Russia-Ukraine live news: Russian army claims capture of Lyman
Russia’s defence ministry says Ukrainian town of Lyman now under the full control of Russian and separatist forces.
- Russia’s army claims it has captured the strategic town of Lyman in eastern Ukraine.
- Ukrainian president tells country ‘Donbas will be Ukrainian’ as Russia pounds Severodonetsk
- US President Joe Biden says his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is trying to ‘wipe out’ Ukrainian culture and identity.
- Russia’s finance minister says he expects to receive $14.4bn in additional energy revenues this year, part of which will go to fund the country’s war in Ukraine.
Here are all the latest updates:
Russian army claims capture of Lyman
Russia’s army in a statement has claimed that it captured the strategic town of Lyman in eastern Ukraine.
“Following the joint actions of the units of the militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Russian armed forces, the town of Lyman has been entirely liberated from Ukrainian nationalists,” the defence ministry said in a statement, confirming an announcement a day earlier by pro-Moscow separatists.
Final deal struck for sale to Boehly-led consortium: Chelsea
English Premier League club has said a “final and definitive agreement” had been struck to sell the club to a consortium led by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and backed by Clearlake Capital.
“It is expected that the transaction will be completed on Monday,” Chelsea said in a statement. “The Club will update further at that time.”
Former owner Roman Abramovich is subject to sanctions by the British government and had put the London club up for sale in early March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
PODCAST: EU looks to the Middle East to replace Russian gas imports
Russia’s war on Ukraine is forcing the European Union to look for alternatives to Russian gas imports which amount to about 40 percent of consumption every year. Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries can play a crucial role.
Listen here.
Any agreement with Russia ‘isn’t worth a broken penny’: Ukraine negotiator
Ukrainian presidential adviser and peace talks negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak has said that any agreement with Russia cannot be trusted and Moscow can only stopped in its invasion by force.
“Any agreement with Russia isn’t worth a broken penny, Podolyak wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“Is it possible to negotiate with a country that always lies cynically and propagandistically?”
Demining Ukraine could take five years: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi reporting from the northern city of Bucha says Russia has left so many unexploded ordnance and landmines in Ukraine, that experts estimate it could take “as much as five years” to clear the areas retaken by the Ukrainian government.
“There continues to be losses of life and property from the things that they [Russian forces] have left behind. In fact, every single national park and forested area in Bucha is currently off limits – because of the threat of mines that might be there as well,” Basravi added.
“The slow pace of this work means that it is taking longer for people to return to their homes in towns and cities that have been retaken by the Ukrainian government.”
Some 10,000 Russian troops in Luhansk region: Governor
Serhiy Haidai has said there are some 10,000 Russian troops in the eastern region.
“These are the (units) that are permanently in Luhansk region, that are trying to assault and are attempting to make gains in any direction they can,” Gaidai said on Ukrainian television.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 94
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Russia affiliated churches in Ukraine critcise Moscow-based leader for supporting invasion
The leaders of the Orthodox churches in Ukraine that were affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church have adopted measures declaring the church’s full independence while criticising the Russian church’s leader for his support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The council of the Moscow-connected body, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, on Friday said it “condemns the war as a violation of God’s commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill!’ … and expresses disagreement with the position of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia regarding the war in Ukraine.”
Russia has not surrounded Severodonetsk: Governor
The governor of the Luhansk region has denied Russian claims that their forces have surrounded the eastern city of Severodonetsk but said Ukrainian soldiers may have to retreat.
Serhiy Haidai wrote on Telegram Friday that the Russians have seized a hotel and bus station.
“The Russians will not be able to capture Luhansk region in the coming days, as analysts predict. We will have enough forces and means to defend ourselves,” Haidai wrote.
He added that it’s possible that “not to be surrounded, we will have to leave.”
A critical supply and evacuation path, the Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway, is constantly under fire, but supplies and people are still passing on it, Haidai said.
Russian legislator calls for forces’ withdrawal: AP
The Associated Press news agency (AP) is reporting that a Communist Party legislative deputy in Russia’s Far East has demanded an end to the war in Ukraine and the withdrawal of its armed forces.
“We understand that if our country doesn’t stop the military operation, we’ll have more orphans in our country,” Leonid Vasyukevich said at a meeting of the Primorsk regional Legislative Assembly in the Pacific port of Vladivostok on Friday, according to AP. Russia has called the war a “special military operation”.
His comments, which he addressed to President Vladimir Putin, were shown in a video posted on a Telegram channel originating from the region, the agency said. Another deputy followed to support Vasyukevich’s views but the legislative assembly’s chairman issued a statement afterwards calling the remarks a “political provocation” not supported by the majority of lawmakers.
‘Donbas will be Ukrainian’: Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has struck a determined tone in his regular nightly video address amid reports that Russia had captured Lyman and was pounding the city of Severodonetsk.
Ukraine was protecting its land “as much as our current defence resources allow,” he said.
“If the occupiers think that Lyman or Severodonetsk will be theirs, they are wrong,” Zelenskyy said. “Donbas will be Ukrainian.”
Lithuanians come together to buy drone for Ukraine
Lithuanians have raised some 3 million euros ($3.2 million) in just three days – out of the 5 million euros ($5.3 million) needed – to buy an advanced military drone for Ukraine.
Laisves TV, a Lithuanian internet broadcaster that launched the drive, says hundreds of people have donated small amounts.
Ukraine has bought more than 20 Bayraktar TB2 armed drones in recent years and ordered 16 more on January 27. That batch was delivered in early March.
“This is the first case in history when ordinary people raise money to buy something like a Bayraktar. It is unprecedented, it is unbelievable,” Beshta Petro, Ukraine’s ambassador to Lithuania, told Laisves TV, according to the Reuters news agency.
Russian forces could struggle in Severodonetsk urban battle: ISW
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has released its latest assessment on the fighting in Ukraine.
It says Russia’s direct attacks on Severodonetsk began even before the city had been completely encircled, which could make it difficult for the military to advance quickly in the town.
“Russian forces have performed poorly in operations in built-up urban terrain throughout the war to date,” the think-tank said.
It also observed an increase in the activity of Ukrainian partisan forces in the south that have been occupied by Russian troops.
#Russian forces began direct assaults on built-up areas of #Severodonetsk without having fully encircled the city and will likely struggle to take ground in the city itself.
Read the full report from @TheStudyofWar and @criticalthreats:https://t.co/WDRQxi65ff pic.twitter.com/aQoLdHZxjY
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) May 28, 2022
Satellite images show Russian manoeuvres, devastation
New satellite images have been released giving an insight into what’s happening in eastern Ukraine, and the scale of the devastation.
US Army confirms buying more Stingers to help replenish stocks
The United States Army has said it has awarded a contract worth $625m to Raytheon Technologies Corp for anti-aircraft Stinger missiles to replenish stocks sent to Ukraine.
The shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft Stinger missiles made by Raytheon were in hot demand in Ukraine, where they have successfully stopped Russian assaults from the air, and in neighbouring European countries that fear they may also need to beat back Russian forces.
US troops have limited use for the current supply of Stingers, but the US needs to maintain its supply on hand while it develops the next generation of a “man-portable air defense system”.
Washington has shipped about 1,400 Stingers to Kyiv since February,
Putin has achieved ‘exactly zero’ of his objectives: US official
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby has said Putin has “achieved exactly zero” of his objectives in Ukraine, despite intensifying fighting in the east.
“Our assessment is that the Russians continue to make some incremental gains in the Donbas. Not great magnitude – not leaps and bounds. They are facing and continue to face a stiff Ukrainian resistance,” Kirby told reporters during a news conference.
“We are almost 100 days into this, and Mr Putin has achieved exactly zero of his strategic objectives,” he said.
NATO talks with Sweden, Finland ‘will continue’: Turkish official
A senior Turkish official has told the Reuters news agency that talks with Sweden and Finland over the two countries’ efforts to join NATO are “not an easy process” but will continue.
Ankara has raised concerns over their recent bids to join the US-led alliance, accusing Sweden and Finland of harbouring “terrorists” while also criticising Stockholm for suspending weapons sales to Ankara in 2019 over its involvement in the war in Syria.
Swedish and Finnish diplomats met in Turkey on Wednesday to try to bridge their differences.
The Turkish official told Reuters that Sweden and Finland must take “difficult” steps to win Ankara’s support. “Further negotiations will continue. But a date doesn’t seem very close,” the official said.
Biden says Putin trying to erase Ukrainian culture and identity
United States President Joe Biden has accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of seeking to “wipe out” Ukrainian culture and identity.
“Not only is he trying to take over Ukraine, he’s literally trying to wipe out the culture and identity of the Ukrainian people,” Biden said in a speech at a US Naval Academy graduation ceremony.
He said Russian forces are “attacking schools, nurseries, hospitals, museums with no other purpose than to eliminate a culture” and added that the war is “a direct assault on the fundamental tenets of rule-based international order”.
ICC prosecutor urges Russia to cooperate with war crimes probe
The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor has urged Russia to cooperate with the court’s investigation into alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Prosecutor Karim A A Khan said Russia, which is not a member of the Hague-based court, had declined to work with the ICC on Ukraine but added that his “door is open” if it wants to help.
“The invitation is there. My door is open, and I will also keep knocking on the door of the Russian Federation,” Khan said in an interview with the AFP news agency.
“If there are allegations that the Russian Federation have, if there’s information that they have, if they are conducting their own investigations or prosecutions or have information that’s relevant – share it with us.”
Russia expects $14.4bn in additional oil and gas revenue this year
Russia expects to receive $14.4bn (one trillion rubles) in additional oil and gas revenues this year, the country’s finance minister has said, adding that part of the windfall will be spent on the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
Anton Siluanov said in remarks broadcast on state television that Moscow planned to spend the additional revenue this year rather than put it aside.
He said the funds will be spent on “additional payments” to pensioners and families with children and conducting a “special operation” in Ukraine, the term Russia uses to refer to its ongoing invasion. “There are resources for this,” Siluanov added.
Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Read all the updates from Friday, May 27 here.