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Latest news about Russia and the war in Ukraine

Russia now controls 70% of Severodonetsk, Ukraine’s regional governor said

The eastern city of Severodonetsk has been subjected to intense artillery and missile strikes by the Russian army.

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Russian forces have taken control of about 70% of Severodonetsk, according to Luhansk regional governor Sergei Haidai.

His comments come as Russian forces continue their offensive in the Donbass region. Donbass refers to the two eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk – the main strategic, political and economic goal for the Kremlin.

Haidai told Telegram that the eastern city of Lisichansk remains “completely” under Ukrainian control.

However, all vacant settlements in the Luhansk region are under constant fire and evacuation efforts have stopped, Haidai said.

“Meredith herself.”

Wheat cannot be a “weapon of war”, the pope said, calling for the removal of Ukraine’s bloc

Pope Francis holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on June 1, 2022.

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On Wednesday, Pope Francis called on authorities to lift a blockade on wheat exports from Ukraine, saying the grain could not be used as a “weapon of war”.

Speaking to a general audience in front of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, he said the blockade should be lifted because many millions of people depend on wheat from Ukraine, especially in the world’s poorest countries.

– Reuters

Russia says Biden’s arms supplies to Ukraine increase risk of direct clashes with US

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the risk of direct clashes between Moscow and Washington has increased since the US decision to supply more modern missile systems to Ukraine.

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Russia has warned that US President Joe Biden’s decision to supply modern missile systems to Ukraine increases the risk of direct clashes between Moscow and Washington.

Asked whether the likelihood of an open clash between Russia and the United States would increase after the White House’s decision to supply Ukraine with longer-range missile systems, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said: “All the arms supplies that continue, are increasing, the risks of such a development are increasing. “

Speaking to RIA Novosti, Ryabkov told US foreign policy that “the remnants of a responsible, sensible approach to the situation have simply been removed.”

“Meredith herself.”

OPEC + oil group reportedly suspends Russia’s suspension of supply deal

Then the Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak (right) with the Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman during the International Forum of the Russian Energy Week 2019 in Moscow. OPEC delegates are reportedly concerned about growing economic pressure on Russia and its ability to pump more crude oil to cool rising prices.

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Some members of the OPEC + energy alliance are considering suspending Russia from an oil deal, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed OPEC delegates.

This comes at a time when the non-OPEC leader, Russia, a major player in world energy markets, is facing a wave of Western sanctions and a partial ban on European Union oil as a result of the attack in Ukraine.

OPEC delegates are reportedly concerned about growing economic pressure on Russia and its ability to pump more crude oil to cool rising prices.

CNBC contacted a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Energy and OPEC for comment.

OPEC and non-OPEC countries are due to discuss the next phase of production policy on Thursday.

“Meredith herself.”

Zelensky says Russian bombing of Severodonetsk chemical plant is “madness”

Severodonetsk is one of the three cities that represent one of the largest chemical complexes in Ukraine. The area is now on the front line as Russian troops approach the city.

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Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky confirmed that the situation in the eastern region of Donbass is “very difficult”, saying that Russian air strikes in Severodonetsk were “crazy”, given the presence of a large-scale chemical plant in the city.

His comments came after a Russian air strike hit a tank of nitric acid in the city. Residents of Severodonetsk have been warned not to leave bomb shelters due to the danger of toxic fumes.

Speaking in an evening address to the nation, Zelensky said the cities of Severodonetsk, Lisichansk and Kurakhove are now at the epicenter of the confrontation.

“Given the large-scale chemical production in Severodonetsk, the Russian army’s strikes there, including blind air bombings, are insane,” he said.

“But on the 97th day of such a war, it is no longer surprising that for the Russian military, for Russian commanders, for Russian soldiers, any madness is absolutely acceptable.”

“Meredith herself.”

UNICEF says 5.2 million children need humanitarian assistance

Children seen in an underground shelter. Nearly 100 days of war in Ukraine have killed 3 million children in Ukraine and more than 2.2 million children in refugee-receiving countries in need of humanitarian assistance, with almost 2 in 3 children displaced by fighting.

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The war has forced 3 million children in Ukraine and more than 2.2 million children in refugee-receiving countries in need of humanitarian assistance, according to UNICEF, which estimates that 2 out of three children have been displaced by the fighting.

On average, more than 2 children have been killed and more than 4 injured every day in Ukraine, mostly due to explosive weapons attacks in populated areas, according to reports confirmed by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Civic infrastructure critical to children, including 256 health facilities and hundreds of schools, was also damaged or destroyed during the war.

– Chelsea Ong

Biden says the United States will provide Ukraine with longer-range missile systems

A multi-launch missile system fires during an artillery battle on March 4, 2020. US President Joe Biden told the New York Times that he would “provide Ukrainians with more modern missile systems and ammunition that will allow them to to accurately strike key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine. “

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US President Joe Biden told the New York Times that he would “provide Ukrainians with more modern missile systems and ammunition that will allow them to hit key targets on the Ukrainian battlefield more accurately.”

Missile systems refer to longer-range missile systems, NBC News reported, citing the White House Security Council.

U.S. officials have been reluctant to send MLRS to Ukraine for fears that Russia could see it as an escalator due to the scope of the system, NBC News reported.

The MLRS can launch multiple missiles from a great distance – far beyond any of the systems Ukraine already has, CNN reported.

Russia said earlier this week that it would hit “decision-making centers”, including those “not in Kyiv”, if the United States sends long-range missile systems to Ukraine.

But a senior US administration official said Ukraine had agreed not to use MLRS to launch missiles in Russia, NBC News reported.

– Chelsea Ong

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