- Russian troops pushed deeper into the key eastern city of Severodonotesk, fighting street by street with Kyiv’s forces on Monday as Moscow steps up its efforts to capture the Luhansk region’s stronghold.
- Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has held talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, offering to facilitate the reopening of Ukrainian ports.
- The Kremlin says Putin told Erdogan that Russia is ready to facilitate the unhindered export of grain from Ukrainian ports in coordination with Turkey.
- France announces the opening of a war crimes probe into the killing of journalist Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, French media outlets have report.
- Charles Michel, president of the European Council, announces an agreement among European Union countries to ban most Russian oil imports.
[Al Jazeera]
Here are all the latest updates:
19 mins ago (23:50 GMT)
Russian troops pushed further into Severodonetsk Monday
Russian troops pushed farther into the key city of Severodonetsk, in the Luhansk region, on Monday and fought street by street with Kyiv’s forces.
The mayor said the battle has left the city in ruins and driven tens of thousands from their homes.
Military analysts have painted the fight for Severodonetsk as part of a race against time for the Kremlin.
The city is key to Russian efforts to complete the capture of the eastern industrial region of the Donbas quickly — before more Western arms arrive to bolster Ukraine’s defence.
Ukrainian tanks move in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Monday, May 30, 2022 [Francisco Seco/AP]
39 mins ago (23:30 GMT)
Russia stolen half a million tonnes of grain: Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy has said that Russian occupiers have stolen “at least half a million tonnes of grain” from Ukraine.
They “are now looking for ways to illegally sell it somewhere. To sell it in a way to make money on what was stolen and to keep the deficit in the legal market,” he said in his nighttime address.
On Monday, CNN reported that satellite imagery showed a Russian merchant ship loaded with stolen Ukrainian grain had arrived in the Syrian port of Latakia. It was carrying nearly 30,000 tonnes of (Ukrainian) wheat, according to Ukrainian officials.
1 hour ago (22:48 GMT)
Zelenskyy says 32 media workers killed since invasion began
The killing of French journalist Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff brings the number of media workers killed in Ukraine since the start …….