Amid the ongoing crisis, NATO’s chief warned that the war in Ukraine could last “for years” as President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed on Sunday that his forces would not give up the south of the country to Russia after his first visit to the frontline there.
Mr. Zelensky, after making a trip to the Black Sea-city of Mykolaiv and the Odessa region on Saturday, said, “We will not give away the south to anyone, we will return everything that’s ours and the sea will be Ukrainian and safe.”
In a rare trip, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 18 paid a visit to war-damaged southern city of Mykolaiv for the first time since the Russian invasion. As per the video released by Mr. Zelensky's office, the President can be seen looking at a badly damaged high-rise residential building in the city and holding a meeting with local officials.
Russia threatens to retaliate as Lithuania bans rail transit to Kaliningrad
Russia on Monday demanded the immediate lifting of Lithuania’s “openly hostile” restrictions on the rail transit of EU-sanctioned goods to Moscow’s exclave of Kaliningrad that borders Lithuania and Poland.
Moscow accused the Baltic nation of banning the rail transit of goods subject to sanctions imposed by the European Union over Russia’s miliary campaign in Ukraine. -AFP
‘It’s just hell there’: Russia still pounds eastern Ukraine
Russia’s military kept on grinding down Ukraine’s defenses Monday, with combat in eastern areas said to be entering a “decisive” phase, as the war’s consequences for food and fuel supplies increasingly weighed on minds around the globe.
In Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, which in recent weeks has become the focal point of Moscow’s attempt to impose its will on its neighbor, battles raged for the control of multiple villages, the local governor said.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said the Kremlin had ordered the Russian military to overrun the entire Luhansk region by next Sunday. Currently, Moscow’s forces control about 95% of the region. -AP
Hungary offers possible route for Ukraine grain exports, minister says
Hungary has offered its territory as a possible route for Ukrainian grain exports due to the disruption of usual routes via the Black Sea caused by Russia’s invasion, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday.
Ukraine is usually a major global grain and oilseed grower, but its exports have fallen sharply since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24. Because of a Russian blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, Kyiv is trying to export by road, river and rail.
The fall in production and in exports has stoked fears of a global food crisis and the war, together with Western sanctions against Russia, has sent the price of grain, cooking oil, fertiliser and energy soaring -Reuters
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Russia to ‘intensify’ fighting, Zelensky warns as EU decision looms
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was likely to intensify its "hostile activity" this week, as Kyiv awaits a historic decision from the European Union on its membership application.
Nearly three months after Russia launched a bloody invasion of his country, Mr. Zelensky said there had been "few such fateful decisions for Ukraine" as the one it expects from the EU this week.
"Only a positive decision is in the interests of the whole of Europe," the President said in his evening address on Sunday.
"Obviously, we expect Russia to intensify hostile activity this week ... We are preparing. We are ready," Mr. Zelensky continued.- AP
Zelenskyy Father’s Day post spotlights family ties amid war
In an uplifting Father’s Day message on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted 10 photos of parents and children set against the grim backdrop of war, praising fathers who “protect and defend the most precious.” There are scenes of childbirth, as a man and woman look toward a swaddled baby in what appears to be a hospital room where the spackled walls show scars of fighting. In another, a man lifts a child over a fence toward a woman with outstretched arms on a train platform.
“Being a father is a great responsibility and a great happiness,” Mr. Zelensky wrote in English text that followed the Ukrainian on Instagram. “It is strength, wisdom, motivation to go forward and not to give up.” He urged his nation’s fighters to endure for the “future of your family, your children, and therefore the whole of Ukraine.” The President’s message came as four months of war in Ukraine appear to be straining the morale of troops on both sides, prompting desertions and rebellion against officers’ orders.- AP
Four months into war, more Ukrainians decide to flee besieged areas
With Russia’s intense pummelling of the broader Donbas area, which is comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk’s regions in Ukraine’s east and south, for some there the World Refugee Day on Monday will be a day when they fled their home.
Since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, the United Nations estimates that more than one-third of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes, with seven million displaced internally and more than five million fleeing the country.
And while some Ukrainian refugees have since returned home after Russian forces have focused efforts away from the capital Kyiv and onto trying to take complete control of Donbas, a growing number of families in that region have decided to flee.- Reuters
Russian journalist sells Nobel Prize for Ukrainian children
What's the price of peace? That question could be partially answered on Monday night when Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov auctions off his Nobel Peace Prize medal. The proceeds will go directly to UNICEF in its efforts to help children displaced by the war in Ukraine.
It was Mr. Muratov's idea to auction off his prize, having already announced he was donating the accompanying $500,000 cash award to charity. The idea of the donation, he said, “is to give the children refugees a chance for a future.” In an interview with The Associated Press, Mr. Muratov said he was particularly concerned about children who have been orphaned because of the conflict in Ukraine.- AP
Ukraine says lost control of Severodonetsk village
Ukraine said on Monday it had lost control of a village adjacent to the eastern industrial city of Severodonetsk, the centre of weeks of fierce fighting with invading Russian troops.
"Unfortunately, we do not control Metyolkine anymore. And the enemy continues to build up its reserves," the Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said in a statement on social media.
Russia's capture of the hamlet with a pre-war population of around 1,000 people, is the latest around Severodonetsk, where Moscow's army has met tough Ukrainian resistance.- AFP
Russia blocking Ukraine grain exports a ‘real war crime’: EU’s Borrell
EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said Monday that Russia should be held “accountable” if it kept on blocking the export of vitally needed grain from Ukraine.
“One cannot imagine that millions of tonnes of wheat remain blocked in Ukraine while in the rest of the world people are suffering hunger. This is a real war crime,” Mr. Borrell said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers.- AFP
Ukrainian refugee influx could ease euro zone labour shortage: ECB
The influx of Ukrainian refugees into the European Union could gradually ease labour shortages in the euro zone as some of those fleeing the war are likely to settle permanently, the European Central Bank said on Monday.
Around seven million people, mostly women and children, have fled Ukraine so far since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24, and more are leaving each day, with many hoping to find durable employment opportunities in the 27-nation EU.- Reuters
