Zelenskiy says stalemate with Russia is not an option as it happened – The Guardian

Nearly 600 people detained in torture chambers in Kherson, says Ukraine

Ukraine has accused the Russian army of abducting residents in the Kherson region in the south of the country and keeping them in torture chambers.

Tamila Tacheva, the Ukrainian presidencys permanent representative in Crimea, said in a briefing:

According to our information, about 600 people are detained in specially equipped basements, in torture chambers, in the Kherson region.

About 300 people are in the basement in Kherson city and the rest are in other settlements of the region, Tacheva said, according to Ukrainian state news agency, Ukrinform.

She added:

They are detained in inhuman conditions and are victims of torture.

Those being detained are mainly journalists and activists who organised pro-Ukrainian rallies in Kherson and its region after Russian troops occupied the territory, as well as prisoners of war, Tacheva said.

Some Ukrainians held in the Kherson region civilians but also detained combatants have been sent to jails in Crimea, she added.

It was not possible to independently verify these claims.

Updated at 12.01EDT

Thats all from me, Samantha Lock, for now. Please join me a little a later when we launch our new live blog covering all the latest developments from Ukraine.

Here is a comprehensive run-down of where things currently stand as of 3am.

Ukraine is launching a Book of Executioners, a system to collate evidence of war crimes Kyiv says were committed during Russias occupation, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday.

Ukrainian prosecutors say they have registered more than 12,000 alleged war crimes involving more than 600 suspects since the Kremlin started its invasion on 24 February.

Next week, a special publication is to be launched - The Book of Executioners - an information system to collect confirmation of data about war criminals, criminals from the Russian army, Zelenskiy said in a video address.

Zelenskiy said this would be a key element in his longstanding pledge to bring to account Russian servicemen who have committed what Ukrainian authorities have described as murders, rape and looting.

These are concrete facts about concrete individuals guilty of concrete cruel crimes against Ukrainians, Zelenskiy said.

He cited the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where investigators found what they say is evidence of mass executions.

Moscows Chief Rabbi has reportedly fled Russia, after coming under pressure to support Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine.

Journalist Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt tweeted late on Tuesday: Can finally share that my in-laws, Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt and Rebbetzin Dara Goldschmidt, have been put under pressure by authorities to publicly support the special operation in Ukraine and refused.

More than 31,000 Russian servicemen have already died in Ukraine, president Zelenskiy has claimed, adding that the frontline situation has not changed significantly over the past 24 hours.

The hottest spots are the same. First of all, Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, he said in his latest address.

More than 31,000 Russian servicemen have already died in Ukraine. Since February 24, Russia has been paying almost 300 lives a day for a completely pointless war against Ukraine. And still the day will come when the number of losses, even for Russia, will exceed the permissible limit.

Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has also provided an update as to Ukraines application to join the EU.

In his latest address, he said he held a meeting on Tuesday on communication with the European Union and with individual EU member states on Ukraines application and candidate status.

Diplomatic activity in this direction does not stop even for a day. I hear daily reports, including on the preparation of procedural decisions in the European Union.

The team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, our diplomats, the team of the government in general - all, absolutely all are working to achieve a significant historical decision already in June, which we all expect. For its part, Ukraine has done all, absolutely all the necessary work for this.

As they say in such cases: the ball is in the court of European structures, European countries.

A stalemate with Russia is not an option, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, reiterating a plea for foreign help in the war.

Ukraines fierce resistance of Russias invasion led to a stalemate in parts of the country, with Moscow re-focussing its forces in the east.

In an interview with the Financial Times newspaper on Tuesday, he said:

Victory must be achieved on the battlefield.

We are inferior in terms of equipment and therefore we are not capable of advancing.

We are going to suffer more losses and people are my priority.

Asked what Ukraine would consider a victory, Zelenskiy said restoring the borders Ukraine controlled before Russias invasion on 24 February would be a serious temporary victory.

But he said the ultimate aim was the full de-occupation of our entire territory.

Asked about talks with Russia, which have been suspended since late March, Zelenskiy said he had not changed his position, adding that war should be ended at the negotiating table.

He said he was ready for direct talks with Vladimir Putin, adding that there was nobody else to talk to but the Russian president.

Its not long before 2am on Wednesday in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

News continues to come in about Ukrainian prisoners of war captured by Russian invading forces in Mariupol.

Well have more coming up, so please stay tuned as the blogging passes from the Guardian US team over to our colleagues in Australia, where Samantha Lock will keep you abreast as things happen.

Heres where things stand:

Breaking news is coming through from Tass, the Russian state-owned news agency, declaring that more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered in the southern port city of Mariupol after weeks taking a last stand have been transferred to Russia, Reuters reports.

More Ukrainian prisoners of war will be taken to Russia later on, Reuters is further reporting, with Tass citing a Russian law enforcement source.

Ukraine has said it is working for all the prisoners to be returned while some Russian legislators say they should be put on trial.

More details will be forthcoming, no doubt, and well bring them to you as they emerge.

Previously, the Guardians Pjotr Sauer had reported, more than 900 Ukrainian troops who had been trapped at Mariupols besieged Azovstal steel plant, where Ukrainian forces held out for weeks, had been sent to a prison colony on Russian-controlled territory within Ukraine, Moscow has said, and their fate had been uncertain.

Now, it appears, they and more of their comrades, have been taken to Russia proper.

Its probably fair to say that, if that is confirmed, their fate is currently even more uncertain.

Surrender at the besieged steel works came in the middle of last month, after it became clear that any remaining troops would, in fairly short order, be obliterated by Russian forces, with hope of rescue or reinforcements expired.

Just a few days earlier in May, the last remaining civilians holed up at the steel works were evacuated, and my colleague Emma Graham-Harrison sent this dispatch.

What remains of Mariupol is now under Russian control, and there are reports of an epidemic of cholera among those remaining in the occupied city, with sewage and water supply problems and dead bodies rotting in the streets.

Updated at 18.21EDT

The World Bank said on Tuesday its board of executive directors approved $1.49 billion of additional financing for Ukraine to help pay wages for government and social workers, expanding the banks total pledged support for Kyiv to over $4 billion.

The World Bank said in a statement that the latest round of funding for Ukraine is supported by financing guarantees from Britain, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Latvia.

Ukraines economy is in tatters.

The project is also being supported by parallel financing from Italy and contributions from a new Multi-Donor Trust Fund.

The news came as the bank also warned that the global economy faces a protracted period of weak growth and high inflation reminiscent of the 1970s as the impact of a two-year pandemic is compounded by Russias invasion of Ukraine, my colleague Larry Elliott reported earlier.

In its half-yearly economic health check, the Washington-based Bank said echoes of the stagflation of four decades ago had forced it to cut its growth forecast for this year from 4.1% to 2.9%.

David Malpass, the Banks president, said: The war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, supply chain disruptions and the risk of stagflation are hammering growth. For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid.

Read more of Larrys report here.

Rubizhne, on the outskirts of the embattled industrial hub of Sievierodonetsk, in the Luhansk area of the Donbas that invading Russian forces are trying to subdue, some new satellite images are emerging showing severe damage.

The US satellite firm Maxar Technologies has just tweeted these pictures.

The Kyiv Independent news outlet reminds us that there has been heavy fighting over Rubizhne for weeks.

Also this:

Fighters with the resisting Ukrainian forces and the invading Russians appear to be bogged down in some key parts of southern and south-eastern Ukraine, fighting old-school trench warfare amid the boom of artillery.

Footage is often hard to verify in terms of exact location and time of filming in this 100+ days of conflict, but the sight and sound in this clip is in some way timeless.

CNNs Matthew Chance just aired a dispatch from Kryvyi Rih in southern Ukraine, where he reported on forces dug in and grinding front lines as the bone-shaking artillery guns pound away at each side.

He indicated that from what he was witnessing, in an exclusive report, that the Ukrainian and Russian forces have fought themselves to a standstill right now.

That was despite messages coming out from the Ukrainian authorities that Ukraine was making progress. But officers on the ground were also expressing grim satisfaction that Russia had not toppled the country within days as they claimed Vladimir Putin must have envisioned.

Here was Chances recent online report about Russia striking the capital Kyiv again after a long hiatus.

Continued here:

Zelenskiy says stalemate with Russia is not an option as it happened - The Guardian