By This has been CNBC’s live blog covering updates on the war in Ukraine. [Follow the latest updates here.]
Some 40 European officials are convening in Bulboaca, Moldova, just 12 miles from the Ukrainian border, for a security conference and in a show of support for both Eastern European countries ahead of Ukraine’s anticipated counteroffensive against Russia.
NATO’s Airborne Warning and Control Systems surveillance aircraft will be monitoring Moldova’s skies for the duration of the event, the alliance said in a statement, highlighting the security risk of holding such a high-profile summit — with dozens of EU and NATO officials attending — in that particular location.
Russia’s defense ministry says it repelled another cross-border attack on its Belgorod region, which it blames on Ukrainian “terrorists.” Kyiv denies involvement and says the militants are Russian citizens opposing Putin. The fighters identify themselves as the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) and Freedom of Russia Legion and have claimed responsibility for recent armed incursions into Russia’s border territory.
Meanwhile, Russia continued its intense missile barrage on Kyiv, which killed three people — an 11-year-old girl, her mother, and another woman — overnight. Ukraine’s Air Force said it shot down all 10 Russian missiles, but that falling debris from the interceptions caused the deaths and injuries. It was the 18th Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital since the start of May.
Russian occupying forces in Ukraine employ starvation tactics on civilians by targeting food lines, agricultural harvests and water infrastructure, according to a team of international lawyers helping Kyiv investigate alleged war crimes.
The investigators focused their efforts on Chernihiv, which was under siege for a little over two months before Russian troops were expelled from the northern Ukrainian city.
Catriona Murdoch, a lawyer and expert in starvation-related crimes, described Chernihiv as the “tip of the iceberg in Putin’s calculated plan to terrorize, subjugate and kill Ukrainian people.”
The Kremlin has previously denied that its forces commit war crimes or deliberately target civilians and related critical infrastructure.
Read the full story here.
— Amanda Macias
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin, met with troops at the Prudboy range in the Volgograd region in southern Russia.
Medvedev, who is currently the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said last week that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine could last for decades, according to Russian reports cited by Reuters.
— Yekaterina Shtukina | Sputnik | Getty Images
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said the Biden administration will extend a temporary suspension of tariffs on Ukrainian steel for another year.
President Joe Biden suspended the duties under Section 232 in May last year in order to support “vital export opportunities for one of Ukraine’s most important industrial sectors” and keep Ukrainian steel workers employed.
“Over the last year, the United States has provided a much-needed market for the steel that Ukraine is able to export. In doing so, Americans are directly supporting the people of Ukraine, many of whom rely on Ukraine’s steel industry for their economic well-being,” Raimondo wrote in a statement.
“By extending this action for an additional year through the Presidential Proclamation announced today, the United States demonstrates its steadfast commitment to the Ukrainian people at a time of unjustified war,” she added.
— Amanda Macias
One ship left Ukraine’s port of Chornomorsk carrying 62,545 metric tons of sunflower meal under the Black Sea grain deal.
The vessel is destined for China.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative was brokered in July 2022 between Russia, Ukraine, the U.N. and Turkey, establishing a humanitarian sea corridor for agricultural exports.
The deal, which was extended earlier this month, is set to expire in mid-July if all parties do not agree to another extension.
— Amanda Macias
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink wrote on Twitter that more than 500 Ukrainian children have died as a result of Russia’s ongoing war.
“Heartbreaking: More than 500 Ukrainian children have been killed as a result of Russia’s unprovoked, full-scale war in Ukraine,” adding that “Two more children were tragically killed during another round of Russia’s cowardly nighttime attacks.”
“The Kremlin’s widespread and systematic attacks against Ukraine’s civilian population & its unlawful transfer and deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children are horrific examples of Russia’s war crimes and crimes against humanity. Justice must be served,” Brink added in a second tweet.
The Kremlin has previously denied that its troops in Ukraine engage in war crimes.
In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights.
Putin and Lvova-Belova are “allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation” of children from Ukraine to Russia, the court wrote in a statement.
— Amanda Macias
The Pentagon said it has agreed to purchase Starlink satellite internet terminals from Elon Musk’s SpaceX for use in Ukraine.
“We continue to work with a range of global partners to ensure Ukraine has the satellite and communication capabilities they need – and that includes Starlink,” the Pentagon wrote in a statement to CNBC. “Satellite communications constitute a vital layer in Ukraine’s overall communications network and the department contracts with Starlink for services of this type,” the statement added.
The Pentagon declined to offer additional contract details, including the price and timeline of the delivery.
The first Starlink terminals arrived four days after Russian troops crossed Ukraine’s border in what became the largest air, land and sea assault in Europe since World War II.
Read the full story here.
— Amanda Macias
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told CNBC’s Silvia Amaro that Ukraine’s “rightful place” is in the NATO alliance.
“I agree with the NATO secretary-general: Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO,” Sunak told Amaro, referencing comments made earlier by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.
Sunak also said that the NATO alliance sent a “strong signal” to Russian President Vladimir Putin by agreeing to safeguard Ukraine’s security for as long as it takes.
Read the full story by CNBC’s Karen Gilchrist.
— Amanda Macias
Russia says it repelled three attacks on its Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, saying that the attempted incursions were carried out by pro-Ukraine “terrorists.”
Russia’s defense ministry said the attempts failed, denying reports that militants had breached the border. The ministry added that its servicemen successfully pushed back against three cross-border attacks close to the town of Shebekino, killing 30 of the militants. CNBC has not been able to independently verify the information.
“Ukrainian terrorist formations with a strength of up to two motorized infantry companies reinforced by tanks attempted to make an incursion into Russian territory,” a Russian defense ministry spokesman said, quoted by state media outlet TASS.
“Self-sacrificing actions by Russian forces repulsed three attacks by Ukrainian terrorist formations … No violations of the state border were allowed,” the spokesman said.
Some buildings were damaged and local residents were evacuated as a result of the attacks, Belgorod’s governor reported. Moscow accuses Kyiv of being behind the militants attacking its territory, while Ukraine’s government denies involvement and says the fighters are ethnic Russians who are against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The White House issued a statement earlier this week saying that it does not support attacks inside Russia.
— Natasha Turak
More than 40 EU and non-EU European officials are convening in Bulboaca, Moldova, a former Soviet country just 12 miles from the Ukrainian border, for a security summit and in a show of solidarity with both of the Eastern European countries ahead of Ukraine’s anticipated counteroffensive against Russia.
“Our meeting today in Moldova speaks volumes. The country borders on Ukraine, and here the Russian threat is palpable,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told the summit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke and took reporters’ questions during the event, stressing the need for European unity against Russian aggression and calling for Ukraine’s membership in the NATO alliance. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and other leaders emphasized the need for security guarantees for Ukraine from the alliance.
NATO’s Airborne Warning and Control Systems surveillance aircraft will be monitoring Moldova’s skies for the duration of the event, the organization said in a statement, highlighting the security risk of holding such a high-profile summit — with dozens of EU and NATO officials attending — in that particular location.
“NATO AWACS can detect aircraft, missiles and drones hundreds of kilometers away, making them an important early warning capability,” a NATO statement prepared for the European Political Community summit said, adding that “Moldova is a close and long-standing partner to NATO.”
Moldova sits between Ukraine and NATO member state Romania, and is the geographical home of Transnistria, an unrecognized separatist enclave backed by Russia. Moldova’s government has expressed keen interest in joining the EU, but has stayed neutral when it comes to joining NATO.
— Natasha Turak
The Russian border region of Belgorod was hit by heavy shelling Thursday in what authorities said was an attack by pro-Ukrainian militants.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, Belgorod’s governor, said Ukrainian forces hit the local town of Shebekino several times with Soviet-era Grad 122 mm rockets, damaging an administrative building and starting a fire at a dormitory, according to Reuters. He said that at least nine civilians were injured in the shelling.
“As soon as it calms down, we will continue the evacuation of people,” Gladkov said, according to a Reuters translation. “All temporary accommodation facilities are ready.”
Settlements in the border area near Ukraine have now come under attack multiple times, and some were briefly seized in late May by pro-Ukraine forces that describe themselves as ethnic Russians fighting against the Russian state. One of those groups, a far-right paramilitary group called the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), said earlier on Thursday that it was fighting on Russian soil.
Moscow says the attacks are terrorist acts directed by Kyiv, which denies involvement and says the fighters are anti-Putin Russians.
— Natasha Turak
Only 500 residents remain in the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, compared to a pre-war population of 70,000, the city’s mayor said.
“Before the full-scale invasion of Russia, about 80 000 people lived on the territory of the Bakhmut community, including 70 000 residents of the city. Today, according to our calculations, about 500 people remain in Bakhmut,” Bakhmut Oleksiy Reva told Ukrainian media outlet Ukrinform.
Reva said that 505 Bakhmut residents have been injured since the invasion began, and 204 killed, including 4 children.
Bakhmut has been the site of the bloodiest fighting of the Ukraine-Russia war, as Russian forces spent months trying to take the city that would offer greater access to the rest of eastern Ukraine if captured. Both sides have suffered heavy casualties.
Russian paramilitary force Wagner Group, which has spearheaded the country’s combat operations there, said on May 20 that it succeeded in completely surrounding Bakhmut, although Ukraine denies this. Russian forces reportedly control most of the city, but it is almost entirely destroyed.
— Natasha Turak
Turkey’s ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership is highly important and should happen before the alliance’s summit in Lithuania next month, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said.
“We expect that this could and should happen before Vilnius,” Haavisto said during a NATO meeting in Oslo, according to Reuters.
Finland is hosting NATO exercises this week — its first time doing so as an official member of the group, along with Norway and partner country Sweden.
Turkey, a NATO member since 1952, approved Finland’s accession to the 74-year-old alliance in March, but has so far objected to Sweden’s membership over what it says is the the Swedish government’s support of Kurdish groups that Ankara considers to be terrorists. Stockholm is now waiting to see whether Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent re-election will make him more amenable to its membership bid.
Sweden and Finland both applied to join the alliance in May of 2022, breaking with their historic policy of nonalignment in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
— Natasha Turak
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CNBC’s Silvia Amaro that NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, “supported” the idea of Ukraine joining the 74-year-old defense alliance.
Zelenskyy made the comments after landing at the European Political Community Summit in Bulboaca, Moldova.
Ukraine’s NATO membership has long been a point of intense contention between Russia and the West constitutes and what many describe as a “red line” for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kyiv’s push for NATO membership, and U.S. refusal to rule it out, sparked hostility between Russia and Washington ahead of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
— Hannah Ward-Glenton
Three people were killed in a Russian overnight missile strike on Kyiv: an 11-year-old girl, her mother and another woman, city authorities reported. An additional 12 were injured, with a child among them. Authorities said that residential buildings and a children’s hospital were damaged.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down all 10 missiles Russia fired at the city, but that people were killed and injured by the falling debris. Air raid sirens sounded overnight and then again around 7:30 a.m. local time.
The Kyiv Post reports that Russia launched at least 500 missiles and drones at Kyiv in the month of May alone.
— Natasha Turak
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that all NATO allies agree that Russia cannot prevent Ukraine’s eventual membership of the alliance.
Speaking to reporters ahead of an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo, Stoltenberg said all allies agreed that “NATO’s door is open for new members.”
“All allies also agree that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance, and all allies agree that it is for the NATO allies and Ukraine to decide when Ukraine becomes a member,” he said.
“It is not for Moscow to have a veto against NATO enlargement, but most importantly, all allies agree that the most urgent and important task now is to ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent nation. President Putin and Russia must not win this war.”
Stoltenberg also called for action beyond the end of the Russia-Ukraine war to guarantee Ukraine’s security, in order to ensure that “history doesn’t repeat itself” and that the “pattern of Russian aggression against Ukraine” is brought to an end.
— Elliot Smith
The White House said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown “zero inclination” to end the war in Ukraine as the conflict approaches its 500th day.
“The Russians have shown no inclination of being interested at all in a negotiated settlement,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said during a White House briefing.
“I think this week as you have all seen, Russia has continued to wage just a brutal, completely unprovoked war against Ukraine,” Kirby said, referencing a slew of Russian air strikes across Ukraine.
He added that so far this month, Russia has launched 17 air assaults on Kyiv.
— Amanda Macias
The Pentagon announced a new security assistance package for Ukraine worth $300 million. The latest package is the 39th tranche of weapons and contains artillery and anti-armor defenses as well as ammunition.
Here’s what is included in the new security package:
The security assistance package also includes demolition munitions, mine-clearing equipment, night vision devices, as well as spare parts for equipment and generators.
The U.S. has provided approximately $38 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
— Amanda Macias
Drones attack Russian oil refineries; Germany closes Russian consulates in retaliatory move
