The Greek government and shipping industry on Thursday called for a global mobilization to free the crews of two oil tankers held by Iran in an ongoing dispute with Athens.

“We call on all nations to act in order to end this unacceptable incident, and to ensure it does not happen again,” Merchant Marine Minister Ioannis Plakiotakis told reporters.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Friday seized the two Greek-flagged tankers in the Gulf, days after Athens said it would deliver to Washington Iranian oil it had seized from a Russian tanker in April.

Plakiotakis said last week’s incident posed a “threat” to shipping safety and trade and has “cast a shadow” over Greece’s top shipping fair Posidonia, which opens Monday with over 1,900 companies from nearly 90 nations participating.

Speaking at the Posidonia inaugural press conference on Thursday, Union of Greek Shipowners president Melina Travlos said some of the sailors held by Iran were youths on their first shipping assignment.

“The global shipping community must mobilize, nations, everyone. This situation needs to end,” she said.

Greece’s coastguard on Thursday said both ships are moored at the Iranian port of Bandar.

The coastguard has identified nine Greeks and a Cypriot on board, but has given no information about other crew nationalities.

Iran has said the crews of two tankers were in “good health” and not under arrest.

The Revolutionary Guards — the ideological arm of Iran’s military — had said it seized the tankers “due to violations”, without elaborating further.

Greece has condemned Tehran’s detention of the two ships as “tantamount to acts of piracy” and warned its citizens not to travel to Iran.

The German and French foreign ministries, in separate statements, condemned the seizure as a violation of international law, and called on Iran to immediately release the ships and their crews.

The United States has also strongly condemned Iran’s seizure of the two tankers, and demanded their immediate release.

Iran has called the statements “one-sided” and “inappropriate interference.”

Tehran noted that France and Germany “are protesting against the legal measures taken in Iran” while “remaining silent” on Greece’s own seizure of the tanker, which it said was Iranian.
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Four days of celebrations honoring Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne get underway with a display of British military traditions stretching from the days of horse and cannon to the jet age, The Associated Press reports.
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For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT.

12:04 a.m.: Russian forces continue their siege of Sievierodonetsk, an industrial city in eastern Ukraine, The New York Times reported. “A local official said on Wednesday that Russian forces controlled about 70 percent of the city, where only about 12,000 residents remain out of a prewar population of 100,000 after weeks of intense shelling.” the Times report said. “Ukrainian soldiers there are at risk of being surrounded. With bridges over the Seversky Donets River destroyed or under fire, resupply has become tenuous. Ukrainian officials have been candid about the army’s travails while arguing more rapid deliveries of Western weaponry will resolve them. Every day in the current heavy fighting, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Newsmax this week, 60 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers are killed and another about 500 soldiers are wounded in combat.”  

12:01 a.m.: When she helped launch The Kyiv Independent in November, chief editor Olga Rudenko had no idea that six months later she would be on the cover of Time magazine. But her team’s reporting on Russia’s war in Ukraine propelled their English-language site into the spotlight, with Time describing The Kyiv Independent as the “world’s primary source for reliable English-language journalism on that war.” 

Rudenko says she feels she has a great responsibility to her audience, “to be the world’s window into Ukraine.” In this interview with VOA, she shares her commitment to fact-based reporting and how that has been essential in a war where disinformation is high, and journalists find themselves reporting on atrocities happening so close to home. 

 
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Queen Elizabeth II will make two appearances on the Buckingham Palace balcony on Thursday, kicking off four days of public events to mark her historic Platinum Jubilee.

The extent of the 96-year-old monarch’s involvement in the celebrations for her record-breaking 70 years on the throne has been a source of speculation for months.

She has cut back drastically on her public appearances since last year because of difficulties standing and walking — and a bout of COVID-19.

But royal officials confirmed that she would take the salute of mounted troops from the balcony after a military parade called Trooping the Colour.

The centuries-old ceremony to officially mark the sovereign’s birthday has previously seen the queen take the salute on horseback herself.

Her 73-year-old son and heir, Prince Charles, will step in this year, supported by his sister, Princess Anne, 71, and his eldest son, Prince William, 39.

Joining senior royals watching the display of military precision will be Charles’ younger son, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan, on a rare visit from California, Buckingham Palace confirmed.

But the queen’s disgraced second son, Prince Andrew, 62, is not expected to join them.

She will return to the balcony later to watch a flyby of military aircraft, including iconic models from World War II, the palace said.

At nightfall, the queen will be at Windsor Castle, west of London, to take part in a ceremony to light more than 3,000 beacons across the country and the Commonwealth of 54 nations that she heads.

Parties, parades, concerts

Elizabeth was a 25-year-old princess when she succeeded her father, King George VI in 1952, bringing a rare touch of glamour to a battered nation still enduring food rations after World War II.

Seventy years on, she is now the only monarch most Britons have ever known, becoming an enduring figurehead through often troubled times.

Britain’s first and very likely only Platinum Jubilee will see street parties, pop concerts and parades until Sunday in potentially the last major public celebration of the queen’s long reign.

It has not yet been confirmed if she will attend a thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, while her planned attendance at horse racing showcase The Derby on Saturday is off.

She could yet put in a final appearance — again from the palace balcony — on Sunday, at the climax of a huge public pageant involving 6,000 performers.

In a message, the queen thanked everyone involved in organizing the community events in Britain and around the world.

“I know that many happy memories will be created at these festive occasions,” she said.

“I continue to be inspired by the goodwill shown to me, and hope that the coming days will provide an opportunity to reflect on all that has been achieved during the last 70, as we look to the future with confidence and enthusiasm.”

Attention turning to succession

The jubilee, held against a backdrop of rising inflation that has left many Britons struggling, is being seen not just as respite for the public after two years scarred by the pandemic but also for the royals.

Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, caused shockwaves in early 2020 by moving to North America, from where they have publicly criticized royal life.

In April last year, she lost her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, and was forced to sit alone at his funeral because of coronavirus restrictions.

Since then, she has struggled with her health and also the fallout from Andrew’s links to the convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Andrew, who in February settled a U.S. civil claim for sexual assault, has effectively been fired from his royal duties.

Attention is increasingly turning to the succession, and the monarchy’s future at home and in the 14 other Commonwealth countries where the queen is also head of state.

Her approval rating among Britons remains high at 75%, according to a poll by YouGov published Wednesday, but Charles is only at 50%.

A total of 62% still want a monarchy, although younger people are split, with 33% in favor, and 31% wanting a republic.

Only 39% said they thought there would still be a monarch in 100 years’ time.
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President Joe Biden has announced that the United States will send advanced rocket systems to Ukraine to help Kyiv resist Russian forces in the eastern part of the country. As VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports, Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Ukraine has assured the U.S. it will not use the systems to hit targets on Russian territory.
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The effort to bring Sweden and Finland into NATO remains stalled, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists that his country will exercise its authority to veto an expansion of the alliance.

In public remarks on the issue, Erdogan has claimed that by allowing some Kurdish dissident groups that oppose his government to operate in Sweden, the Swedish government is damaging Turkey’s national security. Erdogan has also expressed frustration with arms embargoes levied against his government by European countries after he sent troops into Syria in 2019.

The two Scandinavian countries, which have maintained their neutrality for many years, officially applied to join NATO in May, nearly three months after Russia invaded Ukraine. While Sweden does not share a border with Russia, Finland, its neighbor to the east, does. The Finland-Russia border is nearly 1,300 kilometers long.

Issue for Biden

The dispute over expanding NATO could become a political liability for the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, who encouraged Sweden and Finland to apply, hosted their leaders in Washington and publicly expressed his expectation that their application would be accepted promptly.

The administration has since tried to distance itself from the discussion.

On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, “We will continue to have consultations with our NATO counterparts, with our allies, with our ally Turkey, with our partners, Finland and Sweden, who will, we think, soon be considered allies, as well. So, we will continue to engage in that dialogue, but ultimately this is not an issue between the United States and Turkey. This is an issue between those three countries.”

However, experts said that practically speaking, there are no discussions about the composition of NATO that do not involve the United States, by far its largest member state.

Kurdish groups

Turkey has been involved in decadeslong conflicts with a number of Kurdish groups seeking independence or an autonomous region within Turkey.

One of these organizations, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, is formally recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and others. However, there are multiple other groups that advocate for sovereignty for the Kurds — the largest ethnic group in the world without its own state.

Some of those groups have allied with the United States in the battle against Islamic State in northern Syria. The People’s Protection Units, or YPG, have been particularly effective in that fight, but are deeply mistrusted by Erdogan because of their connections to PKK separatists in Turkey. Another group, the PYD, is the political arm of the YPG and has established relationships with some Western governments, including Sweden.

In Turkey’s view, connections to the PKK make groups like the PYD de facto terrorist organizations.

Erdogan makes his case

In an article published by The Economist this week, Erdogan described his country as a staunch supporter of NATO, noting the many actions it has taken in support of the alliance over the years.

In the NATO reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Turkey’s contribution to the effort has been among the most significant. In addition to providing vital military equipment and diplomatic support, Erdogan’s government has also blocked Russian warships from passing between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea.

“As all NATO allies accept Turkey’s critical importance to the alliance, it is unfortunate that some members fail fully to appreciate certain threats to our country,” he wrote. “Turkey maintains that the admission of Sweden and Finland entails risks for its own security and the organization’s future. We have every right to expect those countries, which will expect NATO’s second-largest army to come to their defense under Article 5, to prevent the recruitment, fundraising and propaganda activities of the PKK, which the European Union and America consider a terrorist entity.”

Calls for extradition

Erdogan went on to call for the extradition from Sweden of “members of terrorist organizations,” which it deems necessary for Turkey to lift its veto on NATO membership.

In addition, he said that arms embargoes against his country must be lifted.

“Turkey stresses that all forms of arms embargoes — such as the one Sweden has imposed on my country — are incompatible with the spirit of military partnership under the NATO umbrella,” he said. “Such restrictions not only undermine our national security but also damage NATO’s own identity.”

Arms embargoes

While the embargo imposed by Sweden and other European countries after Turkey’s incursion into Syria is the only one directly mentioned by Erdogan in his article, it may not be the only one on his mind.

After Turkey purchased Russian air defense systems in 2019, the United States blocked the country from purchasing the F-35, America’s most advanced fighter jet. Later, when Turkey asked to purchase more F-16 fighters from the U.S., members of Congress took action to block the sale.

While Turkey appears to have accepted that the F-35 is off the table, an easing of the blockade on the F-16 might make Erdogan more amenable to accepting Sweden’s and Finland’s applications.

‘Transactional player’

Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, chair of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center and former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Turkey, told VOA that Turkey is a “transactional foreign policy player.”

Erdogan, he said, wants a tangible benefit from allowing the two Scandinavian countries to join NATO — especially because his country feels that its contributions to the alliance are frequently overlooked.

“Turkey’s assessment, and they’re absolutely right … is that it is seen as, at best, a half-member, tolerated but not liked by the rest of NATO, and certainly not by the Washington foreign policy community,” Jeffrey said.

He added, “I mean, it is ridiculous to have an arms embargo on a fellow NATO country when you’re then demanding that NATO country take action for you.”

Domestic politics

Some experts say it is impossible to separate Erdogan’s position on Sweden and Finland from Turkish domestic politics. Spiraling inflation has severely damaged the Turkish economy and hurt Erdogan’s standing in public opinion polls.

“This is almost 90% about domestic politics,” Kemal Kirisci, a nonresident senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, told VOA. “Erdogan is fully exploiting any opportunity that arises to boost his standing in the eyes of the public,” and the Swedish and Finnish applications come “at a perfect time.”

Kirisci said that while Turkey may have some legitimate grievances, particularly about Sweden’s treatment of Kurdish dissident groups, Erdogan is unlikely to win major concessions on those issues. For that reason, he agrees that the Turkish president’s real goal in holding up the Swedish and Finnish applications is to have arms embargoes against Turkey lifted.

This would allow Erdogan to demonstrate that he is “able to stand up to the West,” Kirisci said, while simultaneously strengthening Turkey’s military.

New Syria offensive

In a possible complicating factor, Erdogan confirmed Wednesday that he is planning to send more Turkish troops into Syria to expand a 30-kilometer-deep “safe zone” on the Syrian side of the border.

“Let’s see who supports these legitimate steps by Turkey and who hinders them,” he said in remarks to members of his political party.

Past incursions have led to conflict between Turkish troops and members of Kurdish organizations that have been supported by the U.S. There are currently 900 U.S. troops in northern Syria supporting efforts against the Islamic State group.

However, Jeffrey said that Erdogan’s announcement that the new offensive would target Syria’s Tal Rifaat and Manbij areas should reduce concerns.

“They’re both to the west of the Euphrates,” he said. “They’re not areas that the U.S. has much concern about,” because American troops are not working with the Kurdish forces in that region.
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The European Commission said Wednesday that Croatia had met all the criteria to join the eurozone, paving the way for the country to become the single currency’s 20th member on January 1.

Croatia’s switch from the kuna to the euro will come less than a decade after the former Yugoslav republic joined the European Union, setting a new milestone in the bloc’s further integration.

The EU’s executive said Croatia had met the strict conditions to be part of the single currency, including keeping inflation in the same range as its EU peers, as well as embracing sound public spending.

Joining the single currency “will make Croatia’s economy stronger, bringing benefits to its citizens, businesses and society at large,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“Croatia’s adoption of the euro will also make the euro stronger,” she added.

The European Central Bank also gave a positive opinion in a separate report released on Wednesday.

Croatia expressed willingness to adopt the single currency upon joining the EU in 2013, and Brussels’ decision comes as the euro has just celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Croatia still needs the endorsement of the EU’s finance ministers, who are expected to give their full backing in July.

“The indications which we are having are positive. So normally, I would expect that the procedure goes through and Croatia will be able to join the euro area as of next year,” said EU Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis.

Dombrovskis, the commission’s most senior economic official, will travel to Zagreb on Thursday to formally present the opinion to the Croatian government.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic expressed confidence his country would join the currency club in the new year.

The country’s aim was to enter the Schengen open-borders zone on the same date, Plenkovic said at a press conference in Berlin.

Price hike fears

On January 1, 2002, millions of Europeans in 12 countries gave up the lira, franc, deutsche mark and drachma for euro bills and coins.

They have since been joined by seven other countries: Slovenia in 2007, Cyprus and Malta in 2008, Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011, Latvia in 2014 and, finally, Lithuania in 2015.

Bulgaria is the next county in line to join the euro, and it has stated its willingness to adopt it as of January 1, 2024.

However, eurozone members are worried about the long-term stability of the Bulgarian economy, and Sofia has yet to garner the same political support as Croatia.

EU governments are wary of repeating the mistakes of the euro’s early days, when countries such as Greece were rushed into the single currency with shaky finances, setting the stage for the eurozone debt crisis.

Like euro-adopting citizens before them, many Croatians fear the introduction of the euro will lead to a hike in prices — in particular that businesses will round up prices when they convert from the kuna.
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Russia relentlessly shelled Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, with the Luhansk regional governor conceding that Moscow’s forces now control 70% of the city and that evacuation of civilians had been halted.

Some Ukrainian troops were still fighting against the Russian onslaught, Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said, but others had retreated.

“There is no possibility to bring in humanitarian aid,” Haidai said in a Telegram post.

But Haidai said that Lysychansk — the only other city in the Luhansk region not taken by Russia or Moscow-backed separatists — remains “fully” under Ukrainian control.

The battle for Sievierodonetsk remains crucial for Russia’s aim to take control of Ukraine’s industrialized Donbas region in the eastern part of the country after it failed earlier during its three-month offensive to topple the government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or capture the capital, Kyiv.

If Russia were to capture Sievierodonetsk and its smaller twin Lysychansk on the west bank of the Siverskyi Donets River, it will hold all of Luhansk, one of two provinces in the Donbas that Moscow claims on behalf of separatists and a key war aim of President Vladimir Putin.

Oleksandr Stryuk, the head of the Sievierodonetsk city administration, told Reuters that Ukrainian forces now control just 20% of the city, Russian forces have well more than half, and the rest has become a “no-man’s land.”

“The 20% is being fiercely defended by our armed force,” Stryuk said. “Attempts are being made to drive out the Russian troops … We have hope that despite everything we will free the city.”

Haidai, the Luhansk governor, said Lysychansk was easier to defend since it is located on a hill, but he warned that Russian forces would target it with artillery and mortars once in full control of Sievierodonetsk.

Leonid Pasechnik, the leader of the pro-Moscow Luhansk People’s Republic, told Russia’s TASS news agency that Russian fighters had advanced slower than expected, in order to safeguard Sievierodonetsk’s infrastructure and “exercise caution around its chemical factories.”

Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council aid agency, which had long operated out of the city, said up to 12,000 civilians remain trapped by the fighting in Sievierodonetsk, without sufficient access to water, food, medicine or electricity.

Before the war, the city was home to about 120,000 people.

Some material in this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press.
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The food crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine could see some easing according to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who spoke Wednesday.

He said any breakthrough was not imminent and could still be some time off.

The war has effectively bottlenecked supplies of grain and fertilizer from the war zone. Russia and Ukraine account for a third of global wheat supplies while Russia is a major global source of fertilizer.

Guterres called for “quick and decisive action to ensure a steady flow of food and energy,” including “lifting export restrictions, allocating surpluses and reserves to vulnerable populations and addressing food price increases to calm market volatility.”

“I think that there is progress, but we are not yet there. These are complex things and the fact that everything is interlinked makes the negotiation particularly complex,” Guterres said at a news conference with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson in Stockholm.

Guerres traveled to Moscow and Kyiv earlier this year in an attempt to get exports from both countries to resume.

“As I said to the security council, I’m hopeful, but there is still a ways to go, and we are totally committed to make things happen,” he said.

Moscow has blamed Western sanctions for the disruptions in supplies and has said Russia would allow Ukrainian wheat and Russian fertilizer through the Black Sea if sanctions were eased.

During a trip to Bahrain Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov placed the responsibility on Kyiv and the West.

He said Western countries “created a lot of artificial problems by closing their ports to Russian ships, disrupting logistics and financial chains.”

Some information in this report comes from Reuters and Agence France Presse
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has pledged to send Ukraine high-tech anti-aircraft systems as Germany looks to quell criticism from opposition members that it hasn’t provided enough military aid in the fight against Russia’s unprovoked invasion.

Speaking to lawmakers in Berlin on Wednesday, Scholz said the government had approved a proposal to ship IRIS-T missiles and radar systems to Kyiv as Russia continues to pound targets in eastern Ukraine.

The goal is to ensure that Russian President Vladimir Putin “does not win” the war he started in Ukraine, Scholz said.

“Our goal is for Ukraine to be able to defend itself and succeed in doing so,” he added.

Russia has stepped up its offensive to take further ground in areas where Moscow-backed separatists already have a foothold as Western nations rush to get weapons to Ukraine, which lacks the firepower of Russia.

Scholz’s announcement comes hours after U.S. President Joe Biden said Washington will provide Ukraine with advanced rocket systems that can strike with precision at targets up to 80 kilometers away.

The rocket system known as HIMARS, can be used both to intercept Russian artillery and to take out Russian positions in towns where fighting is intense, such as Syevyerodonetsk.

Some information came from Reuters.

 
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In the dusty, northern-most sheikhdom of the United Arab Emirates, where laborers cycle by rustic tea shops, one of the world’s largest yachts sits in a quiet port — so far avoiding the fate of other luxury vessels linked to sanctioned Russian oligarchs. 

The display of lavish wealth is startling in one of the UAE’s poorest emirates, a 90-minute drive from the illuminated high-rises of Dubai. But the 118-meter (387-foot) Motor Yacht A’s presence in a Ras al-Khaimah creek also shows the UAE’s neutrality during Russia’s war on Ukraine as the Gulf country remains a magnet for Russian money and its oil-rich capital sees Moscow as a crucial OPEC partner. 

Since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, the seven sheikhdoms of the Emirates have offered a refuge for Russians, both those despairing of their country’s future as well as the mega-wealthy concerned about Western sanctions. 

While much of the world has piled sanctions on Russian institutions and allies of President Vladimir Putin, the Emirates has not. It also avoids overt criticism of the war, which government readouts still refer to as the “Ukraine crisis.” 

The Motor Yacht A belongs to Andrey Melnichenko, an oligarch worth some $23.5 billion, according to Forbes. He once ran the fertilizer producer Eurochem and SUEK, one the the world’s largest coal companies. 

The European Union in March included Melnichenko in a mass list of sanctions on business leaders and others described as close to Putin. The EU sanctions noted he attended a Feb. 24 meeting Putin held the day of the invasi

“The fact that he was invited to attend this meeting shows that he is a member of the closest circle of Vladimir Putin and that he is supporting or implementing actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, as well as stability and security in Ukraine,” the EU said at the time. 

Melnichenko resigned from the corporate positions he held in the two major firms, according to statements from the companies. However, he has criticized Western sanctions and denied being close to Putin. 

Melnichenko could not be reached for comment through his advisers. 

Already, authorities in Italy have seized one of his ships — the $600 million Sailing Yacht A. France, Spain and Britain as well have sought to target superyachts tied to Russian oligarchs as part of a wider global effort to put pressure on Putin and those close to him. 

But the $300 million Motor Yacht A so far appears untouched. It flew an Emirati flag on Tuesday when Associated Press journalists observed the ship. Two crew members milled around the deck. 

The boat’s last recorded position on March 10 put it off the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, just over 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles) from Ras al-Khaimah. Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by the AP show the vessel in Ras al-Khaimah’s creek beginning March 17, a week later. 

The Financial Times first reported on the ship’s presence in the UAE. 

Authorities in Ras al-Khaimah did not respond to a request for comment on the yacht’s presence. The UAE’s Foreign Ministry did not answer questions about the ship, but said in a statement to the AP that it takes “its role in protecting the integrity of the global financial system extremely seriously.” 

But so far, the UAE has taken no such public action targeting Russia. The country abstained on a U.N. Security Council vote in February condemning Russia’s invasion, angering Washington. 

The neutral response may stem from “the financial gain we’re seeing in Dubai in terms of new tourist arrivals, and Russian efforts to move assets and buy property,” said Karen Young, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute. 

The flow of Russian money — both legitimate and shady — is now an open secret in Dubai, where lavish hotels and beaches increasingly bustle with Russian speakers. State-run radio hosts cheerily describe a massive influx. 

The UAE became one of the few remaining flight corridors out of Moscow. The Emirati government offered three-month multiple-entry visas upon arrival to all Russians, allowing major companies to easily transfer their employees from Moscow to Dubai. The private jet terminal at Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central has seen a 400% spike in traffic, the airport’s CEO recently told the AP. 

Real estate agents have reported a surge of interest from Russians seeking to buy property in Dubai, particularly in the skyscrapers of Dubai Marina and villas on the Palm Jumeirah. 

For those who want to move to the UAE, buying high-end property also helps secure a visa. 

“Business is booming right now,” said Thiago Caldas, CEO of the Dubai-based property firm Modern Living, which now accepts cryptocurrency to facilitate sales with new Russian clients. “They have a normal life and don’t face restrictions.” 

Caldas said inquiries from Russian clients in Dubai have multiplied by over 10 since the war, forcing his firm to hire three Russian-speaking agents to deal with the deluge. 

With sanctions on Russian banks and businesses thwarting many citizens’ access to foreign capital, Russians are increasingly trying to bypass bank transfers through digital currencies in Dubai, said two cryptocurrency traders in the city, where they’re able to liquidate large sums of cash. 

“It’s a safe haven. … The inflow from Russian accounts skyrocketed 300% days after the war in Ukraine began,” said a Russian crypto trader in Dubai, who spoke like the other on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. 

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala state investment company remains among the most active sovereign wealth funds in Russia, along with those of China and Qatar, according to calculations by Javier Capapé of IE University in Spain for the AP. 

But pressure is growing. Late on Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi posted a strongly worded video message in solidarity with Ukraine featuring local ambassadors from the world’s leading democracies as Russia’s foreign minister visits the region. 

“We are united against Russia’s unjustifiable, unprovoked and illegal aggression,” said Ernst Peter Fischer, Germany’s ambassador to the UAE. 
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The World Health Organization reported more than 250 attacks on health facilities and health personnel in Ukraine since it was invaded by Russian forces. One U.S. firm is helping fill the gap with mobile laboratories and clinics. For VOA, Genia Dulot has our story from Los Angeles.
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For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT.

12:15 a.m.: U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday he decided to provide Ukraine with “more advanced rocket systems and munitions” as part of U.S. efforts to help the Ukrainian fight against a Russian invasion now in its fourth month.

Biden wrote in an opinion piece in The New York Times that the United States has aided Ukraine with weapons and ammunition in order to bolster its position on the battlefield and ultimately in peace negotiations with Russia.

“Unprovoked aggression, the bombing of maternity hospitals and centers of culture, and the forced displacement of millions of people makes the war in Ukraine a profound moral issue,” Biden said.

Biden wrote Tuesday that he does not seek war with Russia.

“As much as I disagree with Mr. Putin, and find his actions an outrage, the United States will not try to bring about his ouster in Moscow,” Biden said. “So long as the United States or our allies are not attacked, we will not be directly engaged in this conflict, either by sending American troops to fight in Ukraine or by attacking Russian forces. We are not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its borders.”

12:01 a.m.: Russian opposition figure and jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny could face 15 more years under a new charge, The Associated Press reported.

Navalny took to social media Tuesday to say he now has been charged with starting an extremist organization. There has been no official announcement about new charges against Navalny.

Navalny was jailed last year when he returned to Russia after receiving medical treatment in Germany following a poison attack with a Soviet-era nerve agent during a visit to Siberia in 2020. Navalny blamed Putin for the attack.

He is currently serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence in a prison camp east of Moscow on a 2014 embezzlement conviction. Navalny has been a longtime outspoken critic of the government, including calling the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “stupid” and “built on lies.”

Last year, Navalny’s foundation was outlawed after being labeled “extremist” by authorities, who blocked tens of websites run by his network.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.
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Tensions are rising between Turkey and Greece, with the Turkish foreign minister on Tuesday warning that Ankara could challenge the sovereignty of Greek islands. The threat comes as both sides increase their military presence in contested waters of the Aegean Sea. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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International soccer officials are investigating the chaos outside Paris’s Stade de France stadium for last Saturday’s Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

The highly anticipated game was uncharacteristically delayed for 37 minutes because many fans, mostly Liverpool fans, were unable to get in. Some fans reportedly were mugged.

Tear gas also reportedly was used.

The French government is blaming Liverpool fans, while Liverpool says that is an “irresponsible, unprofessional” rush to judgment and cites heavy-handed policing.

Some potential causes of the problems include only having three months to prepare for the event because the game was originally going to be hosted in Russia.

Some are pointing to a lack of signage to guide fans to the game in an orderly way.

Some also are wondering why Liverpool fans were made to walk through a narrow path from the subway to the stadium.

Another factor may be there reportedly were many fake tickets in circulation, leading to more delays.

“It was a pretty big mess,” said Madrid defender Dani Carvajal, whose family encountered safety issues. “They have to learn and fix the mistakes for the next events that may happen at this stadium, and hopefully everything will be better. But yes, in the end there were people who suffered a lot.”

Real Madrid won the game by a lone goal.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.
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A Ukrainian court sentenced two Russian soldiers to 11½-year prison terms on Tuesday after they had pleaded guilty last week to indiscriminately shelling civilian targets in the Kharkiv region, from across the border in Russia. 

Alexander Bobikin and Alexander Ivanov heard the verdict as they stood in a reinforced glass box at the Kotelva district court in northeastern Ukraine.

“The guilt of Bobikin and Ivanov has been proven in full,” Judge Evhen Bolybok said, standing in front of a Ukrainian flag.

Prosecutors had asked for 12-year terms for the Russian soldiers in the second war crimes case Ukrainian officials have brought. Defense lawyers said the sentences should be eight years because the pair had pleaded guilty, expressed remorse and contended that they were following orders when they fired Grad missiles at targets from Russia’s Belgorod area. 

After they were sentenced, the two were asked whether they felt their sentences were fair and both said yes. Guards armed with Kalashnikov rifles then handcuffed the two and led them out of the courtroom. 

After the initial shelling from inside Russia, Bobikin and Ivanov, described as an artillery driver and a gunner, were captured after crossing the border and continuing the shelling.  

Last week, a Russian soldier was handed a life sentence for killing an unarmed civilian. 

Ukraine has accused Russia of committing thousands of war crimes during the war over the past three months, although Moscow denies it is targeting civilians.  

Some material in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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After seven decades on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II is widely viewed in the U.K. as a rock in turbulent times. But in Britain’s former colonies, many see her as an anchor to an imperial past whose damage still lingers.

So while the U.K. is celebrating the queen’s Platinum Jubilee — 70 years on the throne — with pageantry and parties, some in the Commonwealth are using the occasion to push for a formal break with the monarchy and the colonial history it represents.

“When I think about the queen, I think about a sweet old lady,” said Jamaican academic Rosalea Hamilton, who campaigns for her country to become a republic. “It’s not about her. It’s about her family’s wealth, built on the backs of our ancestors. We’re grappling with the legacies of a past that has been very painful.”

The empire that Elizabeth was born into is long gone, but she still reigns far beyond Britain’s shores. She is head of state in 14 other nations, including Canada, Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Bahamas. Until recently it was 15 — Barbados cut ties with the monarchy in November, and several other Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, say they plan to follow suit.

Britain’s jubilee celebrations, which climax over a four-day holiday weekend starting Thursday, aim to recognize the diversity of the U.K. and the Commonwealth. A huge jubilee pageant through central London on Sunday will feature Caribbean Carnival performers and Bollywood dancers.

But Britain’s image of itself as a welcoming and diverse society has been battered by the revelation that hundreds, and maybe thousands, of people from the Caribbean who had lived legally in the U.K. for decades were denied housing, jobs or medical treatment — and in some cases deported — because they didn’t have the paperwork to prove their status.

The British government has apologized and agreed to pay compensation, but the Windrush scandal has caused deep anger, both in the U.K. and in the Caribbean.

A jubilee-year trip to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas in March by the queen’s grandson Prince William and his wife Kate, which was intended to strengthen ties, appears to have had the opposite effect. Images of the couple shaking hands with children through a chain-link fence and riding in an open-topped Land Rover in a military parade stirred echoes of colonialism for many.

Cynthia Barrow-Giles, professor of political science at the University of the West Indies, said the British “seem to be very blind to the visceral sort of reactions” that royal visits elicit in the Caribbean.

Protesters in Jamaica demanded Britain pay reparations for slavery, and Prime Minister Andrew Holness politely told William that the country was “moving on,” a signal that it planned to become a republic. The next month, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne told the queen’s son Prince Edward that his country, too, would one day remove the queen as head of state.

William acknowledged the strength of feeling and said the future “is for the people to decide upon.”

“We support with pride and respect your decisions about your future,” he said in the Bahamas. “Relationships evolve. Friendship endures.”

When then Princess Elizabeth became queen on the death of her father King George VI 1952, she was in Kenya. The East African country became independent in 1963 after years of violent struggle between a liberation movement and colonial troops. In 2013, the British government apologized for the torture of thousands of Kenyans during the 1950s “Mau Mau” uprising and paid millions in an out-of-court settlement.

Memories of the empire are still raw for many Kenyans.

“From the start, her reign would be indelibly stained by the brutality of the empire she presided over and that accompanied its demise,” said Patrick Gathara, a Kenyan cartoonist, writer and commentator.

“To this day, she has never publicly admitted, let alone apologized, for the oppression, torture, dehumanization and dispossession visited upon people in the colony of Kenya before and after she acceded to the throne.”

U.K. officials hope countries that become republics will remain in the Commonwealth, the 54-nation organization made up largely of former British colonies, which has the queen as its ceremonial head.

The queen’s strong personal commitment to the Commonwealth has played a big role in uniting a diverse group whose members range from vast India to tiny Tuvalu. But the organization, which aims to champion democracy, good governance and human rights, faces an uncertain future.

As Commonwealth heads of government prepare to meet in Kigali, Rwanda, this month for a summit delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, some question whether the organization can continue once the queen’s eldest son, Prince Charles, succeeds her.

“Many of the more uncomfortable histories of the British Empire and the British Commonwealth are sort of waiting in the wings for as soon as Elizabeth II is gone,” royal historian Ed Owens said. “So it’s a difficult legacy that she is handing over to the next generation.”

The crisis in the Commonwealth reflects Britain’s declining global clout.

Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth under its authoritarian late President Robert Mugabe, and is currently seeking readmission. But many in its capital of Harare have expressed indifference to the queen’s jubilee, as Britain’s once-strong influence wanes and countries such as China and Russia enjoy closer relations with the former British colony.

“She is becoming irrelevant here,” social activist Peter Nyapedwa said. “We know about [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] or [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, not the queen.”

Sue Onslow, director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, said the queen has been the “invisible glue” holding the Commonwealth together.

But she says the organization has proven remarkably resilient and and shouldn’t be written off. The Commonwealth played a major role in galvanizing opposition to apartheid in the 1980s, and could do the same over climate change, which poses an existential threat to its low-lying island members.

“The Commonwealth has shown a remarkable ability to reinvent itself and contrive solutions at times of crisis, almost as if it’s jumping into a telephone box and coming out under different guise,” she said. “Whether it will do it now is an open question.”
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Russia’s influence in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia is expected to decline as its overstretched military struggles in Ukraine and its economy suffers shocks from the sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies, according to experts.

Russia has long enjoyed leverage over the region’s five countries – Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan – because of their reliance on remittances from migrant laborers employed in Russia, says Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, head of the Center for Governance and Markets at the University of Pittsburgh.

World Bank data published in March laid out the importance of the remittances, which it said in some cases “were comparable to or even larger than the countries’ exports of goods and services.”

“In the past, Central Asian states were wary of Russia because they understood that (their economic relationship) changes if they offended Moscow,” Murtazashvili told VOA. But, she said, the balance has shifted because of the war in Ukraine and the five countries “now understand that Russia needs labor from Central Asia very badly.”

“These countries now understand that they have agency and leverage and are beginning to understand how they can use it,” she said. “Right now, we are seeing a stronger Central Asia that will have more freedom to pick and choose among great powers.”

Russia’s weakness opens the door for China to play a larger role in the region, but it also increases opportunities for other countries that wish to do business there, according to Murtazshvili.

On Tuesday, exactly three months after Russia launched its invasion, China pledged $37.5 million of “free financial assistance” to Uzbekistan “for the implementation of joint socially significant projects,” according to the Uzbek government.

The agreement was signed by Uzbekistan’s deputy minister of investment and foreign trade, Aziz Voitov, and the Chinese ambassador in Tashkent, Jiang Yan, according to a statement on the website of Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade.

One day earlier, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu led a U.S. delegation to the region on a five-day trip to the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan.

According to the State Department, the purpose of the trip is “to strengthen U.S. relations with the region and advance collaborative efforts to create a more connected, prosperous, and secure Central Asia.”

Last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Washington with Mukhtar Tileuberdi, the foreign minister of Kazakhstan.

In the meeting, according to the State Department, Blinken confirmed the U.S. “commitment to minimizing the impact on allies and partners, including Kazakhstan, from the sanctions imposed on Russia.”

Raffaello Pantucci, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and author of “Sinostan: China’s Inadvertent Empire,” said that while Russia’s influence is expected to decline it will remain an important player in the region.

Leaders of the Central Asian nations “have always had some concern and skepticism towards Russia and now it will be worse,” he told VOA. “The natural connections and public opinion mean it will be hard to entirely sever, but it is clear that the regional governments are not ecstatic about President [Vladimir] Putin’s actions” in Ukraine.

Early in the war, Putin called the heads of the Central Asian states to seek support for his planned occupation of Ukraine. But the five leaders responded cautiously, neither endorsing nor condemning the invasion.

China, meanwhile, has been expanding its footprint in the region for a while, Pantucci said. “But increasingly the region will find itself frustrated as — unlike Russia — China is not very interested in stepping in to try to fix things, but is single-mindedly focused on its own interests.”

Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, also predicted Russia will remain influential in the region despite the problems created by the war.

“Russia understands what is going on here in Central Asia and it does it better than any other foreign actor in the region,” Umarov told VOA from Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, “So this is something that is really difficult to change.”

According to Umarov, the five Central Asian states have been seeking to diversify their ties with the rest of the world since they gained their independence from Moscow in the early 1990s.

“Russia’s actions toward Ukraine will add speed to the process of replacing Russia in those countries,” Umarov said. “Of course, China is the number one country that has the capacity to do that in many spheres, especially in terms of logistics because of geographic location and its economy, because of China’s economic muscle which other countries do not possess.”

But, according to Murtazashvili, China is not very popular in Central Asia. “People understand what has happened with the Uyghurs and are wary of getting too close to China,” she said.

Three of the five Central Asian countries border China’s western Xinjiang region, where Beijing is accused by the U.S. and other countries of a genocidal crackdown on its Uyghur minority. Beijing rejects the accusation as lies and says that China is fighting against the “forces of three evil,” namely separatism, extremism and terrorism in the region.

The majority-Turkic countries of Central Asia are culturally, religiously and ethnically close to the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
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For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT.

1:00 a.m.: Japanese industry minister said on Tuesday that his country will not leave the Sakhalin 2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) project even if asked to leave, Reuters reported.  

The land for the project is Russia’s but the plant is owned by the Japanese government and companies, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda told a parliamentary committee. 

12:30 a.m.: Moscow backed separatist leader said Tuesday that Russian forces had not advanced as rapidly as they had hoped in the battle for Sievierodonetsk, the easternmost city still in Ukraine’s hands, Reuters reported citing state-run TASS news agency. 

As the Russian offensive continued across Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, the European Union agreed to ban most imports of Russian oil, a move intended to blow a hole in the Kremlin’s war finances. 

12:15 a.m.: Russian troops continue to battle Ukrainian forces in the eastern part of the country, according to The Associated Press. 

12:01 a.m.: European Union leaders agreed late Monday to ban two-thirds of Russian oil imports as part of a compromise deal to increase pressure on Russia while accounting for the economic effects on some EU nations that are more reliant on Russian oil supplies. The embargo cuts off Russian oil delivered by sea, while exempting oil imported through pipelines. 

Landlocked Hungary had threatened to oppose restrictions on oil imports, a move that would have scuttled the effort that requires consensus of all EU members. European Council President Charles Michel said he expects EU ambassadors to formally endorse the embargo, which is part of a larger sanctions package, on Wednesday. 

Combined with pledges from countries such as Germany to phase out their Russian oil imports, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the agreement will “effectively cut around 90% of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year.” 

Other parts of the sanction package include assets freezes and travel bans on individuals, and excluding Russia’s biggest banks, Sberbank, from the SWIFT global financial transfer system. The EU is also barring three Russian state-owned broadcasters from distributing content in EU countries. EU leaders also agreed to provide Ukraine with $9.7 billion in assistance for the country’s economy and reconstruction efforts. 

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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European Union leaders agreed late Monday to ban two-thirds of Russian oil imports as part of a compromise deal to increase pressure on Russia while accounting for the economic effects on some EU nations that are more reliant on Russian oil supplies.

The embargo cuts off Russian oil delivered by sea, while exempting oil imported through pipelines.

Landlocked Hungary had threatened to oppose restrictions on oil imports, a move that would have scuttled the effort that requires consensus of all EU members. European Council President Charles Michel said he expects EU ambassadors to formally endorse the embargo, which is part of a larger sanctions package, on Wednesday.

Ukrainian leaders have long called for banning Russian oil imports in order to deny Russia income it can use to fuel its war effort. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his appeal as he spoke to the EU Monday.

Combined with pledges from countries such as Germany to phase out their Russian oil imports, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the agreement will “effectively cut around 90% of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year.”

Other parts of the sanction package include assets freezes and travel bans on individuals, and excluding Russia’s biggest banks, Sberbank, from the SWIFT global financial transfer system. The EU is also barring three Russian state-owned broadcasters from distributing content in EU countries.

EU leaders also agreed to provide Ukraine with $9.7 billion in assistance for the country’s economy and reconstruction efforts.

Luhansk fighting

Fierce fighting has erupted on the streets of the eastern Ukraine city of Sievierodonetsk, with Kyiv’s forces trying desperately to fight off the Russian onslaught.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy characterized the situation as “indescribably difficult.” In a televised speech, he described capturing Sievierodonetsk as “a fundamental task for the occupiers” and said Ukraine was doing all it could to protect the city from a Russian takeover.

Russian troops have entered the city, power and communications have been knocked out, and “the city has been completely ruined,” Sievierodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Striuk told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

“The number of victims is rising every hour, but we are unable to count the dead and the wounded amid the street fighting,” the mayor said. Striuk said 12,000 to 13,000 civilians remain in the city that once had 100,000 residents. They are sheltering in basements and bunkers to escape the Russian assault.

Striuk estimated 1,500 civilians in the city have died since the war began, from Russian attacks as well as from a lack of medicine or treatment.

Sievierodonetsk, the last major Ukrainian-held population center in the eastern Luhansk province, has become the focus of Russian attacks as Moscow attempts to control the Donbas region after failing to topple Zelenskyy or capture the capital, Kyiv, during more than three months of fighting. Sievierodonetsk is about 140 kilometers from the Russian border.

Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian troops “use the same tactics over and over again. They shell for several hours — for three, four, five hours in a row — and then attack. Those who attack die. Then shelling and attack follow again and so on until they break through somewhere.”

In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden said he would not send rocket systems to Ukraine that could reach Russia. Ukraine has received extensive U.S. military aid but has requested more powerful rocket systems.

Toll on journalists

Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Monday that 32 media workers had been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

That includes French journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, who died Monday near Sievierodonetsk.

French broadcaster BFM TV said the 32-year-old journalist was hit by shrapnel while reporting on Ukrainian evacuations from the area.

French President Emmanuel Macron sent his condolences to the family and colleagues of Leclerc-Imhoff, writing in a tweet that the journalist died showing “the reality of the war.”

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who was in Ukraine on Monday, called for an investigation into the journalist’s death, saying in a statement that “France demands that a probe be carried out as soon as possible.”

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has discussed Ankara’s planned military operation in northern Syria and the war in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Erdogan’s office said Monday.

In recent days Erdogan has said Turkey will launch a cross-border incursion against Kurdish militants in Syria to create a 30-kilometer-deep buffer zone. He told Putin in a phone call that the frontier zone was agreed to in 2019 but had not been implemented, the Turkish presidency said.

Ankara carried out an operation against the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, in October 2019. Russia, the Syrian regime and the United States also have troops in the border region.

Turkey considers the YPG to be a terrorist group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, that has waged an insurgency against Turkey since 1984, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of people.

However, the YPG forms the backbone of U.S.-led forces in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria. The U.S. has not been happy with Turkey’s previous incursions into Syria.

Erdogan also told Putin that Turkey was ready to resume a role in ending the war in Ukraine, including taking part in a possible “observation mechanism” between Ukraine, Russia and the United Nations, the statement said.

Negotiations in Istanbul held in March failed to make any headway, but Turkey, which has close ties to both Kyiv and Moscow, has repeatedly put itself forward as a possible mediator.

The Turkish president also called for peace in Ukraine as soon as possible and for confidence-building steps to be taken.

In Washington, the National Security Council said national security adviser Jake Sullivan had called Ibrahim Kalin, chief adviser to Erdogan, to discuss the two nations’ support for Ukraine, but also to voice caution about actions in Syria.

Sullivan “reiterated the importance of refraining from escalation in Syria to preserve existing cease-fire lines and avoid any further destabilization,” said Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the National Security Council.
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The European Union heads of state meeting in Brussels Monday remain deadlocked over an oil embargo against Russia, with Hungary the key holdout.  The summit will continues Tuesday.

European Union leaders are reportedly considering a draft proposal that would temporarily exempt crude pipeline deliveries from any oil embargo against Russia, focusing for now on oil shipments. If agreed, the ban would be part of a sixth EU sanctions package against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

Arriving at the summit, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen played down hopes for a quick breakthrough.

“We’ve now basically solved all the issues but one, and this is the question of crude oil by pipeline. And here the discussions are still ongoing. I have not too high expectations that we’re going to solve it in the next 48 hours, but thereafter,” she said.

Underscoring the difficult negotiations, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban criticized the EU’s executive arm and said there was no agreement so far.

“We are ready to support the package sanctions if there are solutions for the Hungarian supply security we haven’t got up to now,” he said.

Like Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are highly dependent on Russian energy and also have reservations over an oil embargo. But Hungary’s Orban has been the most vocal.

Until now, the EU has shown remarkable unity as it agrees to ever-tougher sanctions against Moscow.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said more needs to be done.

“As far as the war continues, we haven’t done enough. We have done a lot but still not enough, because still the war continues,” she said.

Some experts wonder just how long the EU’s 27 members will stay on the same page, as the Ukraine war drags on.

“It’s obviously difficult to predict the outcomes of the war just three months after it started, but one can imagine several scenarios of how it evolves, and some of them are highly divisive for Europeans,” said analyst Marie Dumoulin of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

She says EU unity could erode if, for example, there’s a messy and protracted cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia, or if Ukraine wants to retake control or cede areas captured by Russia before or during this war.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to join the summit by video link with European leaders for continuing talks Tuesday.
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The French news broadcaster BFM TV said a 32-year-old French journalist was killed Monday in eastern Ukraine, fatally hit by shell shrapnel while covering a Ukrainian evacuation operation.

BFM TV said its journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff was killed as he was “covering a humanitarian operation in an armored vehicle” near Sievierodonetsk, a key city in the Donbas region that is being hotly contested by Russian and Ukrainian forces. He had worked for six years for the French television channel.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Leclerc-Imhoff on Twitter.

He “was in Ukraine to show the reality of the war. Aboard a humanitarian bus, alongside civilians forced to flee to escape Russian bombs, he was fatally shot,” Macron tweeted.

Macron expressed condolences to his family, relatives and colleagues and spoke of “France’s unconditional support” to “those who carry out the difficult mission of informing in theaters of operations.”

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna called the journalist’s death “deeply shocking.”

“France demands that a transparent inquiry be launched as soon as possible to shed full light on the circumstances of this tragedy,” she added.

Earlier Monday, the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai, announced Leclerc-Imhoff’s death in a Telegram post, saying that Russian forces fired on an armored vehicle that was traveling to pick up people for evacuation.

“Shrapnel from the shells pierced the vehicle’s armor, fatally wounding an accredited French journalist in the neck who was reporting on the evacuation. The patrol officer was saved by his helmet,” he wrote.

As a result of the attack, the evacuation was called off, Haidai said.

He posted an image of Leclerc-Imhoff’s Ukrainian press accreditation, and images of what he said was the aftermath of the attack.

Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said another French journalist was wounded along with a Ukrainian woman who was accompanying them.

He said Leclerc-Imhoff’s body was evacuated to the nearby Ukrainian-held city of Bakhmut, from where it will be taken to the central city of Dnipro for an autopsy.

He said the patrol officer accompanying the vehicle was hit by shrapnel in the head and taken to a military hospital.
…

Fierce fighting has erupted on the streets of the eastern Ukraine city of Sievierodonetsk, with Kyiv’s forces trying desperately to fight off the Russian onslaught.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy characterized the situation as “indescribably difficult.” In a televised speech, he described capturing Sievierodonetsk as “a fundamental task for the occupiers” and said Ukraine was doing all it could to protect the city from a Russian takeover.

Russian troops have entered the city, power and communications have been knocked out and “the city has been completely ruined,” Sievierodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Striuk told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

“The number of victims is rising every hour, but we are unable to count the dead and the wounded amid the street fighting,” the mayor said. Striuk said 12,000 to 13,000 civilians remain in the city that once had 100,000 residents. They are sheltering in basements and bunkers to escape the Russian assault.

Striuk estimated 1,500 civilians in the city have died since the war began, from Russian attacks as well as from a lack of medicine or treatment.

Sievierodonetsk, the last major Ukrainian-held population center in the eastern Luhansk province, has become the focus of Russian attacks as Moscow attempts to control the Donbas region after failing to topple Zelenskyy or capture the capital, Kyiv, during more than three months of fighting. Sievierodonetsk is about 140 kilometers from the Russian border.

Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said Russian troops “use the same tactics over and over again. They shell for several hours — for three, four, five hours in a row — and then attack. Those who attack die. Then shelling and attack follow again, and so on until they break through somewhere.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told France’s TF1 television Sunday that Moscow’s “unconditional priority is the liberation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” saying that Russia sees them as “independent states.”

Zelenskyy was set Monday to address the European Council as he pushes for more help for Ukraine and pressure on Russia to end its invasion.

The United States is continuing its arms shipments to Ukraine, but President Joe Biden said Monday that the U.S. will not send rocket systems that can reach Russia.

European Council President Charles Michel said in a letter ahead of a two-day session that Ukraine is “showing incredible courage and dignity in the face of the Russian aggression and atrocities.”   

“One of our most pressing concerns is assisting the Ukrainian state, along with our international partners, with its liquidity needs,” Michel said. “We will also discuss how best to organize our support for Ukraine’s reconstruction, as a major global effort will be required to rebuild the country.” 

Michel said the meetings would include addressing high energy prices linked to the conflict and a need to “accelerate our energy transition” in order to phase out European dependence on Russian fossil fuels, as well as discussing ways to deal with issues of food security and price increases. 

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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