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[DaffyVina]

14:28 21 May
Topless woman protests against sexual violence in Ukraine
Video content
Video caption: Cannes: Topless woman protests against sexual violence in Ukraine

A woman ran onto the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, to protest against sexual violence in Ukraine.

The protester stripped off a gown to reveal the words "stop raping us" painted on her body, along with the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

Ukrainian authorities have said they're investigating cases of women being raped by Russian forces during their occupation of parts of the country.

16:01 21 May
Russia steps up assault on Severodonetsk

Fierce fighting has been reported around the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk as Russia steps up its attempt to capture the whole eastern region of Luhansk.

Local governor Serhiy Haidai said the Russians were "destroying" the city as they gradually surrounded it.

Writing on the messaging app Telegram, he said his troops had repelled 11 attacks on the frontline - with eight tanks among the Russian vehicles destroyed. There was no independent confirmation of the claims.

BBC correspondent James Waterhouse says Russia has increased its artillery and air strikes as well as missile attacks - gaining ground mile by mile in Luhansk while the Ukrainians are forced to retreat.

He says the Russians are "enjoying much more freedom of movement" as troops get redeployed following a successful siege of Mariupol.



16:26 21 May
Talks between Turkey, Finland and Sweden need to continue - Stoltenberg
Nato's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says he's spoken with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the importance of Nato’s open door following bids by Finland and Sweden to join the military alliance.

In return, Turkey's president told him that Ankara would not look positively on Sweden and Finland's applications, unless they clearly show cooperation in the fight against terrorism and other issues.

As we reported earlier, Erdogan held phone calls with the leaders of the two countries today to discuss his concerns.

Stoltenberg tweeted: "We agree that the security concerns of all allies must be taken into account and talks need to continue to find a solution.”

18:06 21 May
Ukraine reports fresh Russian attacks across east
Aerial view of a damaged building
Copyright: Reuters
Image caption: A university building in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, is said to have been shelled

Ukraine's armed forces have given their usual evening update, as Russia continues its efforts to capture the remainder of the eastern Luhansk region. Here are some of the key takeaways:

The greatest Russian action was confirmed to be in what Ukraine calls its eastern operational zone
Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have come under fire in the Donetsk region, as Russian troops attempt to reach the borders of neighbouring Luhansk
The Russian forces were also observed preparing further offensives on Slovyansk and Lyman, both in the Donetsk region
Strikes were also acknowledged in northern areas, including in the Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv - following a Russian claim it had destroyed a large shipment of donated weapons there
The BBC was not able to verify the claims.

20:12 21 May
War in Ukraine - evening update

Thank you for joining our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. If you're in need of a quick recap, here are some of today's latest developments:

President Zelensky has said the war can only be fully resolved through diplomacy and negotiations, despite his confidence that Ukraine can prove victorious on the battlefield
Ukraine's First Lady, Olena Zelenska, has given a rare TV interview, admitting that her family was "torn apart" by the war, like so many other Ukrainian families
Russia has intensified its efforts to capture the whole eastern region of Luhansk
Fierce fighting has been reported around Severodonetsk - a city which the regional governor says is being "destroyed"
Moscow has revealed its list of nearly 1,000 Americans banned from entering Russia - including President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Biden has signed off a bill that confirms nearly $40bn (£32bn) of fresh American aid for Ukraine
A further €250m (£211m) has been pledged by Portugal, whose leader visited Kyiv today

[DaffyVina]

8:21
Welcome back to our live coverage
Good morning and thanks for joining us. We’re resuming our live coverage and will be bringing you the latest developments and analysis of the war in Ukraine throughout the day. Here's a round up of some of the main stories:

The Ukrainian government says it won’t agree to a ceasefire deal with Russia that involves giving up any territory
A presidential adviser says making concessions would backfire on Kyiv because Moscow would immediately escalate the war after any break in fighting and “start a new offensive, even more bloody and large-scale".
Russian forces have continued their attacks on the eastern Donbas region following their capture of Mariupol.
They are said to have made limited advances towards Severodonetsk – where it is thought they are planning a new siege
Russia has likely deployed 'terminator' tank support vehicles to the area as part of their offensive in Donbas, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence.

8:52
Ukraine refuses to give up land in any peace deal
The Ukrainian government says it won't agree a ceasefire deal with Russia that involves giving up territory - in an apparent hardening of its position.

Presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said Kyiv would not follow calls in the West for an urgent ceasefire that involved Russian forces remaining in territory they occupy in the south and east of the country.

He said making concessions would result in Moscow starting an even larger, more bloody offensive in the longer term.

His comments come as Russia continues its attempts to encircle Ukrainian forces defending the eastern city of Severodonetsk.

9:00
Talks may only happen when one side loses the fighting
Joe Inwood
Reporting from Kyiv

I think it’s worth putting into context those comments from Ukraine that Kyiv won't agree to a ceasefire deal that involves giving up territory.

They have always said that negotiations are an option. But the question is what will the preconditions be for both sides.

If you look at what the Ukrainians would accept - all Russian troops off their territory – and you look at what the Russians want, which is frankly to annex quite a large portion of territory, there isn’t really any middle ground.

So, for now, I think the only time we’re going to see negotiations is when one side feels it’s lost on the battlefield.

When President Zelensky said negotiations are an option, he also said these would follow lots of bloody fighting. Both sides accept that the only time we’re going to see peace deals is when one side is forced to the table – and at the moment neither side feels that they’ve reached that point.

The Russians are making advances in the south. They’ve taken Mariupol, and they’re advancing into the Donbas region at the moment.

But the Ukrainians are taking territory around Kharkiv in the north. They’ve had great military successes around Kyiv, the capital. And they also are also receiving huge amounts of Western aid, of Nato equipment.

Both sides feel they’ve got a fighting chance. And while both sides feel they’ve got a fighting chance, I don’t think negotiations are going to be happening.

9:18
Russia attacks Severodonetsk from four directions - governor
Smoke rises above rooftops in Severodonetsk
Copyright: Getty Images
Image caption: The eastern city has been under Russian shelling

Russia has attempted to break into the city of Severodonetsk from four separate directions, says Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Ukraine's easternmost Luhansk region.

Writing on the Telegram messaging app, Haidai says the attempts were unsuccessful - but that shelling of residential areas continued.

He added that a bridge connecting the city to nearby Lysychansk had been destroyed.

It wasn't possible for the BBC to independently verify the claims.

9:45
Russia deploys Terminator tanks - UK
Another reflection of the intensity of fighting around the eastern city of Severodonetsk now - from the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Russia is believed to have deployed the only operational company of its BMP-T Terminator tank support vehicles in this part of the prized Donbas region.

The MoD update says:

Severodonetsk remains one of Russia's top tactical priorities at the moment
The use of Terminators suggests a Russian formation known as the Central Grouping of Forces is present here - a formation which suffered heavy losses around Kyiv earlier in the war
Terminators were developed to give protection to battle tanks following the Afghan and Chechen wars
But with no more than ten of the vehicles deployed, they are unlikely to have significant impact on the campaign

[DaffyVina]

11:06
Russian negotiator raises prospect of prisoner swap for Mariupol defenders
A Russian negotiator has suggested Moscow would consider exchanging Ukrainian soldiers captured after the fall of Mariupol for a jailed Ukrainian politician seen as an ally of President Putin.

Leonid Slutsky said Russia would "study the possibility" of swapping some of the more than 2,000 prisoners taken at the Azovstal metal works for Viktor Medvedchuk. The pro-Russian politician and businessman was arrested by the authorities in Kyiv in April.

Slutsky later appeared to backtrack on his comments - writing on the Telegram messaging app that the fate of Ukrainian fighters from the controversial Azov regiment should be decided by a tribunal.

Russia said on Friday that the last Azov fighters and other Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered at the Azovstal plant - meaning occupying forces had gained total control of Mariupol.

11:26
Civilians injured in Zaporizhzhia strikes - regional authorities
Authorities in Ukraine's south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region have reported civilian injuries - following Russian missile strikes on a village.

Explosions were said to have woken people up in the middle of the night.

Emergency workers attended the scene, the regional administration posted on the Telegram messaging app.

11:46
Russian airstrikes target Mykolaiv and Donbas regions
Russia attacked Ukrainian forces with airstrikes and artillery in the east and the south, targeting command centres, troops, and ammunition depots, according to an update from the Russian defence ministry.

Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the defence ministry, said air-launched missiles hit three command points, 13 areas where troops and Ukrainian military equipment were amassed, as well as four ammunition depots in the Donbas region, the Reuters news agency reported.

In Ukraine's southern region of Mykolaiv, Russian rockets hit a mobile anti-drone system near the settlement of Hannivka, around 100km northeast of Mykolaiv city, Konashenkov said.

The BBC has not been able to confirm this independently.

12:06
Polish president addresses Ukrainian parliament
Poland's President Duda and Ukraine's President Zelensky share a hug
Copyright: Polish Presidency/Twitter
Image caption: The leaders of Poland and Ukraine embraced in the chamber earlier today

"Only Ukraine has the right to decide its future", the Polish president has said in a speech to the Ukrainian parliament.

Andrzej Duda said "worrying voices" were suggesting Ukraine should give in to Russia's President Putin, according to comments quoted by the Reuters news agency.

He told lawmakers that those voices should not be heeded - because ceding even an inch of Ukrainian territory would be a blow to the whole West.

Duda also reportedly stressed that Poland supported Ukraine in its bid to gain full membership of the European Union - a matter on which EU countries have not reached a consensus.

He was the first foreign leader to give an in-person speech to the Ukrainian parliament since Russia invaded on 24 February.

Photos posted on Twitter by Duda's office showed him receiving a standing ovation in parliament and embracing Zelensky.

12:45
Russian-installed mayor reportedly hurt in blast
Andriy Shevchyk, a mayor installed by Russia in the occupied city of Enerhodar, has reportedly been injured in an explosion.

The city's elected mayor Dmytro Orlov - who is currently in nearby Zaporizhzhia - wrote on the Telegram messaging app that Shevchyk and his bodyguards had been taken to hospital after being wounded.

Orlov noted that the circumstances were still being established.

He added that nobody else had been hurt in the blast - suggesting this had been a "precise and targeted attack".

There was no immediate comment from the Russian side.

Enerhodar, a city of about 50,000 people which serves Europe's largest nuclear power plant, has been occupied by Russian forces since March.

13:40
Air defence systems the missing piece in Ukraine's puzzle
Joe Inwood
Reporting from Kyiv

Rubble from a ruined building in the Donetsk region following a reported Russian strike
Copyright: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Image caption: Ukraine remains vulnerable to aerial strikes

Military and financial support from Western countries is increasingly making a difference.

At the start of the war, President Zelensky was saying they needed more and they needed it faster. But his position has gradually shifted, to acknowledge that the Ukrainians are getting the support they need with the urgency they need.

The big missing piece in the puzzle is still air defences.

A statement yesterday from the Russians - saying they’d destroyed a big shipment of military aid – shows Ukraine is still not getting the latest in air defence systems.

On every other front, I think the support is starting to come through. I’ve seen modern Western equipment being sent to the front lines.

They are always going to need more though, especially given the increased Russian pushes we’ve been seeing.

14:31
Ukraine extends martial law until August
Ukraine has extended martial law for three months until 23 August.

President Volodymyr Zelensky first signed the decree, along with a general military mobilisation call, on 24 February and since then has extended it for a month on two occasions.

Today, Ukraine's parliament voted by an absolute majority for a third extension as Russia continues to focus its offensive on the eastern Donbas region.

Zelensky's representative at the Constitutional Court, Fedir Venislavskyy, said the decision to extend it for 90 days this time is because a "counter-offensive takes more time than defence".

15:28
Ukrainian parliament bans symbols of Russia's war
A Russian tank pictured in front of an apartment building damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol
Copyright: Reuters

The Ukrainian parliament has passed a bill banning symbols of the Russian invasion, including those containing the letters Z and V, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on Telegram.

Zheleznyak noted that the document included President Zelensky's proposals, which he submitted when he vetoed the previous draft law passed on 14 April.

The new version of the law widens the range of cases when the display of the symbols is allowed, namely in museums, libraries, scientific works, textbooks and so on, according to our colleagues at BBC Monitoring.

The new bill, however, bans the creation of NGOs which use Russian war symbols and whose activities are aimed at spreading war propaganda and undermining Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The letters "Z" and "V", which don't exist in the Russian alphabet, have been widely used to symbolise support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They are used to mark Russian military vehicles on the battlefield.

16:03
Ukraine extends extra rights to Poles in thanks for support
President Duda of Poland walks alongside President Zelensky of Ukraine
Copyright: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service
Image caption: The leaders of Poland and Ukraine have met in Kyiv today

Polish citizens living in Ukraine are to be granted the same rights that Ukrainian refugees in Poland are currently receiving.

Ukraine's President Zelensky announced the plan during a visit from his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda.

A bill will be tabled in parliament to make the changes happen.

Poland has granted the right to live, work and claim social security payments to more than three million Ukrainian refugees who've fled Russia's invasion.

18:08
Russian-installed mayor in intensive care after blast - reports
An update now on Andriy Shevchyk, the man installed by Russia as the mayor of occupied Enerhodar.

Shevchyk is now in intensive care after being injured in an explosion, Russia's state-run Ria Novosti news agency reports.

No further details were available.

Earlier we reported that Shevchyk and his bodyguards were hurt in what appeared to be a "precise and targeted attack", according to the city's elected mayor - who was ousted from power by the Russians.

18:58
Mariupol deportations gaining pace - city official
People are being deported from Mariupol to other Russian-held territory at a faster and faster rate, according to a mayoral adviser in the fallen port city.

Petro Andryushchenko wrote on the Telegram app that 313 Mariupol residents were taken away to a so-called "filtration camp" in Russian-occupied Bezimenne on Saturday. 55 of them were children.

Andryushchenko said many of those being taken to camps were later being sent to Russia itself.

The BBC has not been able confirmed the claims, and Russia has previously denied any forced deportations.

Mariupol is now under total Russian control after its last defenders surrendered at an industrial plant on Friday.

19:34
Lithuania stops buying energy from Russia

Lithuania is no longer importing energy from Russia as of today.

Its energy minister said purchases of gas, oil and electricity from Moscow were stopping to show "solidarity" with Ukraine - and to cut funding for the "Russian war machine".

He hoped electricity demands could be met through local green energy production instead.

Lithuania, a former Soviet state and a Nato member, is a strong ally of Ukraine.

Despite its invasion of Ukraine, Russia continues to provide fuel to many European countries.

However, Finland's gas supply was cut off yesterday after it refused Moscow's demand to pay in roubles.

19:57
'I'm so proud to be Ukrainian' - Man City's Zinchenko
Oleksandr Zinchenko drapes the Ukrainian flag around the Premier League trophy
Copyright: Getty Images
Image caption: Oleksandr Zinchenko draped the Ukrainian flag around the Premier League trophy

After winning the English Premier League title for the fourth time with his club Manchester City, Ukrainian footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko has said he found it hard to even think about football after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

Speaking to Sky Sports after draping the Ukrainian flag around the Premier League trophy, an emotional Zinchenko called it an unforgettable moment.

"I'm so proud to be Ukrainian," he said. "I would love to one day bring this title to Ukraine, for all Ukrainian people, because they deserve it."

Zinchenko said the time since the invasion began was the "toughest period in my life".

In an interview with BBC Sport's Gary Lineker soon after the start of the war, the Manchester City defender said he could not count the number of times he had cried since Russia's invasion began.

[DaffyVina]

4:42
Welcome back to our live coverage
A mother and her two children arrive at a centre for displaced in Ukraine's city of Zaporizhzhya after fleeing their home town of Mariupol.
Copyright: LightRocket via Getty Images

Thanks for joining us. We’re resuming our live coverage and will be bringing you the latest developments and analysis of the war in Ukraine throughout the day. Here's the latest:

• The Ukraine war has contributed to the number of forcibly displaced people around the world rising above 100 million for the first time, the UN refugee agency says

• The agency says the war has displaced eight million within Ukraine, and more than six million people have left the country

• It says the figure must serve as "a wake-up call" for destructive conflicts to be resolved and prevented

• Russian forces continue their attacks on the eastern Donbas region, with a focus on the town of Severodonetsk

• Ukraine reiterates it will not agree a truce deal with Russia that involves giving away any territory

• Polish President Andrzej Duda gets a standing ovation after becoming the first foreign leader to address Ukraine's parliament since the invasion

Stay with us throughout the day, as we'll be bringing you all the latest developments, analysis from our correspondents in the region and eyewitness accounts.

6:56
Russia's death toll equals that of Afghan conflict
In its latest intelligence update, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MOD) says that in the first three months of the war, Russia is likely to have suffered a similar death toll to that seen by the Soviet Union during its nine-year war in Afghanistan.

The high casualty rate - seen in the Donbas offensive - can be explained by a combination of poor low-level tactics, limited air cover, lack of flexibility and "a command approach which is prepared to reinforce failure".

The MoD predicts those casualties, as they continue to rise, will become more apparent to the Russian public, and "public dissatisfaction with the war and a willingness to voice it may grow".

It is a pointed reference. The Soviet Union lost at least 15,000 soldiers in the Afghan conflict trying to prop up a communist government. The war became a bloody stalemate, and is viewed as a factor in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

7:20
Ukraine may be losing up to 100 lives every day in east - Zelensky

Ukraine may be losing between 50-100 lives in the east every day, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a press briefing on Sunday.

He said those killed were defending Ukraine in “the most difficult direction”.

Zelensky did not elaborate further but the comments appear to be a reference to military losses and are a sign of how fierce the fighting is in the east.

Russian forces have stepped up their attempts to capture cities in the eastern Donbas region, with a focus on the city of Severodonetsk.

7:48
Russians using 'scorched-earth' tactics in Severodonetsk, governor says
More now on the city of Severodonetsk in the eastern Donbas region, where Russian forces have been focusing their efforts.

Regional governor Serhiy Haidai said Russian forces were "using scorched-earth tactics, deliberately destroying" the city.

Haidai said Moscow was drawing forces withdrawn from the Kharkiv region, others involved in Mariupol's siege, pro-Russian separatist militias, and even troops freshly mobilised from Siberia to concentrate on the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

There are reports of a strike on a school basement, where people were sheltering. The BBC has been unable to verify this.

Haidai warned that Russian forces had destroyed all but one bridge across the Siversky Donets river and Severedonetsk was almost cut off.

Ukraine's human right's ombudsman, Lyudmila Denisova, says the city risks suffering the same fate as Mariupol - being surrounded and pounded into submission.

Severodonetsk is in the Luhansk region and has a population of around 100,000 people.

8:28
Focus of war shifts to Severodonetsk
Jeremy Bowen
Reporting from Donbas

We were up near the front line yesterday. The main thrust of the Russian activities at the moment is a town called Severodonetsk. Ukrainian military soldiers have told us it is largely surrounded and they are undoubtedly under pressure.

They’ve taken serious casualties. A Ukrainian military source there said one unit that went into the line there with 240 men came out with 135 - the others killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

The Russians have taken some territory - villages and little towns - but it’s a very heavily defended area. They’ve been fighting around there since 2014 so there are concrete Ukrainian positions that are hard to overcome. But the Russians are pushing and putting a lot of pressure there.

A couple of days ago in Moscow, the ministry of defence said they would take the whole of the Luhansk region. Donbas is made up of two regions - Luhansk and Donetsk.

It could be that if Putin got to the point where he took the whole of the Luhansk region and then tried to do something similar in Donetsk, he could then say: “This is a victory guys."

It would be nothing like the victory they were after when all this started in February, but one he could declare anyway. The Ukrainian authorities are very anxious that doesn’t happen.

8:44
Zelensky to address world leaders in Davos
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to address world leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum (WEF).

No Russian officials or companies will be present at the international gathering of political and industrial leaders.

But a Ukrainian delegation, including the foreign minister, has made the journey.

"The major request to the whole world here is: do not stop backing Ukraine," Ukrainian MP Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze told reporters on the eve of the summit.

The summit has not been held since January 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. A virtual forum took place last year, with Russian President Vladimir Putin among the speakers.

9:03
With every soldier killed comes a grieving family
Hugo Bachega
Reporting from Dnipro

A family in Dnipro stands by the grave of a soldier relative killed in the Russian war
Copyright: Getty Images
Image caption: Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky estimates between 50 to 100 of the country's troops are dying every day in the east

Very little has been said about Ukraine’s military losses in this three-month old war but there’s no doubt they’re massive. President Zelensky estimated between 50 to 100 deaths a day in the east, where most of the fighting has been happening.

With every loss, there’s a family in mourning. Here in Dnipro, 35-year-old Irina returned from Italy, to where she had moved with her three children after the war started, to bury her 38-year-old husband. A member of Ukraine’s special forces in the east, he was killed earlier this month in a Russian missile attack, she said.

“The war is senseless, very stupid. There’s no reason for it,” she said, with tears in her eyes. “For us, it’s a big tragedy.”

Kseniia, her 37-year-old sister-in-law, said she was against any ceasefire deal that would allow Russian forces stay in Ukrainian territory, something that Ukrainian authorities have ruled out, at least for now.

“So many people have been killed… We should fight for our right to exist, for our sovereignty,” she said. “That’s why my brother was fighting. We should fight to push the Russians out.”

9:19
Russia must pay 'long-term price' for Ukraine invasion - Biden
US President Joe Biden speaks during a joint news conference with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after their bilateral meeting at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan, on 23 May 2022
Copyright: Reuters

US President Joe Biden, who is on a visit to Japan, has said Russia has to "pay a long-term price" for its "barbarism in Ukraine" in terms of sanctions imposed by the US and its allies.

When asked if the US would defend Taiwan if it were attacked by China, the president said it would.

"That's the commitment we made," Biden said. Beijing considers Taiwan to be a renegade province which has to be unified with the mainland.

"We agreed with the One China policy, we signed on to it... but the idea that [Taiwan] can be taken by force is just not appropriate.

"It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine."

9:45
Ukraine artists prepare 'Russia War Crimes House' for Davos summit
A man takes a picture of an exhibition at the former "Russia House", which Ukrainian artists have transformed into a "Russian War Crimes House" during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Photo: 22 May 2022
Copyright: Reuters

As key world decision-makers are gathering for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Ukrainian artists have transformed the Russia House - the site normally used by Russian delegates - into a "Russia War Crimes House".

Images of mass destruction in Ukrainian cities bombed by Russian troops feature prominently at an exhibition in the building in the Swiss Alpine town.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine tops the agenda of the four-day gathering, which kicks off in earnest later on Monday with a video address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

No Russian officials or companies will be present at the summit this year.

WEF President Borge Brende has called for a Marshall Plan to rebuild Ukraine. Referring to the US initiative which helped rebuild Europe after World War Two, he said reconstruction work should go ahead in Ukraine with or without a peace settlement.

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine war: The defiant Russians speaking out about the war
By Sarah Rainsford
Eastern Europe correspondent, Andriivka
Published3 hours ago

A man detained during a unsanctioned protest rally at Manezhnaya Square in front of the Kremlin,
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES


To Ukrainians it was clear from the very start of Russia's invasion that this was no "special operation" to liberate the Donbas region, as Vladimir Putin had declared. It was all-out war.

But in Russia it's a crime to call it that.

Dozens of people have already been prosecuted under the "fake news" law, as it's known. They face up to 15 years behind bars for challenging the official line on Russia's invasion or criticising the military.

It's a dramatic increase in censorship in Russia, where Vladimir Putin has spent his two decades in power removing opponents, stifling free speech and silencing the independent media: a dismantling of democracy that is having devastating consequences here in Ukraine.

Vladimir Kara-Murza tried to warn of the danger.

Vladimir Kara-Murza
Reuters

The whole world now sees what the Putin regime is doing to Ukraine
Vladimir Kara-Murza
Russian opposition activist, now in custody

In a speech in the US in March, the Russian opposition activist lambasted Western leaders for seeking constant "resets" in relations with Mr Putin, allowing their countries to act as havens for tainted money and looking the other way even as Russia became ever less free.

"The whole world now sees what the Putin regime is doing to Ukraine," Mr Kara-Murza told the Arizona House of Representatives, a fortnight into the war. "The bombing of maternity wards and hospitals and schools. The war crimes. These are war crimes."

But in Russia uttering such words is also a crime now.

A month after his speech, Mr Kara-Murza was picked up by police in Moscow and later charged with "spreading false information" about Russia's military. He's still in custody. The law he is accused of breaking was passed in March, soon after the invasion.

And yet Ukrainian prosecutors have already registered more than 11,000 alleged war crimes. A Russian soldier has admitted in court to shooting a civilian. And the BBC has gathered its own evidence, including CCTV footage of the shooting of two civilians by Russian forces.

Those returning to salvage what they can from the wreckage of Andriivka have more, powerful testimony.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, many families fled Kyiv for nearby villages like this, thinking they would be safer away from the capital. Instead they spent weeks cowering in cold cellars as occupying soldiers drove tanks into their yards and dug trenches in their vegetable plots.

After the Russians withdrew, in April, the village elder says the bodies of 13 residents were found here.

"They had their hands tied behind their backs and had been shot in the head," says Anatoliy Kibukevych. He then names every one of the victims.

The main road - the route taken by Russian tanks ordered to seize Kyiv - is lined with the rubble of homes: heaps of singed bricks with metal bedframes or pots and pans oddly marooned in the middle of them. Painted pleas that read "Children!" or "People!" on garden gates have been pierced by shrapnel.

Andriivka composite image:
Image caption, Painted pleas in Andriivka: "People live here" (left) and "People live here - kids"


"Truth is the regime's main enemy," says Evgenia Kara-Murza, Vladimir's wife, from Washington DC, where she lives for safety reasons. "That's why I believe this regime is using this law to crush all dissent in Russia and to scare people into silence,"

"I'm sure Vladimir realised the risks were high. They have never been low for him," she says, with a reminder that her activist husband was poisoned twice in the past and nearly died.

But he kept returning to Russia and speaking out.

"He believes there comes a moment where you can't be afraid anymore and need to show to other people that they shouldn't be either."


When the war in Ukraine started, Lilia Yapparova felt compelled to cover it.

"I couldn't sleep, because people started to die… and I needed to be there," she told me in Kyiv, where for a while she was the only Russian reporter on the ground in Ukrainian-controlled areas.

There are only three even now - all women from independent media outlets. It's a tiny contingent compared with the Russian state TV correspondents who stride through eastern Ukraine in military clothing, "Z" patches on their arms in support of Russian soldiers, talking about "denazification" and the "liberation" of cities like Mariupol.

Ms Yapparova wanted to at least dent that solid wall of propaganda.

BBC Photo: Lilia Yapparova

I can't hide facts, but am I going to jail for that?
Lilia Yapparova
Russian independent journalist

"The only thing that matters for me right now is for the war to stop and for people from Russia to see what's really going on," she says.

But that's a battle of its own, on top of the danger of working on Ukraine's frontlines.

Meduza, the news site Ms Yapparova writes for, has been banned in Russia, like almost all independent outlets. Journalists and media have been labelled as "foreign agents" while Facebook and other social media are blocked.

Meanwhile, state TV channels have all switched to wall-to-wall coverage of Russia's "special operation".

"For now we lost the war with propaganda," Ms Yapparova concedes, describing how even people she knows personally are absorbing the official line. She feels a sense of responsibility for that, although the odds were stacked impossibly against her.

And now she knows that every word she writes from Ukraine - true stories about the shooting of civilians, mass graves, terrible destruction - is putting her at risk of prosecution for "fake news".

"I am ready for that. I am not covering my eyes. I see the law for what it is," the journalist says. "But I couldn't allow myself not to be here."

It doesn't stop her worrying, though.

"Constantly. It hurts sometimes to write because I can't hide facts, but am I going to jail for that? Anything can happen."


For Michael Nacke the danger is already real.

The young journalist left Russia before the war, escaping an environment that became increasingly repressive.

He is now a wanted man for telling the truth.

"I used the word 'war' instead of 'special operation'," he says of his "crime" as set-out by Russian investigators in a 91-page statement. "It doesn't matter which law they use against you, it's just to make you shut up."

The prosecution is based on an episode on his YouTube channel in which he discusses how Russian tanks fired on a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia. The incident was widely condemned, including at an emergency session of the UN Security Council. But Moscow claims Ukrainian forces set the fire themselves so in Russia that makes reporting anything else illegal.

"The one thing that I understand after this is that the work I do really matters," Mr Nacke says of the criminal case against him. "I used to ask myself: 'Is my work effective to stop the war?' Now I see that it makes sense."


The risks and consequences of this war are far more severe for Ukrainians, as every shattered inch of Andriivka shows.

"We've been through so much. Fear and horror," Alina Petrovna tells me, as her son nails tarpaulin over the holes left in their roof by the shockwaves of heavy shelling. The elderly lady lived in the family vegetable cellar for 29 days after Russian troops took over her village. She was terrified.


Image caption, Evidence gathering: UN war crimes investigators interviewing residents of Andriivka

There are bullet holes in the front door where soldiers shot their way through to loot from them. The only thing they left untouched were her icons.

"Let the Russian people come and see what they did to us!" Her eyes fill with angry tears. "Fear and horror," she repeats.

But most in Russia will never even hear about such suffering. Because Vladimir Putin has not only launched a war on Russia's neighbour, he has declared a war on truth.

Follow Sarah on Twitter @sarahrainsford

[DaffyVina]

10:58
Russian soldier was 'fulfilling a criminal order'
James Waterhouse
Reporting from Kyiv

A verdict is due shortly in the first war crimes trial to be held in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country.

The judges are recounting events as the accused - Vadim Shishimarin - stands with his head down. They describe the Russian soldier seeing the victim, Oleksandr Shelipov, who “wasn’t posing any threat”.

They say Shelipov shouldn’t have been the object of an armed act.

The judges add “in violation of international conventions, Shishimarin, fulfilling a criminal order, understood that Shelipov was a civilian and did not pose any threat”.

Fearing Shelipov would give away their position, the court hears Shishimarin fired three to four rounds into Shelipov’s head, killing him.

Shishimarin was shouted at and pressed into shooting, the court is told. He said that "he was scared and asked to forgive him” the court hears.

He also said that he is “repentant and did not want to kill, it’s just happened this way”. The judges say the four Russian servicemen then continued movement and surrendered to captivity, without any resistance.

10:59
BREAKING
Russian soldier sentenced to life in war crimes trial
A Russian soldier has been found guilty in the first war crimes trial held in Ukraine since the war began.

Vadim Shishimarin, 21, has been sentenced to life for killing an unarmed civilian a few days after Russia's invasion began.

12:12
What we learned from Zelensky's Davos address
President Zelensky receives a standing ovation after delivering an address to the World Economic Forum
Copyright: EPA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been speaking remotely to the World Economic Forum, telling business leaders what more needs to be done to support his country during the war with Russia.

Here are the key actions he called for:

Stronger sanctions on Russia
A key theme of Zelensky's speech was his desire that countries should go further in crippling Russia economically. He said he didn't believe any "maximum" measures were currently in place, but "there should be"
The main sanctions he said he wanted to see are: a full embargo on Russian oil, all Russian banks barred from global systems, and all trade with with Russia abandoned

More weapons
As with many of his video speeches, President Zelensky called for more artillery, saying Ukraine needs "all the weapons that we ask for, not just the ones that have been provided"
He added that tens of thousands of lives would have been saved if Kyiv had received "100% of our needs at once back in February" when the war began

An agreement to ensure 'brute force' won't rule the world
Pointing to the WEF's theme for this year - history at a turning point - Zelensky said this was a vital moment for attendees to decide whether "brute force will rule the world"

Businesses to quit Russia and invest in Ukraine
Zelensky said it was vital for any businesses still in Russia to cease operations immediately, and insisted they should instead put their money into rebuilding Ukraine
He said this was vital for any company that wanted to be sure it hadn't unwittingly funded the "blood interests" of Russia

[DaffyVina]

12:40
Why is Severodonetsk important?
Russian forces are focusing their efforts on Severodonetsk.

The city had a pre-war population of around 100,000 and is in Luhansk, in the eastern Donbas region, where Moscow has re-focused its war effort.

There are concerns the city could suffer the same fate as the port city of Mariupol, which was surrounded and pounded into submission.

Severodonetsk is strategically hugely important as if it falls under Russian control, this would mean Moscow's forces will control almost all of Luhansk.



13:11
More than 80 killed in Russian strikes in Chernihiv - Zelensky
Locals try to clear up rubble on the outskirts of Chernihiv
Copyright: Reuters
Image caption: Locals try to clear up rubble on the outskirts of Chernihiv

More than 80 people were killed in a Russian attack on a military base in Desna, northern Ukraine, earlier this month, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during an address to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The attack, on 17 May, killed 87 people. Desna is a village in the Chernihiv region and is home to a military base which was reclaimed by Ukrainian forces following a drawback of Russian troops.

"Today, under the rubble in Desna, there are 87 victims. Eighty-seven corpses, victims who were killed," Zelensky said during the Davos summit.

"Ukraine's future will be without these people," Zelensky added.

13:26
Azovstal fighters to face trial, separatist leader says
The Ukrainian fighters who surrendered at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol are to be put on trial, the head of the separatist Donetsk region (DNR) told Russian state media.

"The captives from Azovstal are kept in DNR territory. There are plans to organise an international tribunal in the republic's territory, too," the leader of the breakaway region Denis Pushilin is quoted as saying.

"The tribunal's statute is being worked out now," he said.

It was not clear from the report what charges the soldiers would face.

14:02
Life before the war in Severodonetsk
George Wright
BBC News

Dmytro Gabsaliamov and his darts team
Copyright: Puzo Pub
Image caption: Dmytro Gabsaliamov, front right, and his pub's darts team


Russian forces are focusing their bombardment on Severodonetsk, a strategically important city in the eastern Donbas region.

Dmytro Gabsaliamov owns the popular Puzo Pub in the city. He was then forced to shut down his business and spend more than a week in a shelter beneath his apartment after the Russian invasion in February.

"You cannot understand what it’s like. You can’t go anywhere because it’s just bombing all the time. It’s not safe anywhere. We heard someone died, someone was attacked in his house or flat," he tells me from the central Ukrainian city of Uman, where he's now staying,

Gabsaliamov fled his home city on 4 March. Just over a month later he was sent photos of his destroyed apartment.

"When we left our apartment a bomb shattered our flat. I had a good apartment, I put a lot of money into it. I've lost it all," he says.

Dmytro's apartment
Copyright: Dmytro Gabsaliamov
Image caption: Dmytro's apartment has been destroyed


Gabsaliamov speaks fondly of his pre-war life in Severodonetsk. His bar could hold 200 people and was one of the few venues in town to put on rock shows and stand-up comedy nights.

"It was a crazy atmosphere."

The bar was pulling pints until 23 February - the day before the invasion.

"We were still working because people always came," he says, adding there was a sense of disbelief as to what was happening.

Puzo Pub
Copyright: Puzo Pub
Image caption: The Puzo Pub was one of the most popular bars in the city


Gabsaliamov says he has a couple of friends left in Severodonetsk who are looking after their elderly parents and cannot leave. He likens the situation to Mariupol, the port city destroyed by Russian forces.

"It’s all burning, it’s all damaged. Now in the city you have no electricity, no internet, no water, no gas."

He dreams of one day returning to his city.

"I’d play football three times a week. We had many football fields," he says. "In the morning you drink coffee, in the evening you drink craft beer. It was a good time."

"I hope I can return. It’s like a dream, but it’s looking very bad."

[DaffyVina]

14:23
Russian diplomat quits over war: 'Never been so ashamed'

Putin is pictured during the Summit of Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) on 16 May
Copyright: Getty Images
Image caption: Boris Bondarev accused Putin of starting a war to cling onto power "forever"

Russia’s counsellor to the UN in Geneva has resigned over the "bloody, witless and absolutely needless" fighting in Ukraine, making him the country's most senior diplomat to defect over the war.

In a resignation letter, Boris Bondarev said he had seen "different turns" of his country's foreign policy over his 20-year career "but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on 24 February", when Russia launched its attack.

Calling the level of "lies and unprofessionalism" in Russia's Foreign Ministry "catastrophic", he said Vladimir Putin's war was "not only a crime against the Ukrainian people, but also, perhaps, the most serious crime against the people of Russia".

In March, Anatoly Chubais became the most prominent Kremlin official to quit over the war. Chubais, who was Putin's special envoy for relations with international organisations for sustainable development, not only left his post, but Russia too.

(An aside personal view, Boris Bondarev, redeeming the name Boris from the shame of association with the UK's blond scarecrow!)


14:39
New Zealand defence force troops to train Ukrainian soldiers in UK
A self-propelled howitzer being fired by Ukrainian service members in the Kharkiv region
Copyright: Reuters

New Zealand will send a small number of troops from its defence force to the UK to train Ukrainian soldiers in using field artillery guns, the government announced on Monday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said 30 personnel will be deployed to the UK until the end of July to train Ukrainian forces in the use of L119 105mm howitzer guns.

Around 230 Ukrainian soldiers will be trained in groups of 30, with each crew taking around a week to be fully competent in using the guns.

"Our response has not only included the condemnation of Russia, but practical support for Ukraine," Ardern said.

On the ground in Ukraine, forces will soon be receiving a shipment of the artillery guns from the UK – though it's not yet clear how many.

The UK is among a number of allies that will be providing the weapons, the BBC understands.

These howitzers have been used by the British Army since the late 1970s and sold to more than a dozen countries.

14:55
First war crime trial could set legal precedent between Russia and Ukraine
James Waterhouse
Reporting from Kyiv

Oleksandr Shelipov's widow at a court hearing of the Russian soldier who admitted to killing her husband
Copyright: EPA

In a conflict where the deliberate targeting of civilians has become one of the defining features, today’s outcome sets a significant legal precedent.

Russia’s always insisted it hasn’t carried out war crimes, but Ukraine is going to bring more cases like this to unpick Moscow’s blanket denials.

It’s not likely this result will immediately lead to a change in tactics from invading forces, but it does bring Oleksandr Shelipov’s widow Kateryna Shelipova justice.

The Kremlin’s response though, is already in motion.

In Russia laws are being drafted and courts are being set up to try some Ukrainian prisoners as war criminals.

Suggesting both countries could soon find themselves in a legal tit-for-tat, while this war rages on.

15:30
Help us unblock Black Sea ports - Ukraine
Faisal Islam & Ben King
BBC economics editor & BBC business reporter

The international community should help lift the blockade of Ukraine’s sea ports to allow it to export the millions of tons of grain stuck in its silos, the country’s deputy prime minister has told the BBC.

“We need the assistance of our international partners, to secure our exports through the sea ports,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

She hinted that military means might be necessary to achieve this.

“We need a guarantee from partners, of course it’s a defence guarantee, a security guarantee, to be able to export [using] these vessels. And to make it, not once but on a regular basis. That is most important.”

Ukraine’s inability to export its grain has led to food prices rising around the world, and raised the prospect of famines in countries which depend on its exports.

15:40
I'm sure they already think I'm a traitor - Russian diplomat
More now on Russia’s counsellor to the UN in Geneva resigning over the war in Ukraine.

Boris Bondarev has spoken to the BBC's Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg about why he became the country's most senior diplomat to defect over the war.

"The reason is that I strongly disagree and disapprove of what my government is doing and has been doing at least since February, and I don’t want to be associated with that any longer," he said.

Bondarev said it was a case of when, not if, he was going to quit. "I don’t see any alternative."

Despite being shocked by the Russian invasion, he said he does not believe his feelings are widespread in the foreign ministry.

"I think most people, the majority of them, are following the propaganda and what their superiors tell them.

"When you work in the ministry you work in a hierarchy, so you must obey what your superior tells you. And for many years any critical approach has been erased from the ministry mostly," he said.

Although he said his decision to leave would not likely change things, he said "it may be one little brick into the bigger wall which would eventually be built".

Asked if he believes he will be considered a traitor, Bondarev said: "I think they are already considering me as such."

15:53
Kremlin accuses Ukrainians of explosive attack
The Kremlin on Monday accused Ukrainian nationalists of carrying out a "terror attack" against an official installed by Russia in southern Ukraine, AFP news agency reports.

Andrey Shevchik was appointed as mayor of Energodar, in the Zaporizhzhia region, after Russian troops took control of the town. It's the site of Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

On Sunday, Shevchik and his two guards were wounded in an explosion as they were entering a building. Ukrainian "nationalist elements are using such methods", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.

A local police official, Alexei Selivanov, told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that Shevchik had "suffered burns and injuries" but the lives of him and his bodyguards were not in danger.

He said the pro-Moscow official had been targeted by an explosive device planted in an electrical switchboard cupboard.

A city of nearly 50,000 inhabitants, Energodar was built in the 1970s around the nuclear power plant, located on the Dnipro river.

16:17
Review sanctions if we open Ukraine ports - Moscow
View of Odesa, Ukraine
Copyright: Getty Images
"Image caption: The UN food agency chief said to Vladimir Putin: "If you have any heart at all, please open these ports"

Last week, the UN asked Russia to open access to Ukraine's Black Sea ports – to allow grain exports to resume.

The head of the UN's World Food Programme, David Beasley, suggested that keeping them shut was worsening a global food crisis.

Now, Russia's saying that if it opens those ports, the sanctions imposed on Moscow will have to be reviewed, according to the Interfax news agency.

Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain producers, used to use its sea ports for most of its exports. Now it's using trains and its small Danube River ports.

The World Food Programme reaches 125 million people and buys 50% of its grain from Ukraine.

17:23
More than 13,000 Russian war crimes being probed - Ukraine
We've been reporting on the conviction of Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin, who admitted to killing a 62-year-old civilian in the war's early stages, and now Ukraine's prosecutor-general says thousands of additional crimes are being looked at.

Iryna Venediktova told The Washington Post that, as of Monday, "more than 13,000 cases of Russian alleged war crimes" alone are being probed. Earlier today, the most recent estimate of such cases under review was around 11,000, suggesting the list is growing fast.

Kyiv has consistently accused Russia of atrocities against civilians during the invasion, but the Kremlin denies its troops have targeted innocent bystanders.

An elderly woman mourns while visiting the grave of a Ukrainian serviceman killed during the war
Getty Images

17:47
Navalny spokesperson welcomes Russian diplomat's 'honest' resignation
A spokesperson for jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has welcomed a Russian diplomat's decision to leave his role as counsellor to the UN over the war in Ukraine.

Posting a copy of Boris Bondarev's resignation statement to her Twitter account, Kira Yarmysh commended the diplomat for being the "only honest person at the Foreign Ministry".

She is a spokesperson for Russia's most prominent opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, who was sentenced to nine years in a "strict regime penal colony" in Russia earlier this year.

18:10
Russian diplomat's resignation embarrassing for Kremlin
Steve Rosenberg
BBC Russia editor

Boris Bondarev
Copyright: Boris Bondarev

Diplomat Boris Bondarev didn’t hold back in his criticism of President Putin, Foreign Minister Lavrov and the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

“The aggressive war… the most serious crime… warmongering, lies and hatred…”

It’s rare to hear such words from a Russian official. In the three months since Vladimir Putin launched what he’s still calling his ‘Special Military Operation’ in Ukraine (what much of the world calls Russia’s war) there have been few signs of open dissent in Russian state institutions.

Embarrassing for the Russian authorities? Absolutely. They like to make out the state machine here is fully behind President Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.

But one resignation does not automatically mean that many more will follow. Mr Bondarev admitted to me that he’s in the minority. He believes that, for now, most officials in the Russian Foreign Ministry back the official line and support the Kremlin’s 'special operation’.

18:44
Ukraine forces in part of Donbas 'likely to be encircled'
Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent

It's likely Ukrainian forces dug in around the city of Severodonetsk will be surrounded by Russian troops, one Western official predicts.

The official says Russian forces have been making “incremental progress” in encircling the pocket of Ukranian resistance around the city – just one part of the Donbas region in south-eastern Ukraine, and shown on this map depicting Russian military advances:

The official, who has asked not to be named, says it has always been the case that Russia has more troops and equipment than their Ukrainian counterparts.

They have not given any details about how many Ukrainian troops are now in danger of being encircled and who could become trapped.

But he stresses their continuing resistance was “performing a vital function…because they are degrading the Russian forces” and “creating time” for the remainder of Ukraine’s forces in the Donbas to prepare and strengthen defences elsewhere.

The official says surrounding Ukrainian troops around the pocket of Severodonetsk is a “more achievable goal” for Russia after it suffered a series of setbacks.

They predict once Russia secures it, they will try to move towards the city of Kramatorsk (to the south-west) – a “big and challenging target that will cost them dearly”.

20:08
Why does Ukraine want to hold war crimes trials at home?
Paul Kenyon
BBC Panorama

Earlier today, a court in Ukraine jailed a Russian tank commander for life for killing a civilian, at the first war crimes trial since the invasion.

War crimes trials often happen on neutral ground at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. And that could still happen. The International Criminal Court and the United Nations have their own enquiries under way.

But Ukraine wants to move fast. Today’s conviction is unusual – coming just three months into the war.

British barrister Wayne Jordash QC, an adviser to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, says this does not mean cutting corners. He says all evidence has to be collected according to international standards.

He also says several thousand more indictments for war crimes are in the pipeline.

Jordash says Ukraine is adamant it wants to try all cases domestically. “The ICC can only do so much,” he tells the BBC's Panorama. The ICC tends to prosecute leaders and their immediate circles, and not lower-level officers.

The Russian government denies it has been targeting civilians.

Watch Panorama's Hunting Putin's War Criminals at 20:30 BST on BBC One and on BBC iPlayer
(Use a VPN if you need to)

Analysis
Posted at 21:00
How leaders hope to avert crisis over Ukrainian grain
James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

Ukrainian soldiers inspecting a grain warehouse earlier shelled by Russian forces earlier in May
Copyright: Getty Images

Emergency plans are being drawn up for a protective naval corridor to get desperately needed grain out of Ukraine and avert a global food crisis.

Britain is understood to be discussing options with a coalition of willing allies to help get shipping safely out of the southern port of Odesa.

The aim would require defensive mines to be removed from the approaches to Odesa and a naval escort to protect merchant vessels as they head south through the Black Sea.

Crucially this would require the Ukrainian authorities to be satisfied that Odesa could be protected from possible Russian attack, potentially by being given heavier weapons by the West.

The naval escort could include countries like Egypt and others, which are being significantly affected by Russia’s grain blockade. The agreement of Turkey would also be needed to allow naval warships to enter the Black Sea via the Bosphorus.

And the escort would have to be strong enough to satisfy insurance companies willing to cover the commercial shipping.

21:30
Ukraine says 1.4m citizens deported to Russia
BBC Monitoring - The world through its media

Russia has forcibly taken 1.4 million Ukrainians to its territory, Kyiv's ombudsman for human rights Lyudmyla Denisova has said, according to the Interfax news agency.

There was "convincing evidence" that Russia had prepared these deportations in advance, and that it expected to remove over two million Ukrainians, she added.

You can read about the experiences of some deported Ukrainians who have spoken to the BBC here.

At the end of last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said more than a million people had been "evacuated" from Ukraine to Russia.

22:14
No alternative but to fight and win - Zelensky
BBC Ukrainian

In his evening address, Volodymyr Zelensky called on Ukrainians to help the Armed Forces and help defend Ukraine's position on the international arena.

"To win, we must - each and every one - work for this. In particular, those in the rear. Help the army. Protect the needs of our state in all international platforms to which you have access, in communication with foreign journalists, even just with your friends and acquaintances abroad," he said.

He noted that Ukraine is facing difficult weeks.

According to him, the worst fighting situation today is in the Donbas area in the south east of Ukraine.

"Bakhmut, Popasna, Severodonetsk - in this direction the occupiers have concentrated the most activity so far. They have staged a massacre there and are trying to destroy all living things. Literally. No one destroyed Donbas as the Russian military is doing now," said the president.

"But we have no alternative but to fight. To fight and win. To liberate our land and our people. Because the occupiers want to take away from us not just something, but everything we have. Including the right to life for Ukrainians," Zelensky said.

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine war: Melitopol residents resist Russian occupation
By Abdujalil Abdurasulov
BBC News, Melitopol, Ukraine
Published6 hours ago

Russian servicemen patrol a street in Melitopol, 1 May 2022
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, Melitopol, a small city in south-eastern Ukraine, was one of the first to fall to the Russians

Russian forces met fierce resistance from residents when they arrived in the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol in February.

Locals tried to block armoured vehicles as the convoy of soldiers rolled in to occupy the city, and people flooded the streets waving Ukrainian flags.

When the Russians started cracking down on the protesters, the resistance movement was forced to evolve and new groups emerged.

Melitopol, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War, is an area where partisan warfare has been active since at least the middle of March.

Ukraine's Military Intelligence Directorate has reported that from 20 March to 12 April "partisans eliminated 70 Russian soldiers during their night patrol".

These groups are continuing to carry out attacks.

Last Wednesday a Russian armoured train was reportedly derailed. Days earlier, two Russian soldiers were found dead in the street. Last month a bridge near Melitopol - used to deliver supplies to the Russian army - was blown up.

A destroyed bridge near Melitopol, which Russian forces used to transport supplies
IMAGE SOURCE,UKRAINIAN SPECIAL OPERATION FORCE
Image caption, The destroyed bridge near Melitopol that Russian forces used to transport supplies

Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, says these attacks were organised by partisan groups. "It's the job of our partisans, our secret services and our soldiers. They do this job together," he tells the BBC.

Mr Fedorov himself was abducted by Russian forces and later released as part of a prisoner exchange.

The Russians are desperately trying to crush all resistance. They are searching houses and detaining people, residents say, often at random.

On 29 April, armed men in military uniform with white armbands - the marking used by Russian soldiers - abducted Boris Kleshev, the head of a local fire brigade in Melitopol.

For two weeks his relatives heard nothing about his whereabouts. A few days ago, a pro-Russian Telegram channel posted a video showing Mr Kleshev and other Ukrainian men admitting that they were sharing information on Russian movements with the Ukrainian military.

Mr Kleshev was speaking with a low voice, clearly under duress. But even if it looked like a forced confession, those who made the video were unlikely to have cared - their aim is to break the resistance spreading through Melitopol.

These resistance groups, however, are only a small part of the movement.

"Ninety per cent of Melitopol residents are now partisans and they resist in their own way," says Svitlana Zalizetska, a local journalist.

"Some people just stare at the Russian soldiers with hatred. Others sing patriotic songs at night. Some people hang posters in the street with Ukrainian flags," she says, adding that some also pass on information about Russian military movements.

People protest the abduction of Melitopol mayor Ivan Federov outside the regional administration building, after he was reportedly taken away by Russian forces, during their ongoing invasion
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption, Crowds gathered outside the regional administration building in Melitopol when the city's mayor was reportedly abducted

At the start of the invasion in February, Melitopol residents organised mass protests against the Russian army's presence. People regularly took to the streets with Ukrainian flags, chanting: "Melitopol is Ukraine."

"Russian forces were truly shocked to see that the local population was not happy to see them. Those soldiers really believed that they were liberators," says Iryna (not her real name), who lives in Melitopol.

A few weeks after the invasion, police from Rosgvardia - Russia's national guard - arrived to crack down on the protests. They started dispersing crowds and detaining activists.

But Russian troops appear to understand that defeating the resistance here requires more than just stopping the rallies.

Unlike other regions occupied by Russian forces, the military in Melitopol have been trying to win people's hearts and minds. "We have the brand of 'polite people'", Iryna jokes, referring to the term used to describe Russian soldiers when Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014.

"These are ordinary guys who look like us and try to be nice," she explains. "They help elderly women and show that they care about people. But they can't realise that it was them who created all these troubles and that our people didn't beg for help before."

In order to create a perception of normality, the Russian forces try to silence anyone who openly opposes them.

The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov
IMAGE SOURCE,EPA
Image caption, Mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov was detained by Russian forces in March

Svitlana Zalizetska, who used to run a popular news website, was pressured to co-operate with the new authorities appointed by the Russian military. She refused. When the mayor, Mr Fedorov, was abducted, Svitlana realised she could be next. She later escaped into territory controlled by Ukrainian forces.

Then, Russian officers started threatening her family. "First they wanted to destroy the website. They failed," she says. "Then they tried to capture me. They failed again. Then they detained my father and took him hostage to make me come back, and gain control over the website."

Only when she publicly acknowledged that she no longer owned the website and stopped writing for it, they released her father.

The Russian army is mobilising resources to change the pro-Ukrainian views of the population in Melitopol. They desperately want to get schools, shops and businesses to reopen with the aim of presenting Russian rule as a positive step.

And the longer the occupation lasts, the harder it is for people to resist. Some residents, with no funds left to feed their families, are returning to work - even if it implies supporting the new Russian regime.

"If they are physically killing Ukrainians in Mariupol, here they're trying to break our souls," says Iryna. "But they will fail."

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine war: Russia's jailed Navalny attacks invasion as judge rejects appeal
By Paul Kirby
BBC News
Published12 hours ago
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61564440

Media caption,
Watch: Alexei Navalny appeared in court in Moscow via a video link from his penal colony

Russia's prominent jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny has lost an appeal against a nine-year prison term, but not before launching a scathing attack on the war in Ukraine.

Condemning Vladimir Putin's war as stupid, he said it was "like your courts, built entirely on lies".

Navalny was already serving a jail term when he was convicted in a fraud case rejected by supporters as fabricated.

He addressed the court in Moscow via a video link at his penal colony.

Long seen as a President Putin's most vocal critic in Russia, Navalny was detained the moment he flew home from Germany after treatment for a near-fatal nerve agent attack in Siberia in August 2020.

He was initially jailed for two and a half years for breaking bail conditions while being treated in hospital, but in March he was given an extra nine years for fraud and contempt of court.

The prosecutor told the court the verdict in March had been fair and justified but Navalny's defence lawyer argued it had contradicted international law. In comments that were repeatedly interrupted, Navalny said he despised the court and said the rulings against him were no different from the lies used by "madman" President Putin and state TV to justify the war.

"You will suffer a historic defeat in this stupid war that you started. It has no purpose or meaning. Why are we fighting a war?" he said.

Russia has silenced criticism of its three-month war in Ukraine, prosecuting dozens of people who have refused to use the term "special military operation" and blocking independent media outlets.

During Tuesday's appeal hearing, Navalny told the court that the judge who gave him his initial jail term in February 2021, Natalya Repnikova, had later told his lawyers she regretted her decision. Repnikova died months later of coronavirus "according to the official version", he reportedly told the court.

Since Navalny was jailed last year he has been held in a jail at Pokrov, east of Moscow, but he now faces being transferred to a penal colony with a far stricter regime and very limited rights to prison visits. His colleagues say he is due to be moved to a facility in Melekhovo, where one former prisoner has made allegations of systematic torture.

Media caption, Alexei Navalny: what you need to know