Ukraine war briefing: Putin threat to foreign embassies in Kyiv

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Original article by Warren Murray with Guardian writers and agencies

Russia has told foreign embassies in Kyiv to evacuate their staff in case it decides to attack the Ukrainian capital during the Victory Day parade in Moscow this weekend. It comes despite the Ukrainian president offering a truce extending before, during and potentially after the anniversary if Russia halts attacks on Ukraine. Vladimir Putin, the Russian ruler, has demanded a narrow ceasefire on strictly his own terms to protect his showpiece annual parade.
In a note to foreign diplomatic missions and international organisations, Russia warned it would launch a “retaliatory” strike on the Ukrainian capital, “including against decision-making centres”, if Ukraine disrupted the commemorations this Saturday. It urged them to “ensure the timely evacuation of personnel from diplomatic and other missions, as well as citizens, from the city of Kyiv”.
Ukraine proposed its own ceasefire starting on 6 May, which Russia ignored. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said Russia – which did not confirm its adherence to Ukraine’s proposal – had committed 1,820 violations by late morning on Wednesday. “Russia’s choice is an obvious spurning of a ceasefire and of saving lives,” he said. Ukraine was ready to work for peace but “if the one person in Moscow who cannot live without war is interested only in a parade and nothing else, that is another matter”, Zelenskyy said. “Russia has fought to the point where even their main parade now depends on us.”
On Wednesday, Russian drones hit a kindergarten in the north-eastern city of Sumy, killing a security guard and wounding two others, officials said. No children were there at the time, Luke Harding writes. Russian attacks on 14 regions of Ukraine since last Friday have killed at least 70 civilians and wounded more than 500, the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine said on Wednesday. Five people were killed by a Ukrainian drone strike on the city of Dzhankoi in occupied Crimea, according to the Russia-installed governor, Sergei Aksyonov.
Hungary has returned cash and gold of Ukraine’s Oschadbank seized by Budapest’s security service in March, VZelenskyy said on Wednesday, welcoming the move toward normalising strained ties. Under the now lame-duck prime minister Viktor Orbán, who lost recent elections to Péter Magyar, Hungary detained seven Ukrainians transporting around $82m in cash and gold. Ukraine denounced the seizure as racketeering and said it was a routine transfer. Both funds and gold were back in Ukraine in full, Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, stressing Hungary’s “constructive approach and civilised step”. Magyar is due to take the oath of office on Saturday.
The Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale was temporarily shut down after the activist group Pussy Riot staged a chaotic protest against Russia’s inclusion in the art festival. Wearing pink balaclavas, the protesters ran towards the Russian pavilion where they gathered outside and lit pink, blue and yellow flares while playing punk music and shouting slogans, including “Blood is Russia’s art”. They wore slogans on their bodies such as “Curated by Putin, dead bodies included”, “Russia kills, biennale exhibits” and “Russian art, Ukrainian blood”. A statue outside the pavilion was wrapped in a Ukrainian flag. Nadya Tolokonnikova, a founding member of Pussy Riot who led the protest, said: “It’s weird to me that Europe keeps saying that Ukraine is a shield for the entire European continent but it opens its doors time and time again to Russian propaganda. It’s heartbreaking for me.”

Ukraine is seeking to build its drones with fewer parts from China – and Taiwan is emerging as alternative source, write Alicia Chen and Yu-chen Li. Despite repeated denials from Beijing, Ukraine accuses China of aiding Russia with military goods. Broader concerns about China’s dominance of supply chains mean Ukraine along with Europe, the US and other countries is turning to Taiwan as an alternative supplier. Taiwan, with its strengths in semiconductors and electronics integration, is a “100% a valuable partner”, said Bohdan Diorditsa, chief international alliances officer at Vyriy, one of Ukraine’s leading drone makers and a vocal advocate for local production and less reliance on Chinese components.
Sweden’s coast guard detained a tanker suspected of being part of Russia’s oil-carrying “shadow fleet”. The Jin Hui was boarded on Sunday as it sailed under a suspected false flag in Swedish waters in the Baltic Sea. Officials said there were also concerns about the seaworthiness of the vessel, which was sailing under a Syrian flag. The tanker is on EU, UK and Ukrainian sanctions lists. It is the fifth vessel sailing in Swedish territorial waters to come under coast guard investigation in recent weeks. Russia’s embassy in Sweden did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The EU should abolish its unanimous decision-making rule that has let member states hold key decisions “hostage”, according to Germany’s foreign minister. Johann Wadephul said the EU should be able to “move faster” with weighted majority decisions, or agreements among smaller groups of EU countries. He did not name – but seemed to have in mind – Hungary, which under Orbán stymied urgent EU measures such as aid to Ukraine. “Blockades” of decisions by lone EU countries “have sometimes held the EU hostage to national and extraneous interests”, Wadephul said, also calling for Brussels to be given more power to withhold EU funds from countries “who violate our common values”.

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Ukraine war briefing: Putin threat to foreign embassies in Kyiv

Click any word to translate

Original article by Warren Murray with Guardian writers and agencies

Russia has told foreign embassies in Kyiv to evacuate their staff in case it decides to attack the Ukrainian capital during the Victory Day parade in Moscow this weekend. It comes despite the Ukrainian president offering a truce extending before, during and potentially after the anniversary if Russia halts attacks on Ukraine. Vladimir Putin, the Russian ruler, has demanded a narrow ceasefire on strictly his own terms to protect his showpiece annual parade.
In a note to foreign diplomatic missions and international organisations, Russia warned it would launch a “retaliatory” strike on the Ukrainian capital, “including against decision-making centres”, if Ukraine disrupted the commemorations this Saturday. It urged them to “ensure the timely evacuation of personnel from diplomatic and other missions, as well as citizens, from the city of Kyiv”.
Ukraine proposed its own ceasefire starting on 6 May, which Russia ignored. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said Russia – which did not confirm its adherence to Ukraine’s proposal – had committed 1,820 violations by late morning on Wednesday. “Russia’s choice is an obvious spurning of a ceasefire and of saving lives,” he said. Ukraine was ready to work for peace but “if the one person in Moscow who cannot live without war is interested only in a parade and nothing else, that is another matter”, Zelenskyy said. “Russia has fought to the point where even their main parade now depends on us.”
On Wednesday, Russian drones hit a kindergarten in the north-eastern city of Sumy, killing a security guard and wounding two others, officials said. No children were there at the time, Luke Harding writes. Russian attacks on 14 regions of Ukraine since last Friday have killed at least 70 civilians and wounded more than 500, the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine said on Wednesday. Five people were killed by a Ukrainian drone strike on the city of Dzhankoi in occupied Crimea, according to the Russia-installed governor, Sergei Aksyonov.
Hungary has returned cash and gold of Ukraine’s Oschadbank seized by Budapest’s security service in March, VZelenskyy said on Wednesday, welcoming the move toward normalising strained ties. Under the now lame-duck prime minister Viktor Orbán, who lost recent elections to Péter Magyar, Hungary detained seven Ukrainians transporting around $82m in cash and gold. Ukraine denounced the seizure as racketeering and said it was a routine transfer. Both funds and gold were back in Ukraine in full, Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, stressing Hungary’s “constructive approach and civilised step”. Magyar is due to take the oath of office on Saturday.
The Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale was temporarily shut down after the activist group Pussy Riot staged a chaotic protest against Russia’s inclusion in the art festival. Wearing pink balaclavas, the protesters ran towards the Russian pavilion where they gathered outside and lit pink, blue and yellow flares while playing punk music and shouting slogans, including “Blood is Russia’s art”. They wore slogans on their bodies such as “Curated by Putin, dead bodies included”, “Russia kills, biennale exhibits” and “Russian art, Ukrainian blood”. A statue outside the pavilion was wrapped in a Ukrainian flag. Nadya Tolokonnikova, a founding member of Pussy Riot who led the protest, said: “It’s weird to me that Europe keeps saying that Ukraine is a shield for the entire European continent but it opens its doors time and time again to Russian propaganda. It’s heartbreaking for me.”

Ukraine is seeking to build its drones with fewer parts from China – and Taiwan is emerging as alternative source, write Alicia Chen and Yu-chen Li. Despite repeated denials from Beijing, Ukraine accuses China of aiding Russia with military goods. Broader concerns about China’s dominance of supply chains mean Ukraine along with Europe, the US and other countries is turning to Taiwan as an alternative supplier. Taiwan, with its strengths in semiconductors and electronics integration, is a “100% a valuable partner”, said Bohdan Diorditsa, chief international alliances officer at Vyriy, one of Ukraine’s leading drone makers and a vocal advocate for local production and less reliance on Chinese components.
Sweden’s coast guard detained a tanker suspected of being part of Russia’s oil-carrying “shadow fleet”. The Jin Hui was boarded on Sunday as it sailed under a suspected false flag in Swedish waters in the Baltic Sea. Officials said there were also concerns about the seaworthiness of the vessel, which was sailing under a Syrian flag. The tanker is on EU, UK and Ukrainian sanctions lists. It is the fifth vessel sailing in Swedish territorial waters to come under coast guard investigation in recent weeks. Russia’s embassy in Sweden did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The EU should abolish its unanimous decision-making rule that has let member states hold key decisions “hostage”, according to Germany’s foreign minister. Johann Wadephul said the EU should be able to “move faster” with weighted majority decisions, or agreements among smaller groups of EU countries. He did not name – but seemed to have in mind – Hungary, which under Orbán stymied urgent EU measures such as aid to Ukraine. “Blockades” of decisions by lone EU countries “have sometimes held the EU hostage to national and extraneous interests”, Wadephul said, also calling for Brussels to be given more power to withhold EU funds from countries “who violate our common values”.