Jan 14 (Reuters) – Russia said on Friday its forces had taken control of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, in what would be a rare success for Moscow after months of battlefield reverses, but Kyiv said its troops were still fighting in the town.
FIGHTING
* President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces continued to fight in Soledar, a small salt-mining town, and other cities in the Donetsk region.
* Reuters could not verify the accounts.
* CNN said reporters outside Soledar could hear mortar and rocket fire on Friday afternoon and saw Ukrainian forces ferrying troops in what appeared to be an organised pullback.
* Ultra-nationalist mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose Wagner Group includes prisoners promised pardons for service, complained after Russia’s military took credit for Soledar without mentioning his fighters.
ARMS
* Finland joined Poland in saying it could send German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of a Western coalition apparently being put together to supply them.
* France hopes to deliver “AMX 10-RC” light combat tanks to Ukraine in two months, said armed forces minister Sebastien Lecornu.
* Belarus may enter the conflict, a Russian foreign ministry official said. Russia used Belarus as a springboard to invade Ukraine in February, but the border area is now heavily waterlogged, making an imminent attack from there unlikely. 4pm
DIPLOMACY, ECONOMY
* Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, after meeting U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington, stressed the importance of standing up to Russia’s invasion, saying that if a unilateral change to the status quo went unchallenged, the same would happen elsewhere, including in Asia – an apparent reference to China’s vow to reunite with self-ruled Taiwan, by force if necessary.
* Russia is becoming too dependent on oil revenues to support its budget as it ramps up military spending, economists said, warning that the government may have to raise taxes if crude prices fail to meet expectations this year.
* A close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested confiscating property and assets of Russians who discredit the armed forces and oppose the war in Ukraine.
* At least four Chinese-owned supertankers are shipping Russian Urals crude to China, according to trading sources and tracking data, as Moscow seeks vessels for exports after a G7 oil price cap restricted the use of Western cargo services and insurance.
Compiled by Grant McCool and William Mallard
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Jan 4 (Reuters) – Russia’s defence ministry blamed the illegal use of mobile phones for a deadly Ukrainian missile strike that killed 89 servicemen, raising the reported death toll significantly.
DIPLOMACY
* Some protesters in Germany are calling on Berlin to reconsider its support for Ukraine, tapping into deep connections from the legacy of Soviet ties to Communist east Germany and decades of German dependency on Russian gas.
* French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed that Ukraine “needs our support more than ever”. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also said Ukraine can count on long-term support.
* Young acrobats from circus schools across Ukraine dazzled audiences in Budapest at a circus festival to showcase the talents of children forced by the war to train underground or without electricity.
[1/3] People take part in a ceremony in memory of Russian soldiers killed in the course of Russia-Ukraine military conflict, the day after Russia’s Defence Ministry stated that 63 Russian servicemen were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on their temporary accommodation in Makiivka (Makeyevka) in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine, in Glory Square in Samara, Russia, January 3, 2023. REUTERS/Albert Dzen
* Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to talk to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.
FIGHTING
* Russia’s defence ministry said that 89 servicemen were killed in the Ukrainian attack on Makiivka in the Moscow-controlled parts of the Donetsk region, adding the main reason for the attack was unauthorised use of mobile phones by the troops.
* A little known patriotic group which supports the widows of Russian soldiers has called on President Vladimir Putin to order a large-scale mobilisation of millions of men and to close the borders to ensure victory in Ukraine.
* A Russian missile attack destroyed an ice arena in the town of Druzhkivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Ukraine’s ice hockey federation said, following earlier reports of a missile hitting the town and injuring two people.
* Combing the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, volunteers have made it their mission to search for bodies of fallen soldiers and return them to families.
Compiled by Cynthia Osterman
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Dec 13 (Reuters) – Global economic powers pledged to beef up Kyiv’s military capabilities with a focus on air defence, as Russian missiles, artillery and drones hammered targets in Ukraine with no end in sight to Europe’s biggest conflict since World War Two.
DIPLOMATIC FLURRY
* Ukraine’s allies will meet in Paris on Tuesday to provide urgent aid to help the country get through winter.
* White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the United States would have engagement with Russia this week.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will hold talks to discuss the events of 2022 in late December, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported.
* The Group of Seven (G7) economic powers said they would keep working together to bolster Ukraine’s military capabilities, with an immediate focus on air defence systems, according to a leaders’ statement released by Britain.
* European Union foreign ministers agreed to put another 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) into a fund that has been used to pay for military support for Ukraine. They will also try to agree further sanctions on Russia and Iran.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed the G7, asking allies for natural gas for winter heating and long-range weapons. He also sought support for his idea of convening a special Global Peace Summit.
[1/6] An emergencies ministry member walks at a local market hit by shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, December 12, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
CONFLICT
* Ukraine’s General Staff said Russian artillery had hammered nearly 20 front-line settlements around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Moscow seeks to capture but which is now largely in ruins due to incessant bombardment.
* At least two people were killed and five wounded in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson after what the regional governor said was “massive shelling” by Russian forces.
* Ukraine’s Emergency Measures service said three explosives experts had been killed and two seriously injured on Monday during demining operations in the town of Kostyantynivka – near the major town of Kramatorsk – in Donetsk region.
* Reuters could not independently verify the reports of the attacks or deaths.
* Russia is turning to decades-old ammunition with high failure rates, a senior U.S. military official said.
* A Russian-appointed deputy governor of Ukraine’s Kherson region, Vitaly Bulyuk, was injured when his car exploded, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
* The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council said he expected another wave of refugees from Ukraine in Europe over the winter, because of “unliveable” conditions.
Compiled by Frank Jack Daniel and Stephen Coates; Editing by Bradley Perrett
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Nov 3 (Reuters) – Russian forces are likely to abandon their foothold on the west bank of Ukraine’s Dnipro River, a Russian-installed occupation official said, signalling a massive Russian retreat that, if confirmed, would be a major turning point in the war.
FIGHTING
* Russian attacks were reported across large areas of Ukraine, damaging infrastructure, Ukrainian officials said.
* Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has again been disconnected from the power grid after Russian shelling damaged the remaining high voltage lines, leaving it with just diesel generators, Ukraine nuclear firm Energoatom said.
* Ukrainian forces have destroyed 278 Russian aircraft during eight months of fighting, more than twice as many as the Soviet Union lost in its 1979-89 military intervention in Afghanistan, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief said.
* The streets and boulevards of the Russian-held port of Kherson are virtually empty. Many shops and businesses have been closed. Evacuations have picked up as Ukrainian forces have advanced to the north and east of the strategic city.
GRAIN DEAL
* The Russian delegation resumed work at the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) that runs the Black Sea grain deal operations in Istanbul and joined vessel inspections on Thursday, the U.N. Secretariat at the centre said. Russia said on Wednesday it would resume its participation in a deal to free up vital grain exports from Ukraine, after suspending it over the weekend, saying it had received guarantees from Ukraine that it would not use the Black Sea grain corridor for military operations against Russia.
* Ukraine said it had made no commitments to Russia that go beyond the terms of the Black Sea Grains Initiative agreed in July to persuade Moscow to resume its participation in the deal.
* Moscow urged the United Nations to help fulfil the parts of the deal intended to ease Russia’s food and fertiliser exports.
DIPLOMACY
* Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it had delivered a protest to the British ambassador after summoning her over its allegation that British specialists had been involved in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea..
* Foreign ministers from the G7 group of rich democracies were discussing how best to coordinate further support for Ukraine at a meeting in Germany.
* G20 summit host Indonesia is waiting to see if Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend, Indonesia’s foreign minister said, adding that differences over Ukraine had made preparations for the meeting particularly fraught.
QUOTE
“The entire front line is subject to constant shelling around the clock,” Donetsk region Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, told Ukrainian television.
“There is practically not a single dwelling that hasn’t been damaged in Avdiivka, in Maryinka, in Krasnohorivka. Selydove, even closer to the front line, took a direct hit this week. The enemy’s strategy of artillery strikes tactic is to destroy these towns and wipe then off the face of the Earth. Nothing else works for them.”
Compiled by Angus MacSwan and Lincoln Feast; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Simon Cameron-Moore
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Firefighters work at a site of a thermal power plant damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine September 11, 2022. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS
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Sept 12 (Reuters) – Ukrainian forces swept deeper into territory seized from fleeing Russian troops on Monday, as joyful residents returned to former frontline villages and Moscow grappled with the consequences of the collapse of its occupation force in northeastern Ukraine. read more
FIGHTING
* Ukrainian forces have advanced north from Kharkiv to within 50 km (30 miles) of the border with Russia and are also pressing to the south and east in the same region, Ukrainian chief commander General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said.
* Zaluzhnyi said Ukraine had retaken more than 3,000 sq km (1,160 sq miles) this month.
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* Ukraine’s general staff said its forces had recaptured more than 20 towns and villages in just the past day.
*At least 1,000 people have been killed in the last six months in fighting in the city of Izium but the real figure is probably much higher, an official said, two days after Kyiv’s forces recaptured the major supply hub.
* Britain’s defence ministry said Russia had probably ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the entire occupied Kharkiv region west of the Oskil River. read more (https://bit.ly/3xfp2lf)
* The Kremlin said it saw no prospect of peace talks and that what it calls the special military operation in Ukraine would achieve its goals.
* Russian nationalists called angrily for immediate changes by President Vladimir Putin to ensure ultimate victory in the Ukraine war, after Moscow was forced to abandon Izium. read more
* Commentators on Russian state television have been forced to go off script by Ukrainian forces’ swift advance in the country’s Kharkiv region and Moscow’s rapid retreat. read more
* Faced with one of its worst defeats in nearly seven months of war, the Kremlin insisted it would achieve its military goals and President Vladimir Putin maintained an air of business as usual as he chaired a meeting on the economy. read more
* Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.
NUCLEAR PLANT
* Operations at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have been fully stopped as a safety measure, its state operator said. The move followed restoration of the backup power line allowing the plant to be connected to Ukraine’s electricity grid. read more
* The IAEA nuclear watchdog confirmed the restoration, allowing the plant to draw power from the grid to cool its reactors.
* The presidents of Russia and France held talks about plant safety, with Putin blaming Ukrainian forces, while Emmanuel Macron pointed the finger at Russian troops. read more
* Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, said Russian attacks had hit Kharkiv’s CHPP-5 electricity station, one of the country’s largest.
* Ukraine and Russia are interested in the U.N. atomic watchdog’s proposal that a protection zone be created around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the watchdog’s chief Rafael Grossi said, describing it as a ceasefire. read more
DIPLOMACY, TRADE
* Indonesian President Joko Widodo is considering joining India and China in buying Russian oil to offset the growing pressure of rising energy costs, the Financial Times said. read more
* The International Monetary Fund is looking for ways to provide emergency funding to countries facing war-induced food price shocks, sources told Reuters. read more
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Compiled by Lincoln Feast and Shri Navaratnam; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Frank Jack Daniel
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Aug 12 (Reuters) – Here are reactions to Friday’s attack on novelist Salman Rushdie. read more
SUZANNE NOSSEL, CEO OF FREE EXPRESSION ORGANIZATION PEN AMERICA:
“We can think of no comparable incident of a public attack on a literary writer on American soil. Just hours before the attack, on Friday morning, Salman had emailed me to help with placements for Ukrainian writers in need of safe refuge from the grave perils they face. Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades but has never flinched nor faltered. He has devoted tireless energy to assisting others who are vulnerable and menaced. While we do not know the origins or motives of this attack, all those around the world who have met words with violence or called for the same are culpable for legitimizing this assault on a writer while he was engaged in his essential work of connecting to readers. Our thoughts and passions now lie with our dauntless Salman, wishing him a full and speedy recovery.”
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NORWEGIAN PUBLISHER WILLIAM NYGAARD, WHO WAS SHOT AND SEVERELY WOUNDED IN 1993 AFTER PUBLISHING RUSHDIE’S WORK:
“Rushdie has paid a high price. He is a leading author who has meant so much to literature, and he had found a good life in the United States.”
NOVELIST IAN MCEWAN:
“This appalling attack on my dear friend Salman represents an assault on freedom of thought and speech. These are the freedoms that underpin all our rights and liberties. Salman has been an inspirational defender of persecuted writers and journalists across the world. He is a fiery and generous spirit, a man of immense talent and courage and he will not be deterred.”
PLAYWRIGHT BONNIE GREER:
“I don’t know why this happened to Salman Rushdie or actually WHAT happened. But it brings back the memory of terrible days and years when-if you were a writer-you could be condemned to DEATH…for a book. For a book…”
WRITER AND DIRECTOR RAJA SEN:
“Come on, Salman Rushdie. We need you now more than ever.”
PEN INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT BURHAN SONMEZ:
“PEN International utterly condemns the brutal attack on Salman Rushdie. Salman is an esteemed and celebrated author and beloved member of the PEN community, who has been facing threats for his work for years. No one should be targeted, let alone attacked, for peacefully expressing their views. We wish our dear friend a speedy recovery. Our thoughts are with him and his family.”
UK HOME SECRETARY PRITI PATEL:
“Shocked and appalled to hear of the unprovoked and senseless attack on Sir Salman Rushdie. Freedom of expression is a value we hold dear and attempts to undermine it must not be tolerated. My thoughts are with Sir Salman and his family.”
British author Salman Rushdie listens during an interview with Reuters in London April 15, 2008. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo
UK PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON:
“Appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend. Right now my thoughts are with his loved ones. We are all hoping he is okay.”
AUTHOR TASLIMA NASREEN, WHO FLED HER NATIVE BANGLADESH AFTER A COURT SAID SHE HAD HURT MUSLIMS’ RELIGIOUS FEELING WITH HER NOVEL ‘LAJJA’ (‘SHAME’):
“I just learned that Salman Rushdie was attacked in New York. I am really shocked. I never thought it would happen. He has been living in the West, and he has been protected since 1989. If he is attacked, anyone who is critical of Islam can be attacked. I am worried.”
AUTHOR KHALED HOSSEINI:
“I’m utterly horrified by the cowardly attack on Salman Rushdie. I pray for his recovery. He is an essential voice and cannot be silenced.”
U.S. SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER OF NEW YORK:
“This attack is shocking and appalling. It is an attack on freedom of speech and thought, which are two bedrock values of our country and of the Chautauqua Institution.”
“I hope Mr. Rushdie quickly and fully recovers and the perpetrator experiences full accountability and justice.”
AUTHOR AMITAV GHOSH:
“Horrified to learn that Salman Rushdie has been attacked at a speaking event in upstate New York. Wish him a speedy recovery.”
NEW YORK GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL:
“Here is an individual who has spent decades speaking truth to power. Someone who’s been out there unafraid, despite the threats that have followed him his entire adult life, it seems. And it happened at a site that is a place that’s very familiar to me, a very tranquil, rural community known as Chautauqua, Chautauqua institution, where the most preeminent speakers and thought leaders and politicians and justices and everyone come together to have the free expression of thought. So this is a place ideal, ideally suited for him to be able to speak. … Our thoughts are with Salman & his loved ones following this horrific event.”
BRITISH CULTURE MINISTER NADINE DORRIES:
“Horrifying. An awful attack on a literary giant and one of the great defenders of freedom of expression. Thoughts with @SalmanRushdie and his loved ones.”
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Reporting by Randi Love; Editing by Donna Bryson, Howard Goller and Daniel Wallis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) – Public figures across the political spectrum reacted to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Friday overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that recognized a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion and legalized it nationwide. read more
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN IN A LIVE ANNOUNCEMENT:
“Today the Supreme Court of the United States expressly took away a constitutional right from the American people that it had already recognized.”
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“This is a sad day for the country in my view. But it doesn’t mean the fight’s over. Let me be very clear and unambiguous: the only way we can secure a woman’s right to choose a balance that exists is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade as federal law.”
“Voters need to make their voices heard. This fall (they) must elect more senators and representatives who will codify a woman’s right to choose into federal law once again.”
“I’ve warned about how this decision risks the broader right to privacy for everyone … The right to make the best decisions for your health. The right to use birth control, a married couple in the privacy of their bedroom.”
STEPHANE DUJARRIC, SPOKESMAN FOR U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES
“Sexual and reproductive health and rights are the foundation of a life of choice, empowerment and equality for the world’s women and girls … Restricting access to abortion does not prevent people from seeking abortion, it only makes it more deadly.”
HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, A DEMOCRAT, IN A STATEMENT:
“This cruel ruling is outrageous and heart-wrenching. But make no mistake: the rights of women and all Americans are on the ballot this November.”
SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL IN A STATEMENT:
“This is an historic victory for the Constitution and for the most vulnerable in our society.”
(The decision is) “courageous and correct.”
PLANNED PARENTHOOD:
“SCOTUS may have just ended our constitutional right to abortion, but know this: Abortion is health care, and you deserve to control your body and your future, no matter what. That hasn’t changed. We can’t and we won’t back down now.”
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) DIRECTOR-GENERAL TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, TO REUTERS:
“I am very disappointed, because women’s rights must be protected. And I would have expected America to protect such rights.”
REPUBLICAN FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:
“This is following the Constitution, and giving rights back when they should have been given long ago … This brings everything back to the states where it has always belonged.”
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks after the the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Dobbs v Women’s Health Organization abortion case, overturning the landmark Roe v Wade abortion decision, at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 24, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
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FORMER VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE IN A STATEMENT:
“Today, Life Won. By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court of the United States has given the American people a new beginning for life, and I commend the justices in the majority for having the courage of their convictions.
DEMOCRATIC FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
“Today, the Supreme Court not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent, it relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues -attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans.”
FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON:
“Most Americans believe the decision to have a child is one of the most sacred decisions there is, and that such decisions should remain between patients and their doctors. Today’s Supreme Court opinion will live in infamy as a step backward for women’s rights and human rights.”
FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON, ON TWITTER:
“Abortion is a fundamental right for all women. We must protect it. I would like to express my solidarity with all those women whose freedoms have today been compromised by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU ON TWITTER:
“The news coming out of the United States is horrific. My heart goes out to the millions of American women who are now set to lose their legal right to an abortion … No government, politician, or man should tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body.”
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON AT A NEWS CONFERENCE:
“I think it’s a big step backwards … I’ve always believed in a woman’s right to choose and I stick to that view and that is why the UK has the laws that it does.”
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN DICK DURBIN, IN A STATEMENT:
“I will keep fighting to enshrine into law a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices. We cannot let our children inherit a nation that is less free and more dangerous than the one their parents grew up in.”
KEVIN MCCARTHY, STEVE SCALISE AND ELISE STEFANIK, THE TOP THREE REPUBLICANS IN THE U.S. HOUSE, IN A JOINT STATEMENT:
“We applaud this historic ruling, which will save countless innocent lives. The Supreme Court is right to return the power to protect the unborn to the people’s elected representatives in Congress and the states.”
MINI TIMMARAJU, PRESIDENT OF NARAL PRO-CHOICE AMERICA:
“The impact on the real lives of real people will be devastating … Though we’re grieving the end of the constitutional right to abortion in our country and what it will mean for all of those who need access to care, this fight is far from over.”
PENNY YOUNG NANCE, CEO AND PRESIDENT OF ANTI-ABORTION GROUP CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA:
“We feel empowered to go on a state-by-state basis and fight for what we believe in. Before we couldn’t even have a conversation in state legislatures … Certainly the federal government has a role to play but this is going to be about the states.”
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Reporting by David Morgan, Timothy Ahmann, David Morgan, Doina Chiacu, Chris Gallagher, Rose Horowitch and Susan Heavey in Washington, Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, and Ayenat Mersie and Andrew MacAskill in Kigali; Compiled by Chris Gallagher; Edited by Howard Goller
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
June 1 (Reuters) – Russian troops fought to take complete control of the eastern industrial city of Sievierodonetsk as the United States said it will provide Ukraine with advanced rockets to help it force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war. read more
FIGHTING
* Ukrainian officials reported a “shutdown of all communications” in the Russian-occupied southern region of Kherson. read more
* Ukrainian forces have had some success near the southern city of Kherson and are advancing in parts of the Kharkiv region to the east of Kyiv, President Zelenskiy said. read more
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* U.S. President Joe Biden has agreed to provide Ukraine with advanced rocket systems that can strike with precision at long-range Russian targets as part of a $700 million weapons package expected to be unveiled on Wednesday. read more
* Russia’s nuclear forces are holding drills in the Ivanovo province, northeast of Moscow, the Interfax news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying.
TRADE
* European Union leaders have agreed an embargo on Russian crude oil imports that will take full effect by the end of the year, but Hungary and two other landlocked Central European states secured exemptions for the pipeline imports they rely on. read more
* German companies Uniper (UN01.DE) and RWE (RWEG.DE) have paid for Russian gas under a new scheme proposed by Moscow, in a bid to ensure continued supply of the fuel that is critical to Europe’s top economy. read more
* Russia’s Gazprom (GAZP.MM) said it will turn off supplies to several “unfriendly” countries which have refused to accept Moscow’s roubles-for-gas payment scheme. read more
* A senior U.N. official had “constructive discussions” in Moscow on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports to global markets, a U.N. spokesman said. read more
FINANCE
* Russia’s economy will contract less than expected this year and inflation will be lower than previously thought, a Reuters poll showed. read more
DIPLOMACY
* Pope Francis led an international prayer service in Rome for peace in Ukraine and other places stricken by war; it was attended by about 1,000, including the Ukrainian ambassador to the Vatican and a number of people wearing the blue and yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag. read more
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Compiled by Alison Williams and Grant McCool
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
April 22 (Reuters) – A Russian general said Moscow wants to seize all of southern and eastern Ukraine, far wider war aims than it had acknowledged as it presses on with a new offensive. read more
Rustam Minnekayev said Moscow aimed to seize the entire eastern Donbas region, link up with the Crimea peninsula, and capture Ukraine’s entire south as far as a breakaway, Russian-occupied region of Moldova. That would mean pushing hundreds of miles beyond current lines.
* Ukraine’s general staff said Russian forces had increased attacks along the whole frontline in the east of the country and were trying to mount an offensive in the Kharkiv region, north of Russia’s main target, the Donbas.
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* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian forces control most of Mariupol but Ukrainian troops remain in a part of it. About 120,000 civilians were blocked from leaving, he said.
* The mayor of Mariupol appealed for the “full evacuation” of the city.
* The U.N. human rights office sounded the alarm about growing evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, urging both Moscow and Kyiv to order combatants to respect international law.
* U.S. President Joe Biden pledged $800 million in more weaponry for Ukraine and said he would ask Congress for more money to help the Ukrainian military. read more
* German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said NATO must avoid a direct military confrontation with Russia that could lead to a third world war.
* Plans for Pope Francis to meet in June with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who has backed Russia’s war in Ukraine, have been suspended, the pope told an Argentine newspaper.
* Ukraine is working with lawyers on a mechanism to use frozen Russian funds to compensate it for its economic losses, its justice minister told Reuters.
* World Bank President David Malpass said the food security crisis caused by the war was likely to last months and that Ukraine had suffered some $60 billion worth of physical damage.
“If you have a helmet and a bulletproof vest, but you do not have a gun in your hands, you are doomed,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, appealing for military aid.
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Compiled by Robert Birsel, Kim Coghill and Angus MacSwan
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