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‘Don’t humiliate Russia,’ Macron says, inciting outrage in Ukraine

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Ukraine’s foreign minister has slammed French President Emmanuel Macron for stating that Russia must not be humiliated as a result of its invasion. Mr. Macron stressed the importance of President Vladimir Putin having a way out of a “fundamental error.”

Allies, on the other hand, should “better focus on how to put Russia in its place” as it “humiliates itself,” according to Dmytro Kuleba. Mr Macron has spoken with Mr Putin on the phone several times in an attempt to broker a ceasefire and negotiations.

The French efforts to maintain contact with Putin contrast sharply with the US and UK positions. “Calls to avoid humiliating Russia can only humiliate France and every other country that would call for it,” Foreign Minister Kuleba said in a tweet.

Ukraine must not give Russia territorial concessions, according to Kyiv, because Russia’s invasion has been condemned internationally as a brutal aggression. Mr Macron had previously told French regional media that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “isolated himself.”

“I believe, and I told him so,” he said, “that he made a historic and fundamental error for his people, for himself, and for history.” “Isolating oneself is one thing,” he continued, “but getting out of it is a difficult path.”Mario Draghi, Italy’s prime minister, has sided with Mr Macron, saying Europe wants “some credible negotiations.”

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Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, a journalist for BFMTV in France, was killed in Ukraine

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A French journalist working in Ukraine was killed near the eastern city of Severodonetsk, which has been hit by fighting. Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, 32, was killed while covering an evacuation operation for BFMTV.

Officials say shrapnel pierced the armoured vehicle he was riding in, inflicting a fatal neck wound. According to reports, his colleague Maxime Brandstaetter was also hurt. Mr. Leclerc-Imhoff was in Ukraine for the second time to cover the conflict. For the previous six years, he had been employed by BFMTV.

“This tragic event reminds us of the dangers faced by all journalists who have been reporting this conflict at the risk of their lives for more than three months now,” BFMTV said in an online tribute to him. Graphic images of what appears to be the aftermath have been circulated online, according to BBC correspondent James Waterhouse, showing a badly damaged lorry with a smashed windscreen and blood on the interior.

A local Ukrainian journalist who was travelling with Mr Leclerc-Imhoff was not hurt. “I would like to reiterate France’s unconditional support,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter in a tribute to Mr. Leclerc-Imhoff and other journalists reporting on the frontlines from war zones.

“Journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff travelled to Ukraine to document the war’s reality. He was fatally shot on board a humanitarian bus, alongside civilians forced to flee Russian bombs.”

Meanwhile, France’s foreign ministry has demanded a “transparent investigation” into what happened as soon as possible. Brent Renaud, a US journalist, was the first foreign journalist killed while covering the conflict in Ukraine in March.

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Severodonetsk: Ukrainian man rides his bike through the besieged city while dodging Russian shells

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By cycling and dodging Russian shells and warplanes, a Ukrainian man managed to escape the heavily bombed eastern city of Severodonetsk unharmed.

Arif Bagirov, 45, told BBC Newshour that it was his “craziest journey.” He described his 70-kilometer (43-mile) bike ride to Bakhmut as “a lot of firing and at least two air strikes near me.”

The editor and blogger predicted that if one shell landed close by, the Russians would most likely avoid hitting the area again. Using these strategies, he was able to reach Bakhmut unharmed. “There were holes in the road, and everything, including cars, was smashed up,” Mr Bagirov said.

“And there was a lot of debris strewn about.” It is, after all, a frontline road. Thankfully, there were no bodies, but it was clear that people had died there.”
Mr Bagirov claimed that avoiding Russian warplanes was easier because he could hear them approaching from afar.
“I found a ditch to lie down in and stayed there until they passed.”
When he finally arrived in Bakhmut, a Ukrainian-controlled city further west, he said it was a huge relief. “When I was riding my bike, it wasn’t so much a sense of fear as it was a sense of anger: ‘This is my land, this is my country!’

And whether you like it or not, I’m going to finish this journey!’ He describes the sensation as “sporting anger, a positive anger” that kept him going. Mr Bagirov, a seasoned cyclist, added, “It was definitely my craziest journey on a bike.” “I’d travelled great distances before, but never in such adverse conditions.”

“I don’t know at the moment,” he said simply when asked about his future plans. I’m just on my way to Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and once there, I’ll get some rest.” “As soon as the opportunity presents itself, all I want to do is help my home town again,” he added.

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Ukraine war: Russian soldiers’ bodies are dumped near Kyiv

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Villagers in Zavalivka called the authorities after their dogs began digging incessantly in the woods.

The topsoil was carefully removed by a Ukrainian military team wearing white protective suits. They discovered a man’s body, lying face down with his legs twisted strangely beneath him. His uniform indicated that he was a Russian soldier.

Russian troops’ remains are still being discovered in and around the villages they passed through or occupied near Kyiv, weeks after they failed to seize Ukraine’s capital. However, Ukraine claims that Russia is uninterested in returning them.

The body was taken from its grave in the woods to a refrigerated train on the outskirts of Kyiv, which now serves as a mobile morgue for the Russian dead. The white plastic sacks are labelled with numbers rather than names, and on the day we visited, there were at least 137 stacked inside two carriages.

The Ukrainians try to identify the dead: the forensics team discovered two bank cards and badges for a Russian motorised rifle brigade on the body that was just brought in.

“At least this one has a chance of getting home,” the man in charge said as he displayed the finds, which included a soiled T-shirt with the Army of Russia logo printed on it.

I confirmed that the man I had just seen exhumed was a young, married soldier from Siberia a few moments later. A carefully posed black-and-white photograph from his social media profile stared out from my phone next to his body bag.

“We don’t abandon our own,” Russia proudly proclaims. It’s a big part of President Vladimir Putin’s pretext for invading Ukraine, where he falsely claimed Russian-speakers required protection.

This pledge does not appear to apply to Russian soldiers.
“The bodies we’ve discovered show they treat people like garbage, like cannon fodder,” Col Volodymyr Liamzin told the BBC. “They don’t require their troops. They throw them here, then flee, leaving the bodies behind.”

Russian soldiers are being urged to surrender and save their lives, while Ukrainian children are being sacrificed.

After the battle, the village elder claims he and others buried the Russians “for sanitary reasons.” When I ask why, he says most of them were blown to bits.

He wasn’t allowed to show us the graves because they are a crime scene until Col Liamzin’s team visits and exhumes the site. However, his to-do list is already lengthy.

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Ukraine war: One Russian’s anti-war protest on the side of his shopping centre

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You can reach Russko-Vysotskoye by driving eight hours north of Moscow.

Apart from the chicken farm and the church that was reduced to rubble during WWII, there isn’t much to see here.  However, there is one feature of this town that stands out: the local shopping centre.

The building is owned by Dmitry Skurikhin, and you should see what he’s done to the front. “Peace to Ukraine, Freedom to Russia!” he writes in huge letters. He’s written the names of Ukrainian towns that have been attacked by the Russian army in bright red paint.

Mariupol, Bucha, Kherson, Chernihiv, and other cities are among them. Dmitry explains, “I thought this would be a good way of getting information out.”

“Because our people had no idea what was going on during the first few weeks of the war. They assumed that a special operation was underway to remove drug addicts from the Ukrainian government. They were completely unaware that Russia was shelling Ukrainian cities.” Dmitry has even transformed his store’s roof into a massive yellow and blue Ukrainian flag. Dmitry pulls out a paint pot and brush and begins to add more names.

Irpin, Borodyanka, Odesa… The excess paint drips blood red down the wall, amplifying the impact of this statement.

Dmitry is well aware that his actions are fraught with danger. Protests in Russia frequently result in prosecution or threats. Or both. His door has already been defaced with the word “traitor.” The cops have also paid us a visit. He was fined later for smearing the Russian military.Paint, Dmitry Skurikhin knows, will not bring peace. But, he believes, if his protest causes people in the town to stop, think, and even question, it will have been worthwhile.

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Russia has cut off gas deliveries to Finland

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Russia has stopped supplying natural gas to Finland, according to Gasum, the Finnish state-owned energy company.

Finland has refused to pay in roubles for its supplies. However, it comes after Finland’s announcement that it will apply to join NATO. Gasum said the move was “regrettable,” but that customers would not be inconvenienced.

Despite the conflict in Ukraine, Russia continues to provide gas to a number of European countries. Following Western sanctions over the war, Russia announced that “unfriendly” countries must pay for gas in Russian currency, a move the EU regards as blackmail.

Many consumers are experiencing a cost-of-living crisis as a result of their reliance on Russian energy. The majority of Finland’s gas is imported from Russia, but gas accounts for less than a tenth of the country’s total energy consumption.

“It is extremely unfortunate that natural gas supplies under our supply contract will now be halted,” Gasum CEO Mika Wiljanen said. “However, we have been meticulously preparing for this situation, and we will be able to supply all of our customers with gas in the coming months assuming there are no disruptions in the gas transmission network,” he added. “It is obvious that nobody is going to deliver anything for free,” a Kremlin spokesman said when asked about the situation.

Russia also cut Finland’s electricity supply on Sunday. If Finland applied to join Nato, it had threatened retaliation.

Separately, Russia’s state-owned oil company Rosneft announced on Friday that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder had informed them that he would no longer serve on its board of directors.

Mr. Schröder’s lucrative role has sparked growing public outrage. He has refused to criticise Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, whom he considers a personal friend, over the conflict.

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Russian soldier pleads guilty in first war crimes trial of Ukraine conflict

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In the first war crimes trial in Ukraine since the conflict began, a 21-year-old Russian soldier admitted to killing an unarmed civilian.

A few days after the invasion began, Vadim Shishimarin admitted to shooting a 62-year-old man. He is facing life in prison. Handcuffed and flanked by heavily armed guards, the prisoner was led into the tiny Kyiv courtroom. He kept his head bowed and appeared nervous.

The widow of the man who was killed was only a few metres away.
As the soldier entered court, she wiped tears from her eyes and sat with her hands clasped as the prosecutor laid out his case, describing Kateryna’s husband, Oleksandr Shelipov, being shot in the head.

The judge inquired, “Do you accept your guilt?” Shishimarin replied, “Yes.”

“Totally?”

From behind the glass of his grey metal-and-glass cage, he replied quietly, “Yes.”

Shishimarin was commanding a unit in a tank division when his convoy was attacked, according to prosecutors. He and four other soldiers stole a car and encountered the 62-year-old on a bicycle near Chupakhivka, according to them. Shishimarin was ordered to kill the civilian, according to prosecutors, and he did so with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

The Kremlin previously stated that it was unaware of the situation.

Shishimarin’s trial was postponed shortly after the civilian’s widow heard the Russian soldier admit to the murder for the first time. On Thursday, the high-profile hearing will resume in a larger courtroom.  Before leaving the court for the day, Oleksandr’s widow spoke to the BBC about how she was coping.

“I pity him [Shishimarin],” she expressed her sorrow. “However, I cannot forgive him for such a crime.”  Ukraine has identified more than 10,000 possible Russian war crimes so far.

Although Moscow has denied targeting civilians with its troops, investigators have been gathering evidence of possible war crimes to present to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is sending a team of 42 investigators, forensic experts, and support personnel to Ukraine. In the meantime, Ukraine has established a team to preserve evidence in order to facilitate future prosecutions.

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Ivan Kuliak: Russian gymnast given one-year ban for wearing pro-war symbol on podium next to Ukrainian

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Ivan Kuliak, a Russian gymnast, was given a one-year suspension for wearing a national war symbol on the podium at a competition in Qatar in March.

Kuliak took bronze in the Apparatus World Cup parallel bars final in Doha, wearing a letter ‘Z’ taped to his chest as he stood next to Ukraine’s Illia Kovtun, who won gold. Kuliak must now return his medal, but he has 21 days to file an appeal.

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the letter Z became symbolic. It was painted on the sides of tanks and military vehicles, and it was worn by pro-war Russian politicians.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) investigated the incident, and Kuliak was sanctioned by the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation (GEF) disciplinary commission for violating FIG rules.

For the next 12 months, the 20-year-old is not permitted to compete in any FIG-sanctioned event or competition hosted by an affiliated FIG member federation. “If the protective measures preventing Russian athletes from competing are still in place on 17 May 2023, the ban shall continue and expire six months after said measures are removed,” the statement added.

Kuliak must also repay his prize money of 500 Swiss francs (£403) as well as a 2,000 Swiss francs (£1,612) contribution to the proceedings’ costs. Valentina Rodionenko, the head of the Russian delegation, and coach Igor Kalabushkin were found not to have broken any FIG rules.

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Ukraine war: Putin warns Finland joining Nato would be ‘mistake’

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President Vladimir Putin of Russia has warned Finland’s Prime Minister Juha Sipila that joining Nato and abandoning its neutral status would be a “mistake.”

He assured Sauli Niinistö that Finland’s security was unaffected.  The conversation took place during a phone call by Finland’s president, ahead of a formal request that Finland is expected to make soon.

Finland and Russia share a 1,300-kilometer (810-mile) border. To avoid antagonising its eastern neighbour, it has stayed out of Nato until now. Mr Putin did not directly threaten retaliation in response to Finland’s move, but the Russian foreign ministry has indicated that retaliation will occur.

However, Russia’s decision to halt electricity supplies to Finland is being interpreted as a precursor. RAO Nordic, a Russian energy supplier, mentioned payment issues in its statement.

Reima Paivinen, the head of Finland’s national grid, told the BBC that the Russian suspension had caused no problems.
He claimed that Russian imports made up about 10% of the country’s supply, but that they could be replaced with alternative sources.

The Kremlin said after Mr Niinistö’s phone call with Mr Putin on Saturday that the Russian leader had stressed that “ending the traditional policy of military neutrality would be a mistake because there is no threat to Finland’s security.” “Such a shift in the country’s political orientation could have a negative impact on Russian-Finnish relations, which have been built over many years in a spirit of good neighbourliness and cooperation between partners,” it continued.

Mr Niinistö said he told Mr Putin about how Russia’s recent actions, combined with the invasion of Ukraine, “have changed the security environment of Finland.”

“The conversation was direct and to-the-point, and it was carried out without a hitch. The importance of avoiding tensions was emphasised “he said.

Turkey could be a stumbling block to Sweden and Finland joining Nato, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused both countries of harbouring “terrorist organisations” and said he did not support their membership applications.

It was interpreted as a reference to the PKK, which Turkey considers to be a terrorist organisation. The PKK has been fighting Turkey for a Kurdish homeland for decades.

In 1949, Nato, a Western military alliance, was formed in part to counter the Soviet Union’s threat.

One of the reasons for the invasion of Ukraine, according to President Putin, is Ukraine’s desire to join the alliance.

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Finland will apply for NATO membership “as soon as possible”

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Finland’s president and prime minister have urged the country to join NATO “as soon as possible.”

In a joint statement, Sauli Niinisto and Sanna Marin said they expected a decision within the next few days. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, public support for Nato membership has risen dramatically.

Finland and Russia share a 1,300-kilometer (810-mile) border. To avoid antagonising its eastern neighbour, it has stayed out of Nato until now.

After consideration by parliament and other senior political figures, Finland will formally announce its decision on Sunday.

Sweden has stated that it will make a similar announcement on the same day.

If the two governments abandon their long-standing policy of military non-alignment, Russia has threatened unspecified measures.

However, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has stated that he expects Sweden and Finland to join Nato “quite quickly.”

In their statement, President Niinisto and Prime Minister Marin stated that they wanted to give the Finnish public time to discuss the issue, but that the time for a decision was approaching.

It stated that joining NATO would strengthen Finland’s security. “Finland’s membership in Nato would strengthen the entire defence alliance. Finland should apply for NATO membership as soon as possible.”

Later, in an interview with journalists, Mr Niinisto addressed Russian concerns and blamed the move on Moscow’s invasion.

“Anyone would not be against joining NATO. This was your fault. Examine yourself in the mirror “he said.

Last week, a poll found that 76 percent of Finns support joining NATO, with only 12 percent opposed, marking a significant shift toward membership since the invasion.

During World War II, Finland and the Soviet Union were on opposing sides, with the Finns famously repelling a Soviet invasion in 1939-40.

However, Finland lost 10% of its land in the final peace agreement and remained a non-aligned country throughout the Cold War.

Russia’s borders with Nato would be more than doubled if it joined the alliance. Sweden shares no borders with Russia.

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