What is happening in Ukraine today and how are countries around the world reacting? Read live updates on Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A Russian-installed official in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine said grain from the region is being sent to Russia.
Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russia-backed Kherson regional government, told Russia’s state news agency Tass on Monday that grain from last year’s harvest is being delivered to Russian buyers.
“There is space for storage (later crop) although obviously there is a lot of grain here,” Stremousov was quoted as saying. “Now people are exporting a part, an agreement has been reached with those who are buying from the (Russia) side.”
Tass also reported that Stremousov said sunflower seeds could be sent to Russian processing plants to make sunflower oil.
Ukraine has accused Russia of looting grain and agricultural equipment from territories held by its forces, and the United States has accused Russia of endangering the global food supply by preventing Ukraine from exporting produce. their harvest.
Russian troops occupied much of the Kherson area in the early weeks of the war and have gripped the area ever since. Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin visited the area earlier this month and suggested that it could become part of “our Russian family.”
——
——
OTHER DEVELOPMENT:
MOSCOW – The Russian military says it has attacked a shipyard in southern Ukraine.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said on Monday that a Russian artillery attack on a shipyard in the port of Mykolaiv destroyed Ukrainian armored vehicles parked on its territory. .
Konashenkov said that Russian artillery hit 593 areas of concentration of Ukrainian troops and equipment and 55 artillery batteries in the past 24 hours.
He added that the Russian air force hit three command posts and 67 positions.
——
KYIV, Ukraine – A regional governor says an intense battle is underway for the key city of Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said that Russian forces had entered the suburbs and were moving towards nearby Lysychansk. He said on Monday that two civilians were killed and five others wounded in the latest Russian shelling.
The Ukrainian military also said that Russian forces were consolidating their positions in the northeastern and southeastern suburbs of Sievierodonetsk, and adding more equipment and ammunition to the area to accelerate the offensive. their.
Sievierodonetsk was the main target of a Russian attack in the industrial center of Donbas, eastern Ukraine. The city was once the administrative center of the Luhansk region, making up the Donbas along with the neighboring Donetsk region.
——
BRUSSELS – European Union leaders will gather on Monday in a new show of solidarity with Ukraine but divisions over whether to target Russian oil in a new set of sanctions are growing exposes the limits of how far the bloc can go to help the war-torn country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who will receive 27 heads of state and government by videoconference in the evening, has repeatedly demanded that the EU target Russia’s lucrative energy sector and deprive it of billions of dollars. every day of Moscow in supply payments.
But Hungary is leading a group of countries – along with Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria – that are dependent on Russian oil and cannot afford to take such steps.
The EU has imposed five rounds of sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine. The sixth package was announced on May 4, but the oil backlog is confusing the block. Ahead of the summit, officials suggested that a solution could be found by targeting oil transported by ship and keeping fire on the very valuable pipeline to Hungary.
——
BERLIN – Germany’s ruling parties and the main opposition have reached an agreement to move forward with the increase in defense spending that Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced three months ago.
Scholz told German lawmakers three days after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that the country would commit 100 billion euros ($107 billion) to a special fund for the military and increase defense spending by above 2% of GDP – a measure that has long lagged behind.
Scholz wants to include special funds in the constitution. That requires a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament, meaning the prime minister needs support from the centre-right opposition Coalition bloc.
Discussions on the matter have become mired in details, but the two sides reached an agreement on Sunday night that clears the way for the funds to go to parliament. Among other things, funding for cyberspace and support for partner countries will come from Germany’s regular budget, not special funds.
——
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Families across Africa are paying about 45% more for flour as Russia’s war in Ukraine halts exports from the Black Sea.
Some countries like Somalia get more than 90% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine. That forces many people to replace wheat with other grains. But the United Nations is warning that prices will soar as parts of Africa are facing drought and famine.
The United Nations has warned that an estimated 13 million people are facing severe hunger in the greater Horn of Africa as a result of a persistent drought. The head of the World Food Program called Russia’s war with Ukraine a “catastrophe on top of disaster” for the world’s poor.
____
Contact
Do you have any questions about the attack on Ukraine? Email dotcom@bellmedia.ca.
- Please include your name, location and contact information if you would like to speak to a journalist with CTV News.
- Your comments may be used in a CTVNews.ca story.
