on lies.

"This is a stupid war which your Putin started," Navalny told an appeal court in Moscow via video link from a corrective penal colony.

"This war was built on lies."

"One madman has got his claws into Ukraine and I do not know what he wants to do with it - this crazy thief," Navalny said of Putin.

The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed Navalny's claims about Putin, who it says has won numerous fair elections in Russia since 2000 and remains by far the country's most popular politician.

Reuters 

May 24 2022 - 10:45

Sweden, Finland to attend the June NATO summit in Madrid, Spain's PM says

 Sweden and Finland will attend the NATO summit in Madrid next month, Spain's primer minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday during the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos.

Finland and Sweden said they have been spurred into joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, reversing generations of military non-alignment to bring about the biggest shakeup in European security in decades.

The NATO summit will be held in Madrid on June 28-30. 

Reuters 

May 24 2022 - 10:30

Russian diplomat in Switzerland says he resigns over Ukraine invasion

A Russian diplomat at the country's permanent mission at the United Nations in Geneva said on Monday he was leaving his post because of his disagreement with Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a rare political resignation over the war.

Boris Bondarev, a who identified himself on LinkedIn as a counsellor at Russia's permanent mission to the UN who worked on arms control, told Reuters: "I went to the mission like any other Monday morning and I forwarded my resignation letter and I walked out."

"I started to imagine this a few years ago but the scale of this disaster drove me to do it," he said, referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24.

May 24 2022 - 07:30

Mariupol's human toll: 'He was my only son'

Natalya Voloshina’s only son, Vladimir, was killed on March 26 as he was heading to the basement of the family's home in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. Ukraine and allies have accused Russian forces of targeting civilians, which Moscow denies.

May 24 2022 - 07:00

Cargoes of Russia's flagship crude oil at sea climb to record high

Some 62 million barrels of Russia's flagship Urals crude oil, a record amount, are sitting in vessels at sea, data from energy analytics firm Vortexa showed, as traders struggled to find buyers for the crude.

The United States and other countries have banned imports of Russian crude and oil products over its invasion of Ukraine, and others have avoided acquiring cargoes out of fear of future sanctions. The European Commission is considering an embargo of Russian oil.

The volume of Urals crude oil on the water is triple the pre-war average, Vortexa said, even as Russian seaborne oil exports fell to 6.7 million barrels per day (bpd) so far in May, down about 15% from the 7.9 bpd in February.

"The headline numbers, showing Russian exports are still relatively strong, don't tell the full story," said Houston-based energy strategist Clay Seigle. "Russian oil at sea is continuing to accumulate.

"The number of Urals cargoes at sea with no set destination is 15% of the total, also a new high, Seigle added.

Some of the oil could be in transit to undisclosed buyers, while others could be unsold cargoes.

Most barrels of Russian crude oil have headed to Asia, mainly India and China, while volumes to Europe have also ticked up ahead of a ban.

Reuters 

May 24 2022 - 06:30

Starbucks to exit Russia after nearly 15 years

Starbucks will exit Russia after nearly 15 years, the company said, joining a wave of American companies pulling out of the country in response to the war in Ukraine.

May 24 2022 - 06:00

Sanctions over Ukraine thwart Russians' travel plans

Russians are rethinking their summer travel plans abroad amid rising prices and fears of growing anti-Russian sentiment.

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