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Forty children are among hundreds of civilians trapped in a chemical plant in Severodonetsk, with the last bridge to the eastern Ukrainian city destroyed by Russian forces. The city has in recent weeks been the site of intense violence and has become a focal point for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions to seize enough territory so that he can increase pressure on Kyiv. Sergiy Gaiday, the Governor of the Luhansk region, said the Azot plant was under heavy bombardment by Russian forces, putting the lives of those trapped inside at risk. "About 500 civilians remain on the grounds of the Azot plant. Forty of them are children," he said. The situation is similar to Russia's siege of the Azovstal steel plant in the south-eastern city of Mariupol, where hundreds of fighters and civilians were holed up for weeks with limited food, water and medical supplies. Ukrainian fighters there surrendered in May, bringing an end to the most brutal siege of the war to date. Read Mo...

Pope Francis refused the distinction between “good and bad” in the war in Ukraine, he was quoted as saying by daily La Stampa, which reported Pope's conversation with editors of Jesuit European cultural magazines. Asked if he was in favor of Russia's president Vladimir Putin, the Pope answered: “No, I am not, I am simply opposed to reducing complexity to distinction between good and bad.” Pope Francis hopes to meet Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church in September in Kazakhstan, he added. Read More : https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2022/06/14/Pope-Francis-says-he-refuses-distinction-between-good-and-bad-in-Ukraine-war

European leaders expressed solidarity with Ukraine on Friday as it marked 100 days since Russia invaded, but were challenged to state outright that they want the Ukrainians to win the war. Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, one of Russia’s fiercest critics in Europe, said it was “high time for us to believe in victory, just as firmly as Ukraine does”. His Estonian counterpart Kaja Kallas, another hard-line opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said western support “must continue until Ukraine wins and justice prevails”. Read More : https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/2022/06/03/leaders-challenged-to-say-ukraine-must-win-after-100-days-of-war/

An international task force under UN protection should be used to gain access to Ukraine's grain stores and prevent a global food crisis as the conflict with Russia grinds on. To prevent escalating food prices “becoming the trigger for social unrest in multiple locations”, a humanitarian food corridor should be created in the Black Sea using “military means”, said a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) titled “International Action to Relieve Food Security Crisis”. Ukraine’s former economic minister welcomed the proposal, as “a really scary scenario was brewing”, with his country only currently able to export a fifth of its grain. The steep rise in both food and fuel prices is increasing the risk of social unrest turning into violent upheaval. “Finding solutions to global food insecurity has moved from being a humanitarian crisis to become an international security imperative,” the SIPRI paper said. Read More : https://www.thenationalnews.com/worl...

 The US secretaries of state and defence on Sunday night met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the highest-level visit to the war-torn country's capital by an American delegation since the start of Russia’s invasion. The meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin was confirmed by presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych on Ukrainian TV. Ukraine pressed the West for more powerful weapons against Russia’s campaign in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where Moscow’s forces sought to dislodge the last Ukrainian troops in the battered port of Mariupol. “Yes, they’re meeting with the president. Let’s hope something will be decided on further help,” Mr Arestovych said. Before the session, Mr Zelenskyy said he was looking for the Americans to produce results, in arms and security guarantees. “You can’t come to us empty-handed today, and we are expecting not just presents or some kind of cakes, we are expecting specific things and spe...

 A young refugee was delighted to receive a doll the same as the one she had to leave behind in Ukraine when fleeing the war. Veronika and her mother Tatyana arrived in the UK on Thursday to stay with a sponsor family in Surrey, southern England, through the Homes for Ukraine scheme. They arrived with only one case and a pushchair, so the sponsor family contacted baby bank charity Stripey Stork for help in sourcing some practical items. They travelled to the charity’s warehouse to pick up supplies kept aside for them, including clothes, shoes, toys, a high chair, bed guard, potty training kit, nappies and toiletries. But Veronika and her mother “got very excited”, the charity said in a tweet, when they spotted the doll which was “just the same as one she’d had to leave behind”. Nicola Dawes, founder and chief executive of Stripey Stork, said: “It was particularly special to discover this doll was just the same as one that Veronika had not been able to bring from home. “A moment of ...

 Russia has called for a special UN Security Council meeting to address claims that its forces committed atrocities against Ukrainian civilians in Bucha. On Sunday, Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's deputy ambassador to the UN, requested a meeting of the council “in the light of heinous provocation of Ukrainian radicals”, he said in a post on Twitter. Ukraine and Western leaders have expressed outrage over the discovery of mass graves and hundreds of dead people in the small town north-west of Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky directly blamed Moscow for the “killings” of civilians. A Ukrainian soldier inspects a burnt Russian tank in Dmytrivka, Kyiv region. Russia denied the accusations and said Kyiv staged footage of the corpses. Senior Washington official Samantha Power, a former US ambassador to the UN, slammed Moscow's UN move and said it was designed to “feign outrage.” “Russia is drawing from the playbook it used for Crimea and Aleppo,” Ms Power, the administrator of...

  Ukraine fighting: Russian forces have made no significant progress in the previous 24 hours, with continuing supply problems and aggressive resistance from Ukrainian fighters, UK defence officials say. Poor morale and a lack of momentum have compounded the problems facing Russian forces, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence briefing. Heavy fighting continues around Mariupol as Russian forces try to capture the port on the Sea of Azov, which connects to the Black Sea, the ministry said. Russia was also maintaining a blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, cutting off maritime trade with the country. The Russian navy has launched sporadic missile strikes against targets in Ukraine, the ministry said. Chernobyl fires: Fires covering more than 10,000 hectares across the Chernobyl exclusion zone could lead to increased radiation pollution levels in the air spreading on prevailing winds heading west, Ukrainian officials have warned. Russian military forces are t...

 Fires covering more than 10,000 hectares across the Chernobyl exclusion zone could lead to spiked radiation pollution levels in the air spreading on prevailing winds heading west, Ukrainian officials have warned. Russian military forces are to blame for 31 forest fires, said Lyudmila Denisova, the commissioner of a Ukrainian human rights group. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said the fires threaten Ukraine and hundreds of millions of Europeans. Chernobyl nuclear plant is seen behind the abandoned town of Pripyat. “Significant fires have started in the exclusion zone, which can have very serious consequences,” Ms Vereshchuk said on Telegram. “However, today it is impossible to control and extinguish fires in full due to the capture of the exclusion zone by the Russian occupation forces.” She said the Russian army was “militarising” the site and storing ammunition “in close proximity” to the station. “It should be noted that recently Russian occupation troops have been using...

 President Joe Biden’s apparent call for his Russian counterpart to be removed from power has created a stir in US policy circles and alarm among its allies, although the White House downplayed the remarks. At the end of his speech from Warsaw on Saturday, Mr Biden said of Russian President Vladimir Putin: “For God's sake, this man cannot remain power.” The remark caused concern within the US political establishment and America’s Nato allies as they try to contain the war in Ukraine and present a united front. US President Joe Biden meets Ukrainian refugees at the PGE Narodowy Stadium in Warsaw during a visit to Poland.  The White House clarified within moments that Mr Biden was not in fact advocating change, and the president replied “no” to reporters who asked if that was what he meant. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke to reporters to clarify the president’s point. “I think the president, the White House, made the point last night that, quite simply, President Pu...

 Russian forces are being pushed back from towns around Kyiv by Ukrainian counter-attacks, Britain has said, as President Vladimir Putin’s troops struggle to push towards the capital. Ukrainian troops have recaptured towns occupied by the Russians and are likely to continue with their pushback towards Hostomel Airport. The airfield on the outskirts of the capital is a key target for Moscow which hopes to use the base to fly in extra troops. Invading forces briefly took control of the site at the beginning of the war but the Ukrainians managed to retake it shortly afterwards. In an intelligence update issued on Friday Britain’s Ministry of Defence said the Russians continue to be blighted by logistical issues. “Ukrainian counter-attacks, and Russian Forces falling back on overextended supply lines, has allowed Ukraine to re-occupy towns and defensive positions up to 35 kilometres east of Kyiv,” the MoD said. “Ukrainian Forces are likely to continue to attempt to push Russian Forces ...

 Major British businesses including retailers Marks & Spencer and Asos are offering jobs to Ukrainian refugees as they arrive in the UK. A coalition of more than 45 large businesses have pressed the government to make the route into the UK easier for refugees fleeing the war. Marks & Spencer and more than 40 other major brands will offer jobs to Ukrainian refugees. The group, which also includes high street cosmetics brand Lush and recruitment firm Robert Walters, has told the government it has up to 10,000 jobs available. Entrepreneur Emma Sinclair, the chief executive of Enterprise Alumni, is leading the drive to help Ukrainian refugees find work. “The companies involved, especially the recruitment firms, have got thousands of jobs to fill every week,” Ms Sinclair said. While the move will help those entering the UK support themselves during their time away from their home country, it could also boost Britain’s labour market with the number of unfilled vacancies hitting a...

 Russia’s forces have stalled on several fronts in Ukraine after almost three weeks of fighting, surprising analysts who felt Moscow's vast military would overwhelm defenders, despite making strategic errors. The Russian military boasts world-class tanks, the second-largest air force in the world and fearsome attack helicopters. While its military doctrine stresses overwhelming the enemy with terrifying barrages of rocket artillery, it also has large stockpiles of ballistic and cruise missiles. Ukrainian soldiers are on guard in Irpin,  north of Kyiv, on March 12, 2022.  Ukraine, despite the support of allies, lacks most of these arms. Western military simulations conducted in 2016 indicated Russia could take over the Baltics, overrunning local and Nato defenders in a matter of days. A US general recently said the assessment for Ukraine holding out following the February 24 offensive was 72 hours. Russia’s setbacks have refocused analysts on the human aspects of war rath...

 The next round of talks between Ukraine and Russia will take place by video conference, both sides said on Sunday after claiming they were making headway in negotiations aimed at ending more than two weeks of conflict. Besieged Ukrainians held out hope that renewed diplomatic talks with Russia might open the way for more civilians to be relocated, a day after Moscow escalated its offensive by shelling areas perilously close to the Polish border. On Sunday, Russian forces launched a missile attack on a Ukrainian military installation near the Polish border, the western-most attack of the conflict so far. About 30 rockets were fired at the site, killing 35 people in an attack on a centre that served as a crucial hub for co-operation between Ukraine and the Nato countries supporting its defence. It raised the possibility that the alliance could be drawn into the fight. Besieged Ukrainians held out hope on Monday that renewed diplomatic talks with Russia might open the way for more ci...

  Kyiv hit: A Russian air strike hit a residential building in Kyiv on Monday and killed at least two people, according to Ukraine’s emergencies agency, which said at least 12 others were injured. The explosion at the nine-storey building came after Russian ground troops reached the outskirts of the capital. Russian forces fired artillery on Kyiv’s north-western suburbs as well as points east of the city, said Oleksiy Kuleba, the head of the regional administration. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said the capital was preparing to mount a “relentless defence”. Outside Kyiv, Britain’s Defence Ministry said Russian naval forces were hitting “targets throughout Ukraine” with missiles. Humanitarian cost: Authorities in the besieged coastal city of Mariupol say nearly 2,200 people have been killed there since hostilities began, with the death toll rising by almost 1,000 in the last five days. “The enemy is holding the city hostage by performing real acts of genocide,” s...

 A new round of talks between Ukraine and Russia will start on Monday even as Russian troops edge closer to Kyiv and keep up their relentless bombardment of the besieged southern port city of Mariupol. Talks are set to begin via video link at 10.30am Kyiv time (8.30am GMT), said Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine's interior minister. Neither side has said what they would cover, Reuters reported. Three rounds of talks between the two sides in Belarus, most recently last Monday, focused mainly on humanitarian issues. A residential building heavily damaged by a Russian  rocket in Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv, on Sunday.  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the countries' delegations have been speaking daily by video and a clear aim of his negotiators was to "do everything" to arrange for him to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. Amid the diplomatic efforts, fighting has continued to rage. The Antonov aircraft plant in Kyiv has been shelled by Rus...

 The UK is considering sending Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles to Ukrainian forces trying to fend off the Russian attack. The missiles use a guidance system that could give them an edge over older anti-aircraft missiles that use infrared seeking technology. “We believe that this system will remain within the definition of defensive weapons but will allow the defending force to better defend the skies,” UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace said on Wednesday. The offer of the portable, short-range weapon is seen as significant, because it relies on a laser beam riding guidance system. Most short-range anti-aircraft missiles are “heat-seeking” and can be sent off course by magnesium flares dropped by aircraft as a defence, although some modern heat-seeking systems can differentiate between engine heat and flare heat sources. Ukraine has already received around 1,000 Stingers from the US, Germany and the Netherlands ― both systems are man-portable air defence systems, or Manpads. The Sta...

 Oil prices fell from 14-year highs as the UAE proposed that the Opec+ alliance increase oil production at a faster pace than its current monthly target in an effort to ease market volatility. “We favour production increases and will be encouraging Opec to consider higher production levels,” Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to the US, said. “The UAE has been a reliable and responsible supplier of energy to global markets for more than 50 years and believes that stability in energy markets is critical to the global economy.” Also on Wednesday, the UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Al Mazrouei said the Emirates is committed to the existing agreement by the 23-member Opec+ alliance of oil producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, which ramps up oil supply by 400,000 barrels per day monthly. “The UAE believes in the value Opec+ brings to the oil market. The UAE is committed to the Opec+ agreement and its existing monthly production adjustment mechanism,” Mr Al Mazr...

 A sector that was always shielded from political struggles on ground is becoming increasingly vulnerable after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions imposed on Russia by the US , the UK, the EU and Japan are affecting activities in space as Russia suspended co-operation with many countries in response to the sanctions. Germany suspended all scientific co-operation with Russia, which also stopped all Soyuz rocket launches from a French Guiana spaceport. The National highlights eight ways space exploration is being affected. Launch of UK’s OneWeb satellites cancelled Russia has refused to launch 36 OneWeb satellites, which belong to a UK start-up. It gave the company an ultimatum to sever links with the UK government for the launch to go ahead, but the company refused. Russia’s demands were in response to sanctions imposed on it by the UK. On March 4, the satellites were removed from the launch pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The cosmodrome has been the launch site fo...

 JP Morgan Chase turned down a role to advise Russian search engine Yandex on a potential debt restructuring exercise after taking part in initial discussions with a group of the company’s bondholders. The decision comes as Yandex faces the risk that investors holding $1.25 billion of the company’s debt will demand to be repaid after a suspension in trading of its US-listed shares. The company does not have enough money to redeem the notes in full, it said last week. During initial discussions over the company’s financial situation, Yandex bondholders were told that JP Morgan and US law firm Latham & Watkins participated along with the Russian company, according to sources. “Following talks at the weekend, we decided not to be involved in this potential restructuring,” a spokesman for JP Morgan said on Wednesday in response to questions from Bloomberg. A Latham representative did not respond to requests for comment. On Wednesday, the firm published a statement condemning the wa...