Ukraine live blog: ++ Zelenskyj announces further security agreements ++

Ukrainian President Zelensky has announced further security agreements. There has been a power outage in Russia’s Oryol region following a drone attack, according to the local governor. The developments in the live blog.

After Deutsche Welle (DW) was banned in Belarus, the German Journalists’ Association (DJV) appealed to director Peter Limbourg to do everything possible to protect employees and informants in the country. “Everyone who works for and supplies Deutsche Welle’s content is now in extreme danger in Belarus,” warned DJV boss Mika Beuster in Berlin. According to its own information, the German foreign broadcaster was classified as an “extremist organization” by the Belarusian Interior Ministry a few days ago. This is accompanied by a ban on DW content on all platforms in the country. Collaboration with the broadcaster can now also be considered a criminal offense. Content from the Belarusian editorial team of Deutsche Welle had already been classified as “extremist” in March 2022 – shortly after Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Deutsche Welle pointed out at the beginning of the week that its Belarusian offerings were still available in the country despite the ban. Intendant Limbourg condemned the Belarusian government’s decision. It shows that the regime fears independent media and is doing everything it can to restrict access to free information. “We will not be intimidated by this. For us, this ban is a call to work even harder to ensure that everyone has access to our content and free information,” promised Limbourg. The Foreign Office had also condemned the Belarusian government’s actions against Deutsche Welle.

Russia has rejected US allegations of using a chemical weapon in Ukraine. The accusations are “completely unfounded,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in Moscow. Russia is complying with its “obligations under international law” in this area.

The US State Department accused Russia on Wednesday of using “the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces” in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The State Department said the use of such chemicals was not an isolated case. The Russian troops probably wanted to push the Ukrainian forces out of fortified positions and make tactical advances on the battlefield.

Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has accused neighboring Russia of being responsible for the long-standing GPS signal disruptions in the Baltic Sea region. “We know that Russia has been jamming the GPS signal since the beginning of its aggression in Ukraine. In the last year and a half, this problem has become very serious in our region,” Tshanka said on Estonian television, according to a radio report. This affects not only Estonia, but also Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Poland. “If we look at Russia’s activities, this attack on GPS is part of a hybrid action that disrupts our lives and breaks all sorts of international agreements,” Tsahkna said.

According to a convention to which Russia has also joined, GPS must not be interfered with by anyone. But there is plenty of evidence that the disruptions are coming from near St. Petersburg, Pskov and Kaliningrad, said the Estonian Foreign Minister – without giving details.

Switzerland has officially invited more than 160 delegations to the planned Ukraine conference. It will take place on June 15th and 16th in a posh hotel on Lake Lucerne, the Bürgenstock, and was organized at the request of Ukraine. The Foreign Ministry announced in Bern that the meeting would take place at the level of heads of state and government.

The aim is to develop a common understanding of a possible path to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. This should be the basis for a peace process. However, Russia has already ruled out taking part.

Moscow Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I has addressed UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Pope Francis and other church leaders about “new blatant examples of pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church” (UOK). According to the Moscow Patriarchate on April 27, he wrote to them that the persecution of UOK believers in Ukraine “is taking on the characteristics of total anti-religious terror.” Churches and monasteries would be closed, as would sources of information reporting on the persecution. There were also violent crimes, said Cyril I.

The reason for his letter campaign is the arrest of the head of the traditional UOK monastery in the eastern Ukrainian city of Svyatohirsk, Metropolitan Arseniy (Jakovenko). The public prosecutor’s office accuses the cleric of illegally sharing information about the local locations of the Ukrainian armed forces during a church service in September 2023. On April 25, a court in Dnipro ordered Arseniy to be detained for 60 days. Defense requests for house arrest and the possibility of bail were rejected.

Britain has called on Russia to immediately release jailed Russian-British Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Mursa given his health. The 42-year-old must be released from custody immediately because of “urgent medical treatment,” said a statement from British Minister of State for Industry and Economic Security Nusrat Ghani.

The imprisonment is politically motivated; Kara-Mursa is being persecuted by the Russian authorities because he opposed the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. “The prison conditions threaten his life,” Ghani continued. “His health is deteriorating.”

Kara-Mursa, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critics, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in April 2023 for “high treason”. He had previously accused Russia of “war crimes” in Ukraine during a speech in the United States and was close to Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who died in a penal colony in the Arctic in February.

According to the region’s governor, a major fire broke out in the port of the Ukrainian city of Odessa after a rocket hit. At least 13 people were injured, Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram. Images and videos published on the media’s Telegram channels show flames at the scene and large clouds of smoke rising into the sky. A media channel reported that the warehouse of a major postal and courier service was hit. Odessa is a frequent target of Russian attacks. In the past two days, eight people have been killed by rocket strikes in the city.

According to Russian sources, a Ukrainian drone attack damaged the energy infrastructure in the central Russian region of Oryol and led to power outages. The damage was caused when air defense units intercepted the drones over the Glazunovsky and Sverdlovskaya districts, the region’s governor, Andrei Klitschkov, wrote on Telegram. He did not provide any information about deaths or injuries.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced the conclusion of several new security agreements. “We are preparing seven new security documents for our country – bilateral security agreements,” said Zelensky in his daily video address, “including with the USA.” The details regarding arms deliveries, financial aid and political cooperation are currently being worked out. The contracts supported the country in this and the next few years and represented the security architecture until the desired NATO accession. “Of course, everything that offers more protection against Russian terror has special priority,” said Zelensky. He did not give any further details or countries.

There are new allegations against Russia that it is violating the UN ban on chemical weapons. The US imposes further sanctions on Russia’s supporters. Tuesday’s developments to read.