Russian troops in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, May 20, 2022 (EPA)
EA-Ukraine VideoCast: A Split in Trump Administration Over Putin’s Invasion?
Saturday’s Coverage: Kyiv Hits Russia’s Manufacturing Sites
UPDATE 1149 GMT:
Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner says a settlement over Russia’s invasion is blocked by Ukraine’s refusal to surrender more territory.
Kushner said at the Yalta European Strategy conference on Friday:
President Putin laid out his line of what he wants to achieve. If Ukraine wanted to withdraw to that line, then obviously, you know, we have the rest of the deal set up and put together. Ukraine right now does not want to do that.
Kushner urged Ukraine and Russia to look beyond territorial questions and consider opportunities for economic development after the end of the Russian invasion.
UPDATE 0932 GMT:
Ukrainian forces struck two Russian oil refineries overnight, claims the General Staff.
A fire was reported at the Slavyansky oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban in the Krasnodar Krai in southwest Russia. A storage tank is alight at the TANECO refinery in Nizhnekamsk in the Tatarstan Republic (see 0702 GMT).
UPDATE 0708 GMT:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized the European Union for failing to agree an extension of sanctions against Russian oligarchs and businesses.
The EU has until Tuesday to renew sanctions on more than 3,000 primarily Russian entities and individuals. It failed again on Friday to agree the extension.
Slovakia is holding up the agreement, repeating its call to lift sanctions against Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov. France has joined Bratislava in pushing for Usmanov to be delisted.
Zelensky called out Fridman and Usmanov by name as he called on the EU to escalate pressure against Russia’s business sector rather than easing sanctions.
When the Ukrainian economy is simply a target for Russia, it is certainly not the time for Europe to view Russian oligarchs as friends.
When Russia uses every euro and dollar to prolong the war, it is immoral and self-destructive to give Russian businesses the opportunity to live in a way that allows them to avoid the consequences of the war. Usmanov and Fridman represent the very type of Russian business that needs to find the courage to take concrete steps against the war.
UPDATE 0702 GMT:
An overnight Ukrainian drone attack sparked a fire at an industrial facility in Nizhnekamsk, a major oil refining and petrochemical hub in Russia’s Tatarstan Republic.
Regional officials claimed two people were killed and 12 injured. They did not identify the facility that was hit or disclose the extent of the damage.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Russia’s regions are offering record payments for recruitment of foreign nationals to fight in Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Siberia’s Irkutsk region has raised payments to 1.5 million rubles ($17,800) per recruit. The region instituted the payments in April, offering up to 400,000 rubles ($4,700) per recruit.
A new decree creates a separate category for foreign nationals and stateless people for the first time. Payments for recruitment of Russian citizens registered outside Irkutsk were doubled to 800,000 rubles ($9,500).
Other Russian regions have increased incentives as the Kremlin, facing stalled frontlines and mounting casualties, seeks additional manpower. Smolensk raised the recruiter payment from 115,000 rubles ($1,300) to 1 million rubles ($11,900), while Ryazan increased some payments to 805,000 rubles ($9,500).
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in April that it confirmed at least 28,391 foreign nationals from 136 countries fighting in the Russian military, not including regular North Korean troops.
Amnesty International said Russia’s recruitment of foreign nationals has frequently involved “deceptive, coercive and exploitative practices”, including false promises of civilian jobs, high salaries, residency rights, or Russian citizenship.
