Latest Developments in Ukraine: May 28

• 05, 28, 2022
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For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT:

10:38 a.m.: Russian President Vladimir Putin says he’s willing to talk about resuming grain shipments from Ukraine. In a Saturday phone call, Putin told the leaders of France and Germany that shipments of grain might be able to leave Black Sea ports if sanctions against Russia are lifted, Reuters reported. Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies. The war in Ukraine, as well as Western sanctions against Russia, have disrupted supplies of wheat, fertilizer and other commodities from both countries, triggering concerns about world hunger.

10:06 a.m.: Ukraine’s defense minister says his country has started receiving anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the United States. Oleksiy Reznikov said Saturday that the weapons will help Ukrainian forces fighting the Russian invasion, Reuters reported.

9:29 a.m.: Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Germany and France Saturday that continuing weapons supplies to Ukraine is “dangerous.” Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that sending arms to Ukraine could lead to the “further destabilization of the situation and aggravation of the humanitarian crisis,” the Kremlin said, according to Agence France-Presse.

8:37 a.m.: Russia said it has successfully tested hypersonic missiles in the Arctic, according to Agence France-Presse. The defense ministry said the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile traveled 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) and “successfully hit” a target in the Arctic.

7:50 a.m.: Russia says it has seized Lyman, a strategic town in eastern Ukraine.

“Following the joint actions of the units of the militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Russian armed forces, the town of Krasny Liman has been entirely liberated from Ukrainian nationalists,” the defense ministry said in a statement, Agence France-Presse reported. Lyman is a railway hub in the Donetsk region and its capture signals a potential momentum shift in the war, helping Russia prepare for the next phase of Moscow’s offensive in the eastern Donbas, Reuters reported.

5:29 a.m.: In early May, VOA Eastern Europe bureau chief Myroslava Gongadze spoke with Mark Brzezinski, the U.S. ambassador to Poland. He says Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has united Europe.

“What’s happened in Ukraine alarms everyone — with the genocide that is occurring there, the attacks on civilians, the mass destruction of villages, apartments, old people’s homes, hospitals — it defies any kind of human belief. And I think there is unity among all the allies in Europe about how bad this is and that something needs to be done. ​So, I don’t want to assess who’s taking it most seriously, because I don’t know anyone who’s not taking this seriously.”

4:15 a.m.: Reuters reports that Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian peace talks negotiator, said on Telegram that any agreement with Russia “isn’t worth a broken penny.”

“Is it possible to negotiate with a country that always lies cynically and propagandistically?” he wrote.

3:12 a.m.: The latest intelligence update from the U.K. defense ministry says most of the strategically important Ukrainian town of Lyman has likely fallen to the Russians. Lyman’s the site of a major rail junction and offers access to rail and road bridges over the Siverskyy Donets River.

That’ll be a key point as Russian troops aim to cross the river as part of the next stage of Russia’s Donbas offensive.

2:20 a.m.: Al Jazeera reports that the governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk region insists that Russian forces have not surrounded the city of Severodonetsk.

They have, he says, taken control of a hotel and a bus station. He said it was still possible that Ukrainian forces would have to retreat from the area.

1:13 a.m.: The Associated Press reports that a Communist Party leader in Russia’s Far East has called for an end to the war with Ukraine.

“We understand that if our country doesn’t stop the military operation, we’ll have more orphans in our country,” Legislative Deputy Leonid Vasyukevich said at a meeting of the Primorsk regional Legislative Assembly in the Pacific port of Vladivostok on Friday.

12:02 a.m.: Al Jazeera reports that Lithuanians have raised more than $3 million to buy a military drone for Ukraine. They’re aiming to raise a total of $5.4 million to purchase the Bayraktar TB2 armed drone.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Powerful Vatican Prelate, Dies at 94

• 05, 28, 2022
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Cardinal Angelo Sodano, a once-powerful Italian prelate who long served as the Vatican’s No. 2 official but whose legacy was tarnished by his support for the pedophile found of an influential religious order, has died. He was 94.

The Vatican in its Saturday announcement of his death said the Sodano had died on Friday. Italian state radio said that Sodano recently had contracted COVID-19, complicating his already frail health. Corriere della Sera said he died in a Rome clinic where he had been admitted a few weeks ago.

Pope Francis in a condolence telegram Saturday to Maria Sodano, the retired prelate’s sister, noted that Sodano had held many roles in the Vatican’s diplomatic corps, culminating in his being named secretary of state on June 28, 1991, by the then-pontiff, John Paul II. A day later, John Paul, who later was made a saint, elevated Sodano to the rank of cardinal.

In the condolence message, Francis expressed “sentiments of gratitude to the Lord for the gift of this esteemed man of the church” and paid tribute to his long service as a Vatican diplomat in Ecuador, Uruguay and Chile in South America, Francis’ native continent.

But late in his Vatican career, Sodano’s church legacy was tarnished by his staunch championing of the Rev. Marcial Maciel, the deceased Mexican founder of the Legion of Christ, a religious order, who was later revealed to be a pedophile. Maciel’s clerical career was discredited by the cult-like practices he imposed on the order’s members. An internal investigation eventually identified 33 priests and 71 seminarians in the order who sexually abused minors over some eight decades.

Sodano for years, while secretary of state under John Paul, had prevented the Vatican from investigating sex abuse allegations against Maciel. The Holy See had evidence dating back decades that the founder of the religious order — an organization that was a favorite of John Paul’s for producing so many priests — was a drug addict and a pedophile.

The Vatican’s biography, issued after Sodano died, made no mention of the scandals. Instead, it noted Sodano’s accomplishment as a top Vatican diplomat, including his work for “the peaceful solution to the controversy of the sovereignty of 2 states,” a reference to the territorial dispute that erupted in the 1982 Falklands War between Argentina and Britain.

Speaking of Sodano’s career at the Vatican, which saw him serve until 2006 as the Holy See’s No. 2 official in the role of secretary of state, Francis said the prelate had carried out his mission with “exemplary dedication.”

In December 2019, Francis accepted Sodano’s resignation as Dean of the College of Cardinals, an influential role, especially in preparing for conclaves, the closed-door election of pontiffs. Sodano had held that position from 2005.

Sodano was born in Isola d’Asti, a town in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, on Nov. 23, 1927. He was ordained a priest in 1950 and obtained a doctorate in theology at the prestigious Pontifical Gregorian University and in canon law from the Pontifical Lateral University, both in Rome.

He joined the Vatican’s diplomatic corps in 1959, eventually representing the Holy See at foreign ministers’ meetings across Europe.

In 2000, Sodano played a role in ending an enduring mystery at the Vatican by disclosing the so-called third secret of Fatima.

In 1917, three Portuguese shepherd children said they saw the Virgin Mary appear above an olive tree and she told them three secrets. The first two were said to have foretold the end of World War I and the start of World War II and the rise and fall of Soviet communism. Some speculated that the third, unrevealed secret, was a doomsday prophecy.

While the pope was visiting the popular shrine in Fatima, Portugal, Sodano said that the “interpretations” of the children spoke of a “bishop clothed in white,” who “falls to the ground, apparently dead, under a burst of gunfire.” That description evoked the assassination attempt on John Paul in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981, in which the pope was gravely wounded. 

Sodano’s funeral is to take place on Tuesday in St Peter’s Basilica. It will be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, while Pope Francis will perform a traditional funeral rite at the end of the ceremony.
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Ukrainian Negotiator Says Any Agreement With Russia ‘Isn’t Worth a Broken Penny’

• 05, 28, 2022
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Ukrainian presidential adviser and peace talks negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said on Saturday that any agreement with Russia cannot be trusted and Moscow can only be stopped in its invasion by force.

“Any agreement with Russia isn’t worth a broken penny,” Podolyak wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Is it possible to negotiate with a country that always lies cynically and propagandistically?”

Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other after peace talk stalled, with the last known face-to-face negotiations on March 29. The Kremlin said earlier this month Ukraine was showing no willingness to continue peace talks, while officials in Kyiv blamed Russia for the lack of progress.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that President Vladimir Putin was the only Russian official he was willing to meet with to discuss how to end the war.

Putin says Russian forces are on a special operation to demilitarize Ukraine and rid it of radical anti-Russian nationalists. Ukraine and its allies call that a false pretext to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.

“Russia has proved that it is a barbarian country that threatens world security,” Podolyak said. “A barbarian can only be stopped by force.”
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Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine Unites Europe, US Ambassador Says  

• 05, 28, 2022
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In early May, VOA Eastern Europe bureau chief Myroslava Gongadze spoke with Mark Brzezinski, the U.S. ambassador to Poland. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: So, Ambassador Brzezinski, Poland has been very active in supporting Ukraine.

Brzezinski: Absolutely.

VOA: As ambassador, how do you feel? Do the European Union and other European Union countries share that drive for support for Ukraine?”

Brzezinski: Poland is the frontline state for NATO now when it comes to the Ukraine crisis, so it is doing the heavy lift both in terms of security and in terms of the humanitarian effort pertaining to refugees.

What’s happened in Ukraine alarms everyone — with the genocide that is occurring there, the attacks on civilians, the mass destruction of villages, apartments, old people’s homes, hospitals — it defies any kind of human belief. And I think there is unity among all the allies in Europe about how bad this is and that something needs to be done. ​So, I don’t want to assess who’s taking it most seriously, because I don’t know anyone who’s not taking this seriously.

There are differences in terms of tactics, and there are differences in terms of strategies. And I am impressed that President Biden has really kept together unity and consensus in the alliance, because I think that’s what (Russian President Vladimir) Putin fears most. I think he would love to drive a cleavage between Poland and America or Poland and other parts of Europe, and he’s not going to succeed. Through his own actions, he has united the countries of Europe and the trans-Atlantic community to do something about what he has done in Ukraine.

VOA: However, Poland became now, specifically in this crisis, one of the main allies.

Brzezinski: Definitely.

VOA: For the United States before that, there were a lot of questions about Polish policies internally. How does it look right now? Is supporting Ukraine uniting the two countries together?

Brzezinski: Well, there’s no question that this crisis has driven, by necessity, a level of cooperation because it is such a huge crisis. There’s no question about that. America has always had a good relationship with Poland. We have shared interests and we have differing interests. That’s like a relationship between America and any country.

But this crisis has developed a unity of purpose and a shared definition of the challenge between America and Poland and other European countries. And therefore we are working together with Poland, clearly the next-door neighbor to Ukraine, and so it is very much in the catbird seat in terms of receiving people from Ukraine and trying to support the war effort in Ukraine. So, our collaboration is intense. It is growing.

Other countries recognize that this is not just a Polish problem. It’s not just an American problem. It’s important for them to share in and join in this crisis. And that’s not just countries in Europe that recognize that, but countries around the world. When you go to Rzeszow, to the G2A Arena, to the Community of Interests meeting, you see New Zealand, you see Japan, you see Australia, countries far away at the table as well, pledging resources and committing to do something about this.

VOA: You talk a lot with the Polish leadership. Obviously, this crisis and their position with Poland made them a target of Russian forces and Russian aggression as well. We heard that from the Russian leadership as well. How do you feel about the Polish government? How do they take that — that threat?

Brzezinski: Well, I’ve heard those threats from the Russian “leaders,” and that’s why when I go on Polish television I say, [phrase in Polish] — Poland is safe and Poland is secure. And that’s not just coming from me; that’s coming from the president of the United States, who has said he will defend every square inch of NATO territory. And he said that while in Poland.

So clearly the inference is that every square inch of Polish territory will be defended. And we have 12,500 troops here to walk the talk, as they say, when it comes to that commitment. It’s an ironclad commitment. It’s based on Article 5 of the NATO treaty. And we are shoulder to shoulder with the Poles in the war effort, in supporting the Ukrainian fighters, and in trying to help the Poles when it comes to the refugees.

There’s no question that this is a defining moment for the government of Poland. And they are very much rising to that challenge. And we are proud to work with the Polish leadership on this effort regarding Ukraine. And today, as you saw as well, the third most powerful person in America visited Poland. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, who herself had gone to Ukraine, to Kyiv over the weekend. And she came here first and foremost, as she put it, to thank the people of Poland and to thank the government of Poland, for doing all they are doing for the refugees.

No country in world history has ever had a national policy to place every arriving refugee in someone’s apartment and someone’s home. Poland has set the bar high in terms of what a country should do when there’s a mass movement of people forcibly, whether by natural disaster or by warfare. We are impressed and we thank the Polish people and thank the government of Poland for what they’re doing.

VOA: At the same time, Poland is asking for more NATO troops on the ground and more military support as well. Are there any plans to develop a bigger military presence? A NATO presence?

Brzezinski: Well, you have to remember, Myroslava, that we have 12,500 troops here now, we have F-35s here now, we have Patriot systems here now. We are undergoing a major transfer of tanks to Poland, which the Poles just bought. The Abrams tanks, which is the best-in-class tank that we have for ground warfare.

There is no question that those troops and the equipment we have here are spread out all over Poland. They’re not just on one base or in one place, they’re purposefully everywhere so that we can cover this country in lockstep with the Polish military to defend this country. And that is what we will do.

VOA: Poland is very vocal on the need for more sanctions from the European Union.

Brzezinski: Right.

VOA: They are pushing for a total ban on energy resources from Russia, as well as seizing Russian assets in Europe. What is the United States’ stance on the Polish effort?

Brzezinski: Well, you know, we have sanctioned more than 400 entities and institutions close to Vladimir Putin. It is very targeted, and it is based on study, studies, data and research regarding who and what is close to Putin and who will feel the most pain through sanctions. And that is our sanctions approach.

Sanctions take a while to have an effect, but we have a pretty big and growing sanctions list. It will continue. But I think it’s one part of a multipart effort that involves also supporting refugees, that involves supporting the Ukrainian people’s effort to resist and fight. The Russian entities under sanction will feel more of the bite of the sanctions over time because that is the way sanctions work. They take time to have an effect.

VOA: This week, the European Union is discussing increasing sanctions, specifically for banning coal for import. Poland is pushing for that as well.

Brzezinski: Yes.

VOA: Do you think that that will happen? And what is your prediction on this on this week’s session?

Brzezinski: Well, I don’t really have a prediction on that. That is something that the European countries have to decide on. But I will say that we have been working assiduously with the Poles on energy security, and we’ve been doing this for years before this crisis began, because we knew for a while now that energy is weaponized by the Russians. We see that for the last 20 years in terms of what they have done to their customers.

And by the way, who does that to their customers? I’ve run a business. You can send your customers running the other direction and taking their business elsewhere, and that’s exactly what the Russians have produced. Everyone is taking their business elsewhere because the Russians have weaponized their energy transactions.

Poland, on the other hand, has had over the years two addictions that they themselves know that they need to get away from: coal and energy from Russia. And I’m proud to say that the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. energy companies have been working very carefully with the Poles to share our technology, to talk about what’s universal and transferable about that technology to Polish conditions in order to help the Poles diversify their energy production base. And we’re well underway with that effort.

VOA: Is Poland secure right now? Because Russia is threatening to cut supplies right now. How do you feel? What is the situation?

Brzezinski: I think that’s a great question. Is Poland secure, and is the world secure with what Putin is doing? The answer is, it isn’t. Because we have someone who is a bit of an unpredictable madman doing horrific things that are the kinds of things that you would see at the most brutal phases of one of the world wars that this earth has experienced, to being inflicted on the people of Ukraine.

The more we learn, the more footage we see, the more narratives we hear from women and children in Ukraine — who are these men in the Russian military that do these things? Those aren’t fighters. Those are people who want to inflict terror. That’s not a man of bravery and of the military in any kind of professional sense. And so if their leader is Vladimir Putin, I don’t think really anyone is safe.

Hence, American-Polish relations have really never been as strong as they are right now because we are dealing with an extremely serious and unpredictable crisis immediately to the east. And as a result, Poland is safe, Poland is secure, because we know that we will defend Poland. But it is worrisome in terms of what Putin will do next.

VOA: It’s a good segue to the question of regional security, and specifically Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, because we see that Russia is trying to put some tension in the Transnistria area and maybe get involved in Moldova as well. What kind of threats do you see in that region?

Brzezinski: Well, the entire region is under threat from Russia, and we are working hard with this region to make sure that it is both secure and feels secure. Because no one wants this region to become destabilized, and I don’t think that it will. And I think that’s important because this region is now a border region to this crisis. But I am certain that we are conveying the confidence in terms of the security and confidence in terms of the partnership that we are also with these countries in terms of their economies.

We have tremendous commercial undertakings in this part of the world. The U.S. embassy here in Warsaw recently held a massive conference in which we aligned major American and Polish businesses with Polish NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) doing much of the relief work for the refugees. And it was an exercise in advancing synchronicity.

And I think that is important because we want the economies, the nonprofit sectors in this part of the world, to feel that we have their back. And that’s the kind of thing that we have been doing in Poland. And I think that it’s having the desired effect of instilling confidence, of advancing alignments, and helping the people from Ukraine who are coming here.

VOA: How do you see that? What is the key to Ukraine winning this war? What is the key to security in this region?

Brzezinski: First of all, Myroslava, we know that the Ukrainians will win this war. We know that they have a fight in them. We are all impressed with the messaging of the president of Ukraine, (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy, who has been able to share this story of what is happening in Ukraine, and its very local roots, and its global reach.

All of us feel the fear of that mom and that daughter that are in a village that might be overtaken by the Russian military, and we are doing what we can to support the Ukrainian resistance. And you know what? It’s working.

The Russians are stopped in their tracks. And the Russian military is actually one of the world’s bigger militaries, and it’s absolutely stopped dead in its tracks. And the word “dead” means something, because there is a lot of dead Russians being shipped back to Russia. How tragic is that?

Young Russians also deserve good lives in the end. Who is this leader sending them into this slaughter? It’s a tragedy, but that is what Putin is doing. And the Ukrainians are winning in this effort, and we will continue to support them. The world’s opinion is galvanizing around the people and the leadership of Ukraine, and that will only continue to get stronger. And I think that that is a key piece of this, that this is an effort at collective response to this tragedy and that no one is alone. The Ukrainians are not alone. The Poles are not alone as well.

VOA: How do you see the end to this war?

Brzezinski: I see the Ukrainians winning. I see the Ukrainian people doing what they do really well, and that is fighting from the hills. The Ukrainians have a history of resistance, and the Russian military is going to tragically feel that and they’re going to see it. And I think that’s unfortunate, actually, because we could have avoided so much bloodshed and destruction.

I know the people of Poland absolutely have the back of their Ukrainian brothers, that this is in many ways 1939 again for the people of this part of the world. And that in itself is a galvanizing context. And we will continue to support the fighters. We will continue to support the refugees. Every day we are more organized. Every day we are more resourced.

You have to remember, we’re still some 40 days into this war. That is an early, early stage in terms of the response. And I can report to you as chief of mission for the U.S. here in Poland, the requests to help are massive and growing. So, we’re just beginning, and it will not stop.

VOA: This war would end in the Kremlin? Or this war would end in clearing Ukrainian territories?

Brzezinski: I see the Ukrainians throwing the Russians out of Ukraine. Thank you.

 
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US Talking With Ukraine About Delivering More Powerful Rocket  

• 05, 28, 2022
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U.S. military officials acknowledge they have spoken to Ukrainian officials repeatedly about Kyiv’s requests for newer, more advanced weapons that could help stave off Russian gains in the Donbas but refuse to say publicly whether those systems will be delivered anytime soon.

Ukraine has been pleading for weeks with the U.S. to get American-made Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, or MLRS, which are more powerful and more maneuverable than the howitzers and other artillery systems Washington and the West have provided to date.

Those pleas have only gotten louder as Russian forces have pushed ahead in eastern Ukraine, making what senior U.S. defense officials have described as “incremental gains” in a fight that has largely featured artillery and other so-called long-range fire.

“We’re mindful and aware of Ukrainian asks privately and publicly for what is known as a Multiple Launch Rocket System,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters. “But I won’t get ahead of a decision that hasn’t been made yet.”

“We’re in constant communication with them about their needs,” he added. “We’re working every single day to get weapons and systems into Ukraine, and every single day there are weapons and systems getting into Ukraine that are helping them, literally, in the fight.”

There are some indications, however, that U.S. officials may be ready to send Ukraine MLRS to help push back the latest Russian offensive.

Tilt indicated

Multiple U.S. officials, speaking to CNN on the condition of anonymity, said the Biden administration is leaning toward sending some MLRS to Ukraine, with an announcement possible in the next week.

Later Friday, two U.S. officials speaking to Politico confirmed that the U.S. is inclined to send MLRS to Ukraine but said a final decision has not yet been made.

The United States has two multiple launch rocket systems — the M270 and M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). Both fire similar 227 mm rockets. The M270 can fire up to 12 rockets, while the more agile M142 can fire up to six.

Depending on the type of rocket, the M270 can hit targets as far away as 70 kilometers, which is twice the range of the U.S. howitzers currently in Ukraine’s arsenal. The HIMARS system can hit targets as far away as 300 kilometers.

Ukraine’s top military official, Lieutenant General Valery Zaluzhny, on Thursday took to Telegram, calling for “weapons that will allow us to hit the enemy at a big distance.” 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded by warning that supplying Ukraine with weapons that could reach Russian territory would be a “a serious step towards unacceptable escalation.”

The debate over how best to supply Ukraine with weapons comes as Russian forces in eastern Ukraine appeared to be making more progress despite what U.S. military officials described as stiff resistance from Ukrainian troops.

Lyman, Sievierodonetsk

Russian-backed separatists Friday claimed to have captured the center of Lyman, a key railway hub in the Donbas.

Other Russian forces encircled most of Sievierodonetsk, the easternmost city under Ukrainian control, with some reports indicating Russian forces are also now in the city itself.

Ukrainian officials in Sievierodonetsk said 90% of the city has been destroyed by shelling. But Luhansk regional Governor Serhiy Gaidai remained defiant in a message Friday on social media.

“The Russians will not be able to capture Luhansk region in the coming days as analysts have predicted,” he said. “We will have enough strength and resources to defend ourselves.”

But Gaidai also admitted “it is possible that in order not to be surrounded we will have to retreat.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address Friday that Russia is carrying out “an obvious policy of genocide” against Ukrainians, but the “catastrophic developments” in Ukraine could have been avoided “if the strong of the world had not played with Russia, but really pressed to end the war.”

Zelenskyy said Russia “receives almost a billion euros a day from Europeans for energy supplies,” while “the European Union has been trying to agree on a sixth package of sanctions against Russia.”

He asserted, however, that “Ukraine will always be an independent state and will not be broken.” The only remaining questions, he said, are “what price our people will have to pay for their freedom” and what price Russia will have to pay “for this senseless war against us.”

No hint of negotiations

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday spoke by phone with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer. According to Nehammer, Putin offered to complete natural gas deliveries to Austria and to discuss a prisoner swap with Ukraine.

“The Russian president has given a commitment that there must be and should be access to the prisoners of war, including to the International Red Cross,” the Austrian chancellor said. “On the other side, of course, he also demands access to Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine.”

However, Nehammer said he was doubtful Putin was interested in any negotiations to end the war.

“I have the impression that Putin wants to create facts now that I assume he will take into the negotiations [later],” he said.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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