Who could imagine that Russia and Ukraine will hold each other’s citizens hostage?
A special camp for Russian POWs was built in Ukraine. According to Justice Minister Denys Malyuska, the camp was set up in one of the country’s western regions for Russians who are not going to be exchanged in the near future.
Malyuska assured that the conditions of detention of prisoners correspond to the norms of the Geneva Convention and they are slightly better than those of prisoners or convicts. They are also fully accessible to the Red Cross.
Associated Press reported that dozens of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal steelworks have been returned to Ukraine by the Russian occupiers of the fortress-like plant in the destroyed city of Mariupol, where their last-ditch stand became a symbol of resistance against Moscow’s invasion.
The dead taken from the ruins of the bombed-out mill were transferred to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, where DNA testing is underway to identify the remains, according to both a military leader and a spokeswoman for the Azov Regiment.
World is tired of war, interested sides are not yet
Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Putin dragging out the war is causing some countries to become tired of the fighting, pushing leaders to pressure Ukraine into accepting an “undesirable” outcome beneficial to Russia.
“Everyone really wants to push us little by little towards some result that is definitely undesirable for us because we have not been asked yet, but beneficial for other parties that have their own interests. Again, different: both financial and political,” Zelensky said.
Despite “growing” fatigue as the conflict drags on, Zelensky said he has no plans to negotiate a peace plan with Russia at this point.
Grain expected to take place of money
Russia and Turkey reached a preliminary agreement on unlocking the supply of Ukrainian agricultural products through the Black Sea, Bloomberg reports with reference to its sources. However, according to the agency, Ukraine has not yet agreed with the terms of the transaction.
Russia and Turkey have a UN-sponsored plan to clear mines in the port of Odessa and create a safe corridor for ships carrying grain from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.
Ukraine does not take a direct participation in the negotiations.
The agency also claims that Russia demands to provide it with the opportunity to inspect merchant vessels for the availability of weapons on them, Ukraine does not agree with this condition.
In mid-May, the United States sent an alert to 14 countries, mostly in Africa, that Russian cargo vessels were leaving ports near Ukraine laden with what a State Department cable described as “stolen Ukrainian grain.”
Vacationing on the seaside out of the question
The Ukrainian military pushed the Russian fleet 100 km off the coast of Ukraine. This was reported by the Ministry of Defense. It noted that in an attempt to regain control of the northwestern part of the Black Sea, the enemy was forced to change tactics and deploy in the Crimea and Kherson oblast coastal missile systems "Bal" and "Bastion" and send additional forces to Smiiny Island.
There is also a possibility of landing on the Odesa coast and the threat of missile strikes on Ukraine. The occupiers began to use obsolete anti-ship missiles more often to fire on ground target.
Living in misery, but proud of military parades
Ukrainian singer Olya Polyakova said that those Russians who blindly believe the propaganda of the Kremlin and support the war in Ukraine absolutely cannot think. She believes that the Russians lack empathy even for their own children. “Degradation of the whole nation,” she stated.
Exodus will continue
After the first wave of migration following Russian’s invasion that started on February 24, a second wave is expected in Ukraine, said the director general of the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) Volodimir Paniotto.
He noted that 3.5 million Ukrainians are outside the country now and experts anticipate up to 5 million people can yet leave Ukraine during the second wave.
Moscow’s top diplomat slams Balkan States for blocking his Serbia visit
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the decision by Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to close their airspace to prevent his plane from flying to Serbia was “unprecedented” but won’t affect good relations with Belgrade.
He added that “if a visit by a Russian foreign minister is being seen in the West as something close to a global threat, then by all accounts things within the West are pretty bad”.
Lavrov promised invite his Serbian counterpart Nikola Selakovic to visit Moscow because he was not able to travel to Belgrade.
