War in Ukraine: Latest developments

Agence France-Presse / 12:30 PM June 14, 2022

Smoke and dirt rise from the city of Severodonetsk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 13, 2022, amid Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP

KYIV—Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

Ukraine forces driven from central Severodonetsk

The governor of the eastern Lugansk, Sergiy Gaiday, says Ukraine’s forces have been driven from the centre of the key eastern city of Severodonetsk, after a weeks-long Russian offensive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his forces are fighting for “literally every meter” of the industrial hub.

Gaiday says that the Russians have destroyed a second bridge into the city on the Donets river and that the Azot chemical plant, where hundreds of civilians are taking shelter, is being heavily shelled.

Moscow-backed separatist forces say the city is “blocked” and call on Ukrainian troops to “surrender or die.”

More bodies in Bucha

Ukrainian police say another seven bodies, several with their hands and legs tied, have been found in a grave near Bucha, the Kyiv suburb that has become synonymous with allegations of Russian war crimes.

Regional police chief Andriy Nebytov claims the seven found near the village of Myrotske, about 10 kilometres (six miles) northwest of Bucha, “were tortured by the Russians then executed in a cowardly manner with a bullet to the head”.

The bodies of dozens of civilians were found lying on the street, in basements and buried in mass graves in Bucha after Russian troops pulled out of the area in late March.

Baltic states could be next, says ex-PM

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s former prime ministers warns that the war could last up to two years and tells AFP it is imperative that Ukraine wins.

“If Ukraine falls, the Baltic states will be next,” says Mikhail Kasyanov, who was Putin’s first prime minister before being sacked in 2004 and is now one of the Kremlin’s chief critics.

Kasyanov, who has left Russia, disagrees with French President Emmanuel Macron’s suggestion that Putin should not be humiliated and also rejects calls for Ukraine to cede territory to end the war.

“I believe this is wrong and hope that the West won’t go down that path,” he says.

‘Shocking’ use of cluster bombs: Amnesty

Amnesty International accuses Russia of the repeated use of cluster bombs in attacks on residential neighbourhoods of Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv.

The London-based NGO says it has uncovered proof of the use of 9N210 and 9N235 cluster bombs and scatterable land mines, all of which are banned under international conventions.

“The repeated use of widely banned cluster munitions is shocking, and a further indication of utter disregard for civilian lives,” Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Adviser, says.

Russian oil revenues soar

A report shows Russia’s revenues from exports of oil and gas reaching record highs during the first 100 days of the war, with Moscow taking in 93 billion euros ($98 billion), most of it from European Union customers.

The report from the independent, Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) shows the top clients for Russian oil, gas and coal being China with 12.6 billion euros, followed by Germany (12.1 billion euros) and Italy (7.8 billion euros).

The EU last month agreed to halt most Russian oil imports but an embargo on Russian gas is not on the cards at present.

Long queues for Russian ‘McDonald’s’

Long queues form outside a former McDonald’s restaurant in central Moscow that reopened Sunday a month after the US fast-food giant pulled out of Russia.

Russia’s answer to McDonald’s is called “Vkusno i tochka” (“Delicious. Full Stop”). A new logo depicting a burger and two fries has replaced McDonald’s iconic Golden Arches.

The queues at the restaurant on Pushkin Square draw comparisons with the excitement generated by the opening of the first McDonald’s in Russia in January 1990, which was hailed as a sign of Soviet detente with the West.

Fifty more of the burger joints are to be opened on Monday, the chain’s management says.