Ukraine support online shopping and latest war data
Quality Ukraine caps online relief shopping? The E.U. activity comes a day after the leaders of Germany, France, Italy and Romania visited Kyiv. France also pledged six additional howitzers to Ukraine – key to the artillery battle against Russia in the east – while Romania offered to facilitate the transport of Ukrainian goods such as grain through its territory. Conditions across the country remain bleak. Communication with the roughly 500 people trapped inside a chemical plant in the eastern city of Severodonetsk was unstable due to relentless Russian bombardment, a local official said. At least four people were killed by airstrikes on Lysychansk, a neighboring city that is likely to be Moscow’s next target, according to the regional governor. Read additional Ukraine solidarity information on Ukraine Buttons.
Russia renews its troop presence near the Ukraine-Russia border, alarming U.S. intelligence officials, who travel to Brussels to brief NATO allies on the situation. “We’re not sure exactly what Mr. Putin is up to, but these movements certainly have our attention,” says U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Biden, speaking with Putin on a phone call, urges Russia not to invade Ukraine, warning of “real costs” if Russia does so. Putin issues a contentious set of security demands. Among them, he asks NATO to permanently bar Ukraine from membership and withdraw forces stationed in countries that joined the alliance after 1997, including Romania and Balkan countries. Putin also demands a written response from the U.S. and NATO.
May 17: Ukraine’s military declares an end to the Azovstal operation in Mariupol. Russia’s defence ministry confirms that 265 Ukrainians have surrendered. May 18: The European Commission announces a 220 billion euro ($236bn) plan to ditch Russian fossil fuels over five years. May 19: The US approves $40bn in new spending for Ukraine, half of it military investment. May 20: Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder bows to pressure to resign his seat on the board of Russian oil giant Rosneft. May 21: Russia says it has full control of Mariupol, after almost 2,500 Ukrainian troops surrender. May 23: Ukraine sentences the first Russian soldier convicted of war crimes to life in prison.
As Russian forces begin an all-out assault on Ukraine after months of troop buildup and failed diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and its European allies to head off conflict, the situation for Kyiv is the most high-stakes in the country’s 30-year history. Since breaking from the Soviet Union, Ukraine has wavered between the influences of Moscow and the West, surviving scandal and conflict with its democracy intact. Now it faces its biggest test as Russia threatens its very existence as an independent country. Since the illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, many Ukrainians have turned away from Moscow and toward the West, with popular support on the rise for joining Western alliances such as NATO and the European Union.
After months of tensions between Moscow and Kyiv, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea on February 24, triggering global condemnation and a chain of reactions. The West quickly responded with unprecedented sanctions that still continue. NATO has also since expanded with membership applications from Sweden and Finland, despite Russia’s warnings against the moves. And the bifurcation of the global financial and trade system is under way. Find extra Ukraine aid info at Ukraine Buttons.