Live blog: Russia strikes Ukraine clinic, blames Kiev for border attacks

Friday, May 26, 2023

Russian missiles have hit a medical clinic in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, killing at least two people as Russia blamed Kiev for dozens of strikes on its southern Belgorod region.

In Russia, the governor of the southern region of Belgorod said the Ukrainian military was responsible for dozens of artillery, mortar and drone attacks across the territory but reported no casualties.

In Ukraine, a video distributed by officials showed a blaze ripping through a two-storey building after the attack that the governor said had left some 23 people injured, including two small boys.

"We must defeat these inhumans irrevocably and as soon as possible. Because our time is our people," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement.

"And our people are the most precious thing in Ukraine."

First lady Olena Zelenska said the Russian strike had hit a psychiatric ward of the hospital.

The Russian defence ministry said only that recent strikes on Ukraine had targeted arms depots and that all the assigned targets had been hit.

Follow more updates 👇

1240 GMT — Pope skirts issue of return of occupied parts of Ukraine

Pope Francis has said an eventual return by Russia of occupied territories in Ukraine is a "political problem" to be resolved by both sides, in his first public comment on Ukraine's request for him to back its plan demanding a total Russian withdrawal.

In an interview with Telemundo television, Francis did not take a position on the return of territories as a fundamental condition for peace, something on which Ukraine and many of its Western backers insist.

"It's a political issue. Peace will be achieved once they can talk to each other, face to face or through intermediaries. If they don't talk … it's a political issue".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met the pope at the Vatican on May 13 and asked him to back Kiev's peace plan, which Zelenskyy has repeatedly said is not open to negotiation.

1221 GMT — Russian arms maker boosts output of kamikaze drones

Russian arms maker Kalashnikov, maker of the world's most widely used assault rifle, has launched a new division for the production of kamikaze drones - one of the key weapons used in the Ukraine war.

"The main task of the division is the production of complexes with guided loitering munitions. The complexes are designed for high-precision destruction of remote single and group enemy ground targets," Russia's biggest producer of automatic weapons and guided artillery said in a statement.

After Ukrainian forces used Western, Israeli and Turkish uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) with deadly efficiency in the opening months of the war, Russia began using Iranian-made Shahed drones while seeking to boost its own production.

1157 GMT — Moscow summons US diplomats over Sullivan’s remarks

The Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned senior US diplomats to protest what it called "hypocritical and deceitful" remarks by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, whom it accused of "effectively endorsing strikes" on Crimea.

“It was emphasized that assurances of American officials that the US does not encourage such attacks on Russia are hypocritical and deceitful, given the direct evidence of the use of weapons and equipment supplied for the needs of (Ukraine's) armed forces by the Pentagon," a ministry statement said.

Last week, Sullivan said that the US administration does not support Ukraine's attacks on the territory that Washington recognises as Russian.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Washington’s “hostile actions, which has long been a party to the conflict," pushed relations between Moscow and Washington into "a deep and dangerous crisis, fraught with unpredictable consequences."

1123 GMT — Berlin urges China to use influence to end Ukraine war

Germany has called on China to use its influence on Russia to help end the war in Ukraine during a visit by special envoy Li Hui this week, a foreign ministry spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said Li had held an "intensive discussion" with State Secretary Andreas Michaelis in Berlin, adding that Germany "appealed to China to influence Russia to stop the war of aggression immediately and completely withdraw from Ukraine".

Germany also told Li it wants China to refrain from supporting Russia with weapons and to help prevent a nuclear escalation of the conflict.

Li, seeking to promote Beijing-led negotiations to resolve the conflict, visited Germany on Wednesday as part of a tour of European capitals after a two-day trip to Kiev. He is expected in Moscow on Friday.

1122 GMT — Russia acknowledges Vatican peace initiative

Russia has indicated that it views Pope Francis’ Ukraine peace initiative positively, but stressed that there are no immediate plans for a Vatican mission to Moscow.

The statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry to the state RIA Novosti agency was the first public acknowledgement by Moscow of the pope’s move. It followed the Vatican's weekend announcement that a veteran of the Catholic Church’s peace mediation initiatives, Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, had been tapped by Francis as his envoy.

“We acknowledge the Holy See’s sincere desire to promote the peace process,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said, according to RIA Novosti. “At the same time, no practical steps have been taken by the Vatican side to organise the trip to Moscow.”

0921 GMT — Moscow warns of 'preemptive strike' if West gives Ukraine nuclear arms

The deputy head of Russia's Security Council has warned that if the West delivers nuclear arms to Ukraine, Russia would have to carry out a preventive strike.

Dmitry Medvedev told reporters in Moscow that the West has been supplying Ukraine with gradually heavier weapons since the beginning of the war last year, when it started sending Kiev small arms, while now they plan to deliver F-16 fighter jets.

"There are irreversible laws of war. If it comes to (supplying Ukraine with) nuclear weapons, it will be necessary to launch a preemptive strike," he stressed.

He added that negotiations with Ukraine were "impossible" as long as Zelenskyy was in power, the TASS news agency reported.

"Everything always ends in negotiations, and this is inevitable, but as long as these people are in power, the situation for Russia will not change in terms of negotiations," Medvedev was quoted as saying.

0725 GMT — Russia's Medvedev warns West of underestimating of nuclear conflict

A senior ally of President Vladimir Putin has warned that the West was seriously underestimating the risk of a nuclear war over Ukraine, cautioning that Russia would launch a pre-emptive strike if Ukraine gets nuclear weapons.

"There are irreversible laws of war. If it comes to nuclear weapons, there will have to be a pre-emptive strike," Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

Allowing Ukraine nuclear weapons, a step no Western state has publicly proposed, would mean "a missile with a nuclear charge coming to them," Medvedev, who served as president from 2008 to 2012, was quoted as saying.

"The Anglo-Saxons do not fully realise this and believe that it will not come to this," Medvedev said. "It will under certain conditions."

0600 GMT — Ukraine destroys Russia's missiles targeting Kiev

Russian forces launched overnight air attacks on Kiev, military officials in the Ukrainian capital have said, adding that all the missiles were intercepted and destroyed.

"Another air attack on Kiev, 13th in a row since the beginning of May! And, as always, at nighttime," the city's military administration said on its Telegram account.

It said that Tu-95MS strategic bombers from the Caspian Sea region had launched cruise missiles at the city.

"According to preliminary information, all enemy targets in the airspace of Kiev were detected and destroyed," it added, saying no casualties or damage were reported.

In its daily morning briefing, the Ukrainian General Staff reported 55 Russian air attacks over the past day, including 36 by explosive drones and four missile attacks.

"An S-300 missile hit a dam in the Karlivka area of the Donetsk region," it said. "As a result, there is a great threat of flooding other nearby settlements."

0503 GMT — Japan's fresh sanctions target Russian military, tech industry

Japan announced fresh sanctions against Russia over its aggression on Ukraine, targeting its military as well as the construction and engineering sectors.

The latest embargo by Tokyo follows the Group of Seven summit Japan hosted last week in Hiroshima, where the bloc's leaders agreed to "starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its war machine".

The new Japanese sanctions include "an asset freeze of Russian individuals and groups, a ban on the export of goods to Russia's military-related organisations, and a ban on the export of construction and engineering services to Russia," top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.

0400 GMT — Germany's Scholz to speak to Putin 'in due course'

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he plans to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin "in due course", holding out the prospect of resuming contact after a near-total breakdown in relations since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict.

"My last telephone call was some time ago," Scholz told the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper in an interview. "But I plan to speak to Putin again in due course."

The leaders last spoke by telephone in early December.

During that hour-long call, Scholz urged Putin to withdraw Moscow's troops from Ukraine, while the Russian leader accused the West of pursuing "destructive" policies.

0141 GMT — Ukraine sees increased danger of Russian missile strikes

Military authorities in the Ukrainian capital Kiev have reported an increased danger of Russian missile strikes and said anti-aircraft defences were working.

Russian has allegedly launched hundreds of rocket attacks against targets across Ukraine since last October, seeking to destroy critical infrastructure and other targets.

In recent weeks Ukraine said it has knocked out most of the missiles.

"Increased missile danger! Air defences are working in the region," the Kiev regional military administration said in a message on Telegram.

No details of possible damage were immediately available.

0029 GMT — Putin ally says Ukraine conflict could last for decades

A top ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the Ukraine conflict could last for decades, with long periods of fighting interspersed by truces, Russia's RIA news agency reported.

It said former president Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Putin's powerful security council, had spoken during a visit to Vietnam.

"This conflict will last a very long time, most likely decades," RIA cited Medvedev as saying.

"As long as there is such a power in place, there will be, say, three years of truce, two years of conflict, and everything will be repeated," he continued, reiterating Moscow's claim that Ukraine is a Nazi state.

In January, Medvedev said if Russia were defeated, it could trigger a nuclear war.

For our live updates from Thursday (May 25), click here.