UKRAINE WRAP | 'War is good for business' as drive to arm Ukraine looms over French expo

June 13 2022 - 21:37

Ukraine exhumes seven bodies of people it says were killed by Russian forces

Ukrainian investigators exhumed seven bodies from makeshift graves in a forest near Kyiv on Monday and police said they were civilians who had been killed by Russian forces during their occupation of the area.

The bodies were found outside the village of Vorzel, less than 10 kilometres from the town of Bucha, where Kyiv alleges that Russian forces who occupied the area carried out systematic executions in an abortive attempt to capture the capital. Russia denies that.

"This is another sadistic crime of the Russian army in the Kyiv region," Kyiv region's police chief, Andriy Nyebytov, said on Facebook. One of the exhumed bodies was that of a man around 40 years old in plain clothes, Nyebytov told Reuters at the site of the graves.

"He has two injuries. He was shot in the knee with a gun. The second shot was into his temple," he said.

Russia's defence ministry did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment. Investigators said it would take time to clearly identify the bodies because they had decomposed.

Ukraine says mass graves were found in April containing more than 400 bodies.

Russian officials have dismissed the mass graves in Bucha as a "fabrication" staged by Ukrainian authorities after Russian forces left the town at the end of March. Russia says it does not target civilians in what it calls a "special military operation".

-Reuters

June 13 2022 - 19:33

'War is good for business' as drive to arm Ukraine looms over French expo

Next to Ukraine's stand at the world's largest arms fair for ground forces on Monday, US manufacturer Lockheed Martin proudly displays its anti-tank Javelin missile like a big brother protecting its younger sibling.

The weapon has been key to Kyiv's defence against Moscow's invasion, and as France hosted the annual Eurosatory arms bazaar, the symbolism was not lost on some of the thousands of people who make, buy and use advanced weapons.

June 13 2022 - 19:08

All bridges to Ukraine's Sievierodontesk destroyed but "access" remains- governor

All bridges to Ukraine's embattled eastern frontline city of Sievierodonetsk have been destroyed, rendering impossible the evacuation of civilians remaining there, the local governor said on Monday, adding that some "access" to the city remained.

Governor Serhiy Gaidai wrote on the Telegram app that Russia had not taken full control of the city, and that "a part" of it remained under Ukrainian control.

-Reuters

June 13 2022 - 16:09

Lithuania seeks to decouple from Russian power grid in 2024, a year ahead of schedule

Lithuania seeks to decouple from the Russian power grid in 2024, a year ahead of schedule, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Monday.

"Let's not leave any opportunities for the aggressor to use energy as a tool of political manipulation", Nauseda was quoted as saying in a statement released after his meeting with EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson in Vilnius.

"The fastest possible coupling to the European electricity grid would increase the energy security of the Baltic States and the European Union as a whole", Nauseda said.

-Reuters

June 13 2022 - 15:00

Russia becomes India's second biggest oil exporter, trade sources

Russia rose to become India's second biggest supplier of oil in May, pushing Saudi Arabia into third place but still behind Iraq which remains No. 1, data from trade sources showed.

In May Indian refiners received about 819,000 barrels per day (bpd) Russian oil, the highest thus far in any month, compared to about 277,00 in April, the data showed.

Western sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine prompted many oil importers to shun trade with Moscow, pushing spot prices for Russian crude to record discounts against other grades. That provided Indian refiners, which rarely used to buy Russian oil due to high freight costs, an opportunity to snap up low-priced crude.

Russian grades accounted for about 16.5% of India's overall oil imports in May, and helped raise the share of oil from the C.I.S. countries to about 20.5%, while that from the Middle East declined to about 59.5% %, the data showed. The share of African oil in India's crude imports last month surged to 11.5% from 5.9% in April, the data showed.

"Diesel is calling the tune ... if you want to boost production of diesel and jet fuel then you need Nigerian and Angolan grades. China has cut imports of Angolan grades because of Covid-related shutdowns so some of these barrels are going to Europe and some to India," said Ehsan Ul Haq, analyst with Refinitiv.

He said apart from availability of cheaper Russian barrels, higher official selling prices of Middle Eastern oil also pushed Indian refiners to buy Nigerian crude.

India's oil imports in May totalled 4.98 million bpd, the highest since December 2020, as state refiners raised output to meet growing local demand while private refiners turned focus to gain from exports, the data showed.

India's oil imports in May were about 5.6% up from the previous month and about 19% from a year earlier, the data obtained from sources showed.

India has defended its purchase of "cheap" Russian oil saying imports from Moscow made only a fraction of the country's overall needs and a sudden stop would drive up costs for its consumers.

Higher oil imports from Russia, curbed OPEC's share in India's overall imports to 65% in April.

Reuters 

June 13 2022 - 14:45

Moroccan sentenced to death in Donetsk has Ukrainian nationality, not a mercenary - father

The father of a Moroccan man sentenced to death by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) on mercenary charges said his son should be treated as a prisoner of war as he is a Ukrainian national who handed himself in voluntarily.

Morocco-born Brahim Saadoun and Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner were found guilty of "mercenary activities and committing actions aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order" of the DPR, Russian media said last week.

The three men were captured while fighting for Ukraine against Russia and Russian-backed forces.

The Moroccan fighter received Ukrainian nationality in 2020 after undergoing a year of military training as a requirement to access aerospace technology studies at a university in Kiev, his father Tahar Saadoun said in an email to Reuters.

He handed himself in "voluntarily" and should be treated as a "prisoner of war", the father said.

The sentence will be appealed, he said.

"We as a family suffer from the absence of contact with the lawyer to exchange legal information and this adds to our ordeal," he said.

Reuters 

June 13 2022 - 13:00

Illegal entries into EU from Western Balkans more than doubled in May - Frontex

The European Union in May registered a steep rise of illegal entries from the Western Balkans into the 27-nation bloc, the EU border agency Frontex said on Monday.

"In May, the number of irregular migrants detected in the region more than doubled to 12,088," Frontex said in a statement, adding that the main countries of origin were Syria and Afghanistan.

Between January and May 2022, Frontex recorded 40,675 illegal crossings overall on the Western Balkans route, nearly three times the figure from the same period the previous year.

The Western Balkans route thus accounted for almost half the total number of the 86,420 illegal crossings at the EU's borders in the period, Frontex said.

The agency did not give a reason for the surge but added that most of the people detected had been in the Western Balkans for some time before seeking to enter the EU.

People fleeing the war in Ukraine are not included in these figures, Frontex said.

The agency noted that according to its latest data more than 5.5 million Ukrainians have entered the EU since Russia launched its invasion in February, an action that Moscow describes as "special military operation".

Reuters 

June 13 2022 - 12:00

Dutch economic growth grinds to halt as energy prices soar - central bank

Economic growth in the Netherlands will come to a halt for most of the year as energy prices and overall inflation soar due to Russia's war in Ukraine, the Dutch central bank (DNB) said on Monday.

Growth of the euro zone's fifth largest economy will slow to 2.8% this year and 1.5% in 2023, the DNB said, down from 5% in 2021, and slower than the central bank's previous projection of 3.6% for 2022.

The headline growth predicted for 2022 also paints a rosy picture as it is purely a statistical result of the strong post-Covid recovery at the end of last year, DNB said.

"Growth has come to a halt already and will stay around zero until the last three months of the year," DNB director Olaf Sleijpen told reporters.

Growth is expected to pick up at the end of 2022, but only if energy prices are past their peak by then.

Inflation in that scenario would peak at 8.7% this year and would drop to 3.9% and 2.4% in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

DNB, however, also presented a bleaker scenario in which Russia continues its war in Ukraine until at least the end of 2023 and decides to halt all energy supplies to Europe by next month.

In that case, the Dutch economy would only grow 0.4% this year and would shrink 1.5% in 2023, while inflation would run up to almost 11% this year and 5.5% in 2023.

Reuters 

June 13 2022 - 11:45

Algeria is increasingly aligned with Russia, Spanish minister says

Algeria's decision to suspend a friendship treaty with Spain last week was not surprising because Algiers is increasingly aligning itself with Russia, Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said on Monday.

Calvino said she had noticed a growing rapprochement between Algeria and Russia at the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund in April.

"I saw back then that Algeria was more and more aligned with Russia, so this (decision to suspend the treaty) didn't surprise me," Calvino said in an interview with Radio Catalunya.

The diplomatic row between the two countries followed a change of stance by Spain over Western Sahara, a territory Morocco claims while Algeria supports a group that seeks its independence.

Spain is also a member of the European Union and the NATO military alliance, both in the forefront of international opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

After Algeria's decision, Madrid has tried to convince the North African country to backtrack.

"I hope that Algeria will reconsider its position and the statements it has made," Calvino told reporters in Barcelona.

Algeria is one of Spain's main suppliers of gas and Spain has said it will firmly defend its national interests and those of its citizens and companies.

Calvino reiterated on Monday that the gas supplies continue normally and was confident there would be no disruption.

Reuters 

June 13 2022 - 10:00

Ukraine likely to import 600,000 tonnes of fuel in June - economy minister

Ukraine imported about 380,000 tonnes of fuel in May, and is likely to import about 600,000 tonnes in June, Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Monday.

Ukrainian officials have sought ways to cover consumption since Russian forces started attacking fuel depots and other facilities following its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Reuters 

June 13 2022 - 09:20

What next? Ukraine's allies divided over Russia endgame

Is it better to engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine or to isolate him? Should Kyiv make concessions to end the war, or would that embolden the Kremlin? Are ramped up sanctions on Russia worth the collateral damage?

These are some of the questions testing the international alliance that swiftly rallied around Ukraine in the days after the Russian invasion but that, three months into the war, is straining, officials and diplomats told Reuters.

June 13 2022 - 06:30

Ukraine fighters' bodies still in Mariupol: ex-commander

A former commander of Ukraine's Azov National Guard regiment said the bodies of 220 fighters from the Azovstal steelworks have been returned in an exchange with Russia, but that ‘just as many remain’.

June 13 2022 - 06:15

Wife of Russian journalist against invasion jailed in Russia speaks out

CNN's Brian Stelter speaks with Evgenia Kara-Murza, the wife of imprisoned Russian journalist and former politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, who's currently facing up to 15 years in prison for speaking out against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

June 13 2022 - 06:00

Canada decries official's visit to Russian embassy event

It was "unacceptable" for a Canadian official to have attended Russia Day celebrations at the country's embassy in Canada, foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly said on Sunday.

A deputy protocol chief in Canada's global affairs department, Yasemin Heinbecker, attended Friday's event, along with representatives of Egypt, Pakistan and some African nations, the Globe and Mail newspaper said in a report ."No Canadian representative should have attended the event hosted at the Russian embassy and no Canadian representative will attend this kind of event again," Joly said in a Twitter post .Joly also reiterated Canada's support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion, which Moscow calls a "special military operation".

Since the conflict began on Feb. 24, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 1,000 individuals and bodies with ties to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. 

Reuters