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KYIV —The highest army commander who fought till final week to maintain Ukrainian management of the southern port metropolis of Mariupol is alive in Russian-controlled territory, his spouse mentioned Tuesday after holding a quick phone dialog.
Kateryna Prokopenko, who’s married to Azov Regiment chief Denys Prokopenko, mentioned that her husband requested her how she was, however that the road broke off earlier than he may say something about himself.
She mentioned the telephone name was attainable underneath an settlement between the governments of Ukraine and Russia and because of the mediation of the Pink Cross, which has been visiting a number of the Ukrainian fighters who surrendered.
Earlier this month Russia introduced its takeover of Mariupol with the give up of the fighters holed up on the large Azovstal metal mill.
Prokopenko, who spoke to The Related Press in Kyiv along with one other spouse of a soldier, Yuliia Fedosiuk, mentioned that the Ukraine and Russia settlement ensures correct burial of useless troopers and sure situations for the prisoners of struggle, together with permitting them to carry phone calls with members of the family a couple of instances per week.
The 2 girls mentioned a number of households had acquired calls previously two days. They mentioned they might not reveal extra particulars of the settlement however they have been hopeful that the troopers is not going to be tortured and that they finally will “come again residence.”
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:
— After 3 months, Russia nonetheless slowed down in Ukraine struggle
— 200 our bodies present in Mariupol as struggle rages in Ukraine’s east
— AP-NORC ballot: US economic system, not punishing Russia, is prime precedence
— Pentagon says extra high-tech weapons going to Ukraine
— After 3 months of struggle, life in Russia has profoundly modified
Observe AP’s protection of the struggle in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
BERLIN — Germany has rejected options that it’s reneging on a promise to offer Poland with tanks to make up for those who Warsaw has delivered to Ukraine.
Polish President Andrzej Duda informed German broadcaster Welt that he was “very disillusioned” Berlin had not fulfilled its promise on the supply of Leopard tanks to Poland.
Talking after a gathering together with her Polish counterpart in Berlin on Tuesday, Germany’s International Minister Annalena Baerbock mentioned the difficulty had been mentioned with a view to resolve “misunderstandings.”
She mentioned Germany couldn’t provide heavy weapons “on the press of a button” as there have been quite a few questions to contemplate, not least what arms are literally out there.
Poland’s International Minister Zbigniew Rau mentioned his nation regretted that the scenario with regard to arms deliveries to Ukraine was “not as dynamic” as hoped, however acknowledged that “the satan lies within the element” on the difficulty.
Poland gave Soviet-designed T-72 tanks to Ukraine with the expectation that NATO, the U.S. and Germany would fill that void.
Germany has agreed to a number of related round swaps with allied international locations resembling Slovenia and the Czech Republic, who in flip are sending older Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine.
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DAVOS, Switzerland — European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday accused Russia of intentionally bombarding grain warehouses throughout Ukraine and weaponizing meals provides.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has provoked disruptions of world meals provides, and the blockade of Ukrainian ports has been significantly dangerous. Ukraine accounted for 90% of grain and oilseed exports earlier than the struggle, in keeping with the EU.
Talking on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, the pinnacle of the EU’s government arm mentioned about 20 million tons of wheat are at the moment caught in Ukraine.
“And on prime of this, Russia is now hoarding its personal meals exports as a type of blackmail – holding again provides to extend international costs, or buying and selling wheat in trade for political assist,” she mentioned. “That is utilizing starvation and grain to wield energy.”
Von der Leyen mentioned that fragile international locations and susceptible populations endure probably the most. She mentioned bread costs in Lebanon elevated by 70%, and meals shipments from Odesa have been blocked from reaching Somalia.
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LVIV, Ukraine — An adviser to the mayor of Mariupol mentioned on Tuesday that staff eradicating rubble from a collapsed residence constructing within the devastated Ukrainian metropolis discovered about 200 corpses within the constructing’s basement.
Petro Andryushchenko mentioned on Telegram that the our bodies have been decomposing and that the stench permeated the neighborhood. It’s not clear after they have been found and the report couldn’t be independently verified.
Perched on the Sea of Azov, Mariupol was relentlessly pounded throughout a monthslong siege that lastly ended final week after some 2,500 Ukrainian fighters deserted a metal plant the place they’d made their final stand within the strategic port metropolis.
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BRUSSELS — A European Union plan to droop all tariffs on imports from Ukraine for one 12 months cleared the ultimate political hurdle on Tuesday when EU finance ministers endorsed the transfer.
Meant to assist the Ukrainian economic system battered by Russia’s invasion, the removing of the EU duties will apply to Ukrainian industrial merchandise, together with metal, and to farm items resembling vegetables and fruit.
The EU has already scrapped most of its tariffs on Ukrainian merchandise on account of a 2016 free-trade settlement. Ukrainian exports to the EU have been price 24.1 billion euros ($25.8 billion) final 12 months, with the principle items being metals, agricultural merchandise and equipment.
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Two prime Russian safety officers vowed on Tuesday that Moscow will obtain all of the objectives set for the “army operation” in Ukraine, showing to handle the truth that the invasion, anticipated by many to be a blitzkrieg, has entered its fourth month this week.
The secretary of Russia’s Safety Council, Nikolai Patrushev, mentioned in an interview revealed Tuesday that the Russian authorities “just isn’t chasing deadlines.”
“Nazism should both be 100% eradicated, or it would elevate its head in a couple of years, and in a fair uglier kind,” he mentioned in a response to a query concerning the struggle dragging on.
Russia has falsely known as the struggle a marketing campaign to “denazify” Ukraine — a rustic with a democratically elected Jewish president who needs nearer ties with the West.
Russian Protection Minister Sergei Shoigu mentioned at a gathering of safety officers that Russia is intentionally slowing down its offensive by arranging cease-fires and humanitarian corridors “with a view to keep away from casualties among the many civilians.”
AP’s reporting on the bottom discovered that the Russian forces have repeatedly hit civilian targets, resembling hospitals, faculties and venues the place civilians have been sheltering.
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PARIS — A Ukrainian authorities minister pushed Tuesday for a fast resolution on eventual Ukrainian membership within the European Union, at the same time as France warns that it might be many years earlier than Ukraine joins the bloc.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna met with French Europe Minister Clement Beaune Tuesday in Paris and argued that Ukraine has made deep and tough reforms aimed toward bettering its possibilities at EU membership.
“As politicians, we should discover a means for Ukraine to really grow to be a part of this household, each economically and politically,” she informed reporters.
The European Fee goals to ship a primary opinion in June on Ukraine’s request to grow to be a member. However the course of normally takes a few years, and French President Emmanuel Macron has mentioned it might be many years.
Within the meantime France is proposing an interim association that may permit extra political cooperation with Ukraine and different potential EU members.
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DAVOS, Switzerland — European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen says Russia may be reintegrated into the orbit of European nations if it finds its means again to “democracy, the rule of legislation, the respect for the worldwide rules-based order.”
Von der Leyen spoke on the World Financial Discussion board’s annual gathering Tuesday. Insisting on the historic and cultural hyperlinks between Europe and Russia, the pinnacle of the EU’s government arm mentioned reconciliation is “actually a distant dream and hope.
“However this additionally says that our standing up in opposition to this brutal invasion is standing up in opposition to the management in Russia. It’s the Russian people who find themselves those who resolve about the way forward for their nation. They’ve it of their palms.”
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ANKARA, Turkey — The chief of a Turkish nationalist social gathering that’s allied with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey ought to think about leaving NATO if “circumstances grow to be inextricable” and Turkey is compelled to approve Sweden and Finland membership.
Devlet Bahceli, the chief of the Nationalist Motion Get together, mentioned in a speech to his social gathering’s legislators on Tuesday that Turkey is not with out options and might be a part of a attainable safety alliance that might be made up of Turkic-speaking states and Muslim nations.
“Turkey just isn’t with out choices. Turkey just isn’t helpless. Leaving NATO ought to be placed on the agenda as a substitute possibility if the circumstances grow to be inextricable,” Bahceli mentioned. “We didn’t exist with NATO, and we is not going to perish with out NATO.”
Turkey is objecting to Sweden’s and Finland’s historic bid to affix the alliance, citing as causes their perceived assist to the Kurdistan Employees’ Get together, or PKK, and different teams that Turkey considers to be terrorists.
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ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish International Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says a delegation made up of officers from Sweden and Finland are anticipated to reach in Turkey in a while Tuesday to debate Ankara’s objection to their membership in NATO.
Cavusoglu informed a gaggle of journalists touring with him on a two-day go to to the Palestinian territories and Israel that the delegation would meet with Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and Turkish Deputy International Minister Sedat Onal on Wednesday.
Finnish International Minister Pekka Haavisto additionally confirmed the assembly.
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A Russian-installed official in Ukraine’s Kherson area says the area’s pro-Kremlin administration will ask Moscow to arrange a army base there.
“There ought to be a Russian army base within the Kherson area,” deputy head of the Russia-installed administration in Kherson Kirill Stremousov was quoted as saying by the Russian state information company RIA Novosti. “We might be asking for it, the whole inhabitants is fascinated by it. It’s vitally necessary and can grow to be a safety assure for the area and its residents.”
Russian forces took management of the Kherson area in southeastern Ukraine early on within the struggle and put in its personal administration there. Ukrainian officers have speculated that Russia plans to stage a referendum within the area to declare its independence, just like those that befell in jap Donetsk and Luhansk areas in 2014. Moscow acknowledged the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics two days earlier than invading Ukraine and used it as a pretext to ship troops to its ex-Soviet neighbor.
Stremousov denied such plans earlier this month and mentioned the area will ask the Kremlin to make it a part of Russia as an alternative. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has mentioned it’s as much as the folks of Kherson to resolve how and the place they wish to stay.
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LONDON — British army authorities say Russian forces have intensified efforts to encircle and seize Severodonetsk and neighboring cities, the one a part of the Luhansk area that is still underneath Ukrainian authorities management.
The U.Okay. protection ministry, in a briefing posted Tuesday morning, says the northern and southern arms of the Russian operation are at the moment separated by about 25 kilometers (15 miles) of Ukrainian-held territory.
The ministry says Russian forces have achieved “some localized successes” regardless of sturdy resistance from Ukrainian troops that occupy properly dug-in defensive positions.
The ministry says the battle for Severodonetsk is just one a part of the Russian marketing campaign to take the bigger Donbas area of jap Ukraine, and the autumn of the town could trigger logistical issues for the Kremlin.
“If the Donbas entrance line strikes additional west, this can lengthen Russian traces of communication and sure see its forces face additional logistic resupply difficulties,” the ministry mentioned.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Russian shelling of a residential constructing in Sievierodonetsk killed 4 folks, Ukrainian governor of the Luhansk area Serhiy Haidai mentioned Tuesday. He didn’t specify when the shelling befell.
The Russian forces in current weeks have been making an attempt — up to now unsuccessfully — to take management of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk within the area, subjecting each cities to intensive shelling.
The latest spherical of shelling, Haidai mentioned, broken six homes in every of the 2 cities.
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MANILA, Philippines — Outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte sharply criticized Russian chief Vladimir Putin for the killings of harmless civilians in Ukraine, saying whereas the 2 of them have been tagged as killers, “I kill criminals, I don’t kill youngsters and the aged.”
Duterte, who brazenly calls Putin an idol and a buddy, voiced his rebuke for the primary time over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in remarks aired Tuesday the place he blamed the three-month previous struggle for the spike in international oil costs that has battered many international locations, together with the Philippines.
Whereas stressing he was not condemning the Russian president, Duterte disagreed with Putin’s labeling of the invasion as a “particular army operation,” and mentioned it was actually a full-scale struggle waged in opposition to “a sovereign nation.”
Addressing Putin “as a buddy” and the Russian Embassy in Manila, Duterte urged them to cease bombing and firing artillery rounds on residential areas and permit harmless civilians to securely evacuate earlier than launching a bombardment.
“I’m on the best way out and I don’t know how one can remedy the issue,” Duterte mentioned. “You must remedy the struggle between Ukraine and Russia earlier than we will discuss of even returning to normalcy.”
Duterte, who steps down on June 30 when his turbulent six-year time period ends, has presided over a brutal anti-drugs crackdown that has left greater than 6,000 principally petty suspects useless.
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UNITED NATIONS — The USA and Britain are accusing Russia of spreading disinformation on-line and manipulating public opinion concerning the struggle in Ukraine and vehemently rejecting Russian claims that the West is aiming to manage all info flows and outline what’s true or not true.
Britain’s deputy ambassador James Roscoe informed a U.N. Safety Council assembly on the usage of digital applied sciences in sustaining peace that Russia has performed cyber-attacks and used “a web-based troll manufacturing unit to unfold disinformation and manipulate public opinion about their struggle.”
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield mentioned the Russian authorities “continues to close down, prohibit and degrade web connectivity, censor content material, unfold disinformation on-line, and intimidate and arrest journalists for reporting the reality about its invasion.”
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused international locations that decision themselves a “neighborhood of democracies” of constructing “a cyber-totalitarianism” and together with know-how giants like Meta of shutting down Russian TV channels, expelling Russian journalists and blocking entry to Russian web sites.
Nebenzia once more accused Western governments and media of fabricating the story of the Russian army killing civilians in Bucha close to Kyiv. He claimed the civilians died from accidents brought on by artillery projectiles fired from outdated {hardware} utilized by the Ukrainian military.
Britain’s Roscoe countered Russia’s claims of a “staged provocation” and suggestion that the Ukrainians have been answerable for the civilian deaths after retaking the city, saying satellite tv for pc photos show the our bodies have been there for a number of weeks when Russia managed Bucha.
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Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai says police are persevering with each day evacuations as a result of struggle with Russia and the variety of these prepared to depart is rising.
Haidai posted a video Monday on Fb taken from a car that he mentioned was touring alongside a freeway close to Sievierodonetsk. The car is racing down the street, dodging particles, mounds of earth, barricades and destroyed automobiles as shells explode within the fields simply yards away.
A photograph within the publish reveals a couple of dozen civilians and their baggage packed tightly inside what seems to be the again of a car.
Haidai wrote that folks “are agreeing to the danger as a result of what is going on within the cities is far worse.”
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia is waging “whole struggle” on his nation, and that features inflicting as many casualties and as a lot infrastructure destruction as attainable.
Zelenskyy made the feedback in his nightly deal with Monday, the eve of the three-month anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In it, he famous that since Feb. 24, the Russian military has launched 1,474 missile strikes on Ukraine, utilizing 2,275 totally different missiles. He mentioned the overwhelming majority hit civilian targets. There have been greater than 3,000 Russian airstrikes over that interval.
“Certainly, there has not been such a struggle on the European continent for 77 years,” he mentioned.
Zelenskyy mentioned an assault in town of Desna, 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of Kyiv, resulted in 87 deaths.
The Russians have now concentrated their forces on Donbas cities like Bakhmut, Popasnaya and Sievierodonetsk, Zelenskyy mentioned.
He known as on Ukrainians who aren’t on the battlefield to assist in no matter means they’ll and mentioned his personal job was working to extend worldwide strain on Russia. “Absolutely the precedence is weapons and ammunition for Ukraine.”
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