‘Unprecedented’ safety measures taken for Putin ahead of St. Petersburg speech
The Kremlin said “unprecedented” safety measures have been put in place for the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to speak on Friday.
Gavriil Grigorov | AFP | Getty Images
The Kremlin said “unprecedented” safety measures have been put in place for the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to speak on Friday.
That’s because “the enemy acts brazenly,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to Reuters, which cited Russian state media outlet Tass. Moscow accuses Kyiv of being behind a number of bombings and drone and artillery attacks on Russian territory in recent months.
— Natasha Turak
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrives in Kyiv for African peace mission
Ramaphosa is slated to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and will later travel to Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
MICHELE SPATARI | AFP | Getty Images
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in Ukrainian capital Kyiv as part of an African peace mission. He is joined by the leaders of Senegal, Zambia and the Comoros, and the prime minister of Egypt.
Ramaphosa is slated to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and will later travel to Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
The peace delegation plans to present a set of “confidence building measures” for the initial phases of mediation, according to a draft document seen by Reuters, the news agency said.
The goal of the mission is “to promote the importance of peace and to encourage the parties to agree to a diplomacy-led process of negotiations,” Reuters said.
Some of the measures could include a Russian troop pull-back, removing tactical nuclear weapons from Belarus, the retraction of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Putin, and lifting sanctions on Russia.
Kyiv has said it doesn’t accept any peace plan that doesn’t mandate the full withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
— Natasha Turak
Ukraine says 150 children illegally taken from Luhansk to Russian territory
The National Resistance Centre of Ukraine on Thursday said that 150 children were taken on June 8 from the Starobilsk district of the Luhansk region to two centers on Russian territory, where 750 Ukrainian children were expected to arrive this month.
Citing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s May comments, the center said 19,393 Ukrainian children have so far been illegally transferred to Russia from occupied Ukrainian regions.
CNBC could not independently verify the situation on ground.
In March, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian Vladimir Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, for the war crime of deporting children from occupied Ukrainian territories into Russia.
Neither Moscow nor Kyiv are signatories of the Rome Statute that established the ICC, but Ukraine authorized the tribunal in Hague to investigate war crimes committed on its territory.
‘We are appealing to the world for weapons,’ Zelenskyy says in nightly address for additional Western arms
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits a site of residential buildings recently damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on March 27, 2023.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | via Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for additional Western weapons for its fight against a full-scale Russian invasion on his official Telegram channel.
“Ukraine has never been the instigator of any aggressive wars,” Zelenskyy said in a nightly address posted on Telegram, according to an NBC News translation.
“We are appealing to the world for weapons so that our Ukrainian territory can once again be a place of peace—a land for all our people,” Zelenskyy said, adding that “only through the force of arms can we defend against Russian aggression and safeguard our peace.”
Zelenskyy also thanked allies and partners who have provided weapons, financial assistance and humanitarian aid since Russia’s war began more than a year ago.
— Amanda Macias
IAEA chief visits Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to inspect damage caused by Kakhovka dam attack
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visits the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on June 15, 2023.
Olga Maltseva | Afp | Getty Images
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, visited the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said last week that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested the help of the nuclear watchdog agency following the attack on the Kakhovka dam.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visits the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on June 15, 2023.
Olga Maltseva | Afp | Getty Images
The explosion at the dam not only triggered rising flood waters in southern Ukraine but also jeopardized the reservoirs of cooling water used for the reactors at the nuclear power plant.
Grossi said that the situation at the plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, remained serious but added that the level of reservoir water was stable, according to RIA news agency.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), holds a press conference during his visit to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on June 15, 2023.
Olga Maltseva | AFP | Getty Images