Ukraine war latest: Sanctions ‘have broken all logistics’ in Russia, says minister

Peace talks will largely remain suspended until Moscow gets on the same page as Kyiv on a number of matters including alleged war crimes committed by Russian troops during the invasion of Ukraine, presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said.

Ceasefire negotiations would be on hold until Russia also understands Ukraine’s view of how “we should exit this war”, the adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Mr Podolyak said: “Just now, unfortunately, Russia has returned to such an ancient and not very clear understanding of global matters and its own role in them, it still doesn’t realise that it’s been fighting a war against Ukraine for 85 days now.

“It’s not a war against Nato, I emphasise. Of course, this is an obstacle that stops Russia from behaving properly and being prepared for negotiations … If neither side has any mutual interests – don’t have a common denominator – then they won’t be interested in talking to each other.”

Russia has bombarded Ukrainian forces with airstrikes and artillery in hundreds of areas in the east and the south of Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry said.

Command centres, troops, and ammunition depots have been targeted, defence ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said.

Air-launched missiles hit three command points, 13 areas where troops and Ukrainian military equipment amassed, as well as four ammunition depots in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine – the spokesman said.

In Ukraine’s southern region of Mykolaiv, Russian rockets and artillery “hit 583 areas” including a mobile anti-drone system and an electronic warfare station near the settlement of Hannivka, around 100 km northeast of Mykolaiv city, he added.

Concern is mounting over Ukrainian troops who have been detained by Russia after they left steelworks in Mariupol, with Kyiv vowing to “fight” for their return.

The fighters were holed up in the Azovstal factory in dire conditions for months while the city was under siege.

Denis Pushilin, a pro-Kremlin head of the separatist-controlled Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, claimed that 2,439 people were in custody. He said on Russian TV that the figure includes some foreign nationals, but he did not provide further details.

The Russian defence ministry released footage of Ukrainian soldiers being detained after announcing that its forces had removed the last hold-outs from the steel plant’s underground tunnels.

Family members of the fighters have pleaded for them to be given rights as prisoners of war and eventually returned to Ukraine.

Deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Saturday that Ukraine “will fight for the return” of every one of them.

Convoys of buses, guarded by Russian armoured vehicles, left the plant on Friday. At least some Ukrainians were taken to a former penal colony, while Russian authorities said others were in hospital.

Among the plant’s defenders were members of the Azov Regiment. The unit’s link to the far-right – neo-nazis have been among its ranks – has been used by the Kremlin to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russian forces tried to advance on Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine, from four directions but the attempted attacks were repelled by Ukrainian forces – a local official said.

Serhii Haidai, head of Luhansk region’s military administration, wrote on Telegram: “The Russians tried to enter Sievierodonetsk from 4 directions at once, but they were repelled and retreated to their earlier positions.

“However, they continued to shell residential neighbourhoods with mortars and artillery. Almost every Ukrainian-controlled town and village sustained damage.”

Russian troops damaged a bridge through which humanitarian goods have been delivered to the region and people have been evacuated, Mr Haidai also wrote.

Russia has also been “deliberately destroying a multidisciplinary hospital,” he added.

“The seven-story building has in fact already become a four-story building. There are three doctors working there who say they will stay until the last.”

Polish president Andrzej Duda arrived in Kyiv today for a surprise visit.

He is expected to become the first head of state to address the Verkhovna Rada – Ukraine’s parliament – in person since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February.

When he addresses parliament, he is expected to reiterate his call for the European Union to approve Ukraine’s application to join the bloc.

In April, Mr Duda visited the Ukrainian capital for talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as part of a delegation with the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

Russian transport minister Vitaly Savelyev said worldwide sanctions have caused serious logistical problems in Russia.

The former Aeroflot CEO told reporters on his visit to the Astrakhan region of southern Russia: “The sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation today have almost broken all logistics in our country. And we are forced to look for new logistics corridors.”

The Kremlin hopes that a North-South transport corridor – passing through the Caspian Sea ports of Astrakhan on the Volga, Olya on the Volga-Caspian Canal and Makhachkala in the Caspian Sea – will help alleviate the problems, he said.

Three people were reportedly killed on Saturday night when Russian troops shelled the village of Bilozerka in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine.

Among the dead casualties were a teenage boy, a teenage girl, and a teacher – according to reports citing local residents.

Residents are quoted as saying: “We heard two ‘incomings.’ Gas pipes had been damaged. It happened near Kherson and Soborna streets.”

The exact number of casualties is yet to be officially determined.

Russian troops are alleged to have carried out a missile strike on a village in the Vilniansk district of the Zaporizhzhia region.

There were casualties, but further details about injuries or deaths have not been publicised.

The region’s military administration posted on Telegram: “At 02:44 on 22 May, Russian troops launched missiles on civilian infrastructure in a village in Vilniansk District of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.”

Ukraine’s bloody battle to victory against Russia’s invasion will be hard won through diplomacy, said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview marking the third anniversary of his inauguration.

“Victory will be bloody in battle. But the end will be in diplomacy. We want everything back. Russia does not want to give anything away,” Mr Zelensky said in the interview on Friday that was released on Saturday.

Mariupol is facing a health and sanitation “catastrophe” from mass burials in shallow pits across the ruined city as well as the breakdown of sewage systems, its mayor said on Saturday.

Vadim Boychenko said summer rains threaten to contaminate water sources as he pressed Russian forces to allow residents to safely leave the city.

“In addition to the humanitarian catastrophe created by the (Russian) occupiers and collaborators, the city is on the verge of an outbreak of infectious diseases,” he said on the messaging app Telegram.

Earlier this week, Russia claimed to have taken full control of Mariupol.

The Russian defence ministry on Saturday released video of Russian troops taking into custody Serhiy Volynskyy, the commander of the Ukrainian Navy’s 36th Special Marine Brigade, which was one of the main forces defending the Azov steel plant.