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In his nightly video address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Children’s Day, spoke about the number of children killed and wounded since Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24.
“Every year on June 1 we celebrate Children's Day. A special day when adults pay special attention to the rights of children, safety and development of our kids. But since February 24, everything has changed in our country. And literally every day now is a day of protection for us. Protection of all our people, children, our future. Protection of a free country where every child can, when he or she grows up, live the life he or she wants. Without coercion and oppression,” he said.
“During the 98 days of the Russian invasion, 689 children were injured as a result of the occupiers' attacks. And these are only those we know about. We do not yet have all the information from the territory that is currently occupied. But from what is known today - 446 children were injured, 243 children died. 139 went missing,” Zelenskyy said.
Even as the European Union decided to reduce Russian crude oil imports by 90% by the end of the year, Italy has become the only country in Europe to increase them, an unintended consequence of EU sanctions against Russia, The Associated Press reports.
Italy agreed with its EU partners to cut Russian crude imports by 2023, but Rome also has to deal with the fate of the refinery in Sicily owned by Russia’s Lukoil.
As a result of previous sanctions against Russia, banks have refused to take the risk of extending credit to Russia-controlled ISAB that would allow it to buy oil from non-Russian sources, so
Ships continue to arrive at the port-side refinery with crude oil from the Russian parent company, including about 400,000 barrels of Russian oil a day in May, four times the pre-invasion levels, according to the Kpler commodity data company.
The United Kingdom seeks U.S. approval to send American-made medium-range MRLS to Ukraine, . The U.K’s request can after the U.S. announced its plans to send similar weapons.
The MRLS in question is the M270, which can strike targets 80 km away, similar to HIMARS given to Ukraine by U.S. However, the more modern HIMARS is quicker.
recognizes Russia's invasion of Ukraine as genocide.
U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House on Thursday, along with Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Stoltenberg told reporters after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday that he would convene a meeting in Brussels in the coming days with senior officials from Sweden, Finland and Turkey to discuss Turkey's opposition to Sweden and Finland joining the defense alliance.
One of the world's largest yachts sits in a quiet United Arab Emirates port — so far avoiding the fate of other luxury vessels linked to sanctioned Russian oligarchs — in one of the poorest emirates, a 90-minute drive from the illuminated high-rises of Dubai, .
The 118-meter Motor Yacht A's presence in a Ras al-Khaimah creek shows the UAE's neutrality during Russia's war on Ukraine as the Gulf country remains a magnet for Russian money and its oil-rich capital sees Moscow as a crucial OPEC partner.
Since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, the seven sheikhdoms of the Emirates have offered a refuge for Russians, both those despairing of their country’s future as well as the mega-wealthy concerned about Western sanctions.
Motor Yacht A belongs to Andrey Melnichenko, an oligarch worth some $23.5 billion, according to Forbes.
A number of civilians are sheltering from Russian shelling under a chemical plant in the Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk and authorities fear it may still have stocks of dangerous materials, the regional governor told Reuters on Wednesday.
Russian forces entered the city, the largest still held by Ukraine in the eastern Luhansk region, late last week after weeks of shelling as they try to take full control of the industrial Donbas region.
"There are civilians there in bomb shelters, there are quite a few of them," Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said of the Azot chemical plant, adding that there were "strong Soviet-era" bomb shelters under the factory.
"We were assured that there were no (chemicals) left, but as we can see there are still some remnants," he said.
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