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UKRAINE'S top prosecutor has revealed plans for the first war crimes trial of a captured Russian soldier.
Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said her office charged Sgt Vadin Shyshimarin, 21, in the killing of an unarmed 62-year-old civilian.
The citizen was gunned down while riding a bicycle in February, four days into the war.
Shyshimarin, who served with a tank unit, was accused of firing through a car window on the man in the north-eastern village of Chupakhivka.
Ms Venediktova said the soldier could face up to 15 years in prison.
She did not say when the trial would start.
Ms Venediktova's office has been investigating more than 10,700 alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces, and has identified more than 600 suspects.
Volodymyr Yavorskyy of the Center for Civil Liberties said the Ukrainian human rights group will be closely following Shyshimarin's trial to see if it is fair. “It’s very difficult to observe all the rules, norms and neutrality of the court proceedings in wartime,” he said.
Follow our Russia-Ukraine live blog below for up-to-the-minute updates...
Good morning, Milica Cosic with you today. I'll be bringing you the latest news and updates on the Russia-Ukraine war.
Putin puts an end to hopes of peace
Boris Johnson says it is a sad irony that EU leaders are being forced to discuss the best way to fortify shared defences.
Speaking after signing historic pacts with Sweden and Finland on Wednesday the PM said: “When Europe celebrated VE day in 1945, a victory partly ensured by heroism of Russian people, we hoped peace on our continent would endure.”
Putin’s bloodthirsty campaign against a sovereign nation has put an end to that hope, he says.
‘Tyrant Putin is surrounded by gang of plotters on brink of toppling him’
VLADIMIR Putin is being circled by “hardmen” who want him ousted over his terrible handling of the war in Ukraine, a former Nato commander has said.
Sir James Everard, who served as Nato’s Deputy Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, said Putin was “in trouble” and running out to time to stop a coup against him.
Speaking to The Sun Online, the Brit former squaddie, said: “Putin is in a terrible place. It was entirely of his own making.
“There are hardmen in Russia who would have removed him if they had lost Ukraine to Nato and the EU.
“He’s acted and now the whole thing has gone badly wrong and he is vulnerable again and he is in trouble.”
It comes as Russia failed to achieve its military objective to have full control of the Donbass region in Ukraine by May 9.
Kharkiv governor urged residents to stay in shelters
Governor Oleg Synegubov has said Kharkiv is under heavy fire and “fierce battles” are ongoing in the region.
Synegubov said Russian troops have left behind “deadly traps” in the region and he urged residents to stay in shelters, rather than “rush to liberated settlements”.
“The enemy is insidious and is doing everything to hurt as many civilian Ukrainians as possible,” he said on Telegram.
Putin is ‘weeks behind’ schedule
VLADIMIR Putin is ‘weeks behind’ schedule and will look to escalate his attacks, becoming more ‘unpredictable’ as he prepares for a long war.
According to a senior US defence official, Russian forces are several weeks behind where Vladimir Putin expected, after shifting the focus of military operations to Ukraine’s eastern Donbas.
Speaking in a briefing call with reporters on Tuesday, the official said that Putin is “easily two weeks, or maybe even more, behind where he wanted to be in the east”.
In the US, National Intelligence Director Avril Haines, said that Putin is now ‘preparing for a prolonged conflict’ in Ukraine.
Avril said: “We assess President Putin is preparing for prolonged conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond the Donbas.”
“The uncertain nature of the battle, which is developing into a war of attrition, combined with the reality that Putin faces a mismatch between his ambitions and Russia’s current conventional military capabilities likely means the next few months could see us moving along a more unpredictable and potentially escalatory trajectory.”
Putin purges top spy agency
Paranoid Vladimir Putin has stripped his leading spy agency of its intelligence-gathering role in Ukraine and handed over the responsibility to the alleged mastermind behind the Salisbury Novichok poisoning.
Ukrainian-born Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev commanded the officers responsible for the 2018 nerve agent poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
The decision to remove the Federal Security Service (FSB) from its position in Ukraine comes in the face of increasing military blunders by the Kremlin’s forces in the conflict, which have been blamed on Putin‘s top spies.
Their replacement, Lt Gen Alekseev, is a leading officer of a heavily militarised branch of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), and he will command Russia’s spy operations in Ukraine.
Alekseev is believed to have orchestrated the 2018 Salisbury poisoning of ex-Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
Three GRU operatives, using the names Sergei Fedotov, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, were accused of attempted murder after they smeared the Skripal’s front door with the deadly nerve agent.
Moment Russia’s most advanced tank worth £4 million obliterated by Ukrainians
Shocking new video captures the moment one of Russia’s flagship tanks is completely destroyed following a strike by Ukrainian forces.
In the clip, the new Russian T-90M war machine explodes in an enormous fireball during fighting in the east of Ukraine.
At the start of the video, smoke and flames can be seen rising from several other spots along the country line, implying it was filmed in the midst of a fierce firefight.
Suddenly, a stationary tank is obliterated by a rocket strike, sending fire and bits of metal leaping into the sky.
Putin’s media turn on him
VLADIMIR Putin’s puppet media have finally turned on him as they complain of the ‘shameful’ length of time it takes for weapons to reach the front line.
Putin’s propagandists have begun openly criticising the state of Russia’s military.
Even the Kremlin’s most-hardened of supporters struggle to ignore the scope of its failings in Ukraine.
Vladimir Solovyov, moaned last week about the ‘shameful’ length of time it takes for weapons to reach the front while guests on Russian state TV talk shows complained that men are being sent into battle ‘with weapons of yesteryear’.
They even went as far as to say the Russian economy cannot sustain the war.
Mikhail Khodaryonok, a retired Russian colonel, told viewers ‘we don’t have the reserves’ to turn the war in Moscow’s favour.
The news comes as Russia is struggling to make significant military gains in Ukraine’s Donbas region
War correspondent, Aleksandr Sladkov, said Moscow’s armies are ‘making a feat out of something that should be routine’.
Sweden and Finland have signalled they want NATO membership
Both Scandinavian countries have signalled they want membership of Western military alliance in case Mad Vlad launches fresh attacks.
Any application will enrage the murderous tyrant, who used Nato expansion as an unfounded justification for invading Ukraine.
A menacing Kremlin spokesman said Russia is “watching very closely anything that can affect Nato configuration near our borders”.
No10 shot back that “democratically elected countries” like Sweden can decide their own fate.
Mystery as ‘sickly’ Putin MISSES beloved annual ice hockey match
Vladimir Putin has missed his beloved annual ice hockey game as rumours continue to swirl regarding his health.
The Russian leader always appears at the event and takes part in a gala match as part of the Night Hockey League National Festival in Sochi.
But this year while being expected to take part, he instead sent a video message despite currently being in the Black Sea resort .
The match usually involves top officials, security chiefs, oligarchs and celebrities.
And in his video message, Putin appeared to have mysterious dark blotches on his cheeks which were perhaps masked by makeup.
In May 2021, the Russian president boasted that ice hockey offered him longevity, and he used his appearance to scotch rumours over his health at the time.
Russia hasn't given up on capturing Kyiv, says Ukrainian general
Russia hasn't abandoned hopes to capture the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, a Ukrainian general has claimed..
Brig. Gen. Oleksiy Hromov today told a briefing that the Russians harbor plans to take control over the southern Mykolaiv and Odessa regions to build a land corridor to the Transnistria separatist region of Moldova and also try to storm Kyiv.
Hromov said that Russia still hopes to capture more Ukrainian territories and call a sham vote to make them part of Russia. He added that such Russian plans will be foiled by the Ukrainian resistance.
The Russian forces tried to capture the Ukrainian capital in the first weeks of the invasion, but have pulled back after facing staunch Ukrainian defenses and shifted their focus on the countrys east, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.
Zelensky and German Chancellor discuss defensive aid & Russian sanctions
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday said he had spoken to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and discussed defensive aid, energy sector cooperation and increasing sanctions on Russia.
"We appreciate the high level of dialogue with Germany and support in our struggle!" Zelenskyy said in a tweet.
A German government spokesperson said Scholz had stressed in the call that it was up to Russia to immediately end hostilities in Ukraine, withdraw troops and restore Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
"The Chancellor and the Ukrainian President also exchanged views on very concrete, practical ways of continuing to support Ukraine and agreed to remain in close contact," the spokesperson said in a statement, giving no further details.
UK signs historic agreement with Sweden to defend against threats from ’21st century tyrant’ Putin
Boris Johnson said the UK “will not hesitate” to act after signing a historic security agreement with Sweden to defend against any threat from “21st century tyrant” Vladimir Putin.
The British Prime Minister said it was “a sad irony” that the security assurance declaration was signed days after marking VE Day, but was more important than ever under the “grim circumstances” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
Mr Johnson, deploying some of his strongest language yet to condemn the Russian president, said: “This week, many of us have been paying tribute to the brave men and women who secured victory and peace in Europe 77 years ago.
“So, it’s a sad irony that we’ve been forced to discuss how best to fortify our shared defences against the empty conceit of a 21st century tyrant.”
Speaking alongside Swedish counterpart Magdalena Andersson at her Harpsund country retreat on Wednesday, he added: “The many carcasses of Russian tanks that now litter the fields and streets of Ukraine, thanks to Swedish-developed and British-built NLaws (anti-tank weapons), certainly speak to how effective that co-operation can be.”
He added: “Most importantly, this is an agreement that enshrines the values that both Sweden and the UK hold dear, and which we will not hesitate to defend.”
One dead & three wounded in Russia after Ukraine attack
One person died and three more were injured in southwestern Russia as a result of shelling from Ukraine, the governor of Belgorod said on Wednesday.
"As of now, one person lost his life, he died in an ambulance, and there are three wounded," the governor of the southwestern region of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on messaging app Telegram.
Pro-Russia hackers target Italian official websites
Pro-Russia hackers targeted the websites of several Italian institutions including the defence ministry and the senate, media reports said on Wednesday.
The defence ministry's website said it was "under maintenance" and the senate's was inaccessible.
Italian daily Corriere della Sera said the pro-Kremlin group "Killnet" claimed the cyberattack, which had reportedly not compromised infrastructure but hindered access to several websites including the National Institute of Health.
The AGI news agency said the hackers unsuccessfully tried to hack the Eurovision song contest's website.
Killnet targeted Romanian government websites last month, citing Romania's support for Ukraine in the war against Russia, according to the country's national cybersecurity agency.
Romania's intelligence service said the group has also targeted official websites of the United States, Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia and NATO.
In August 2021, the Rome region suffered a large-scale cyberattack that caused the suspension of Covid-19 vaccination reservations.
Germany dismisses suggestions it will activate Nord Stream 2 pipeline
The German government has dismissed suggestions that it might activate the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany to compensate for reduced flows via Ukraine.
A spokeswoman for the Energy Ministry said Wednesday that Germany is currently receiving a quarter less gas through Ukraine after Ukrainian authorities shut down a pipeline saying it no longer controls a key compressor station thats in Russian hands.
Annika Einhorn, the ministry spokeswoman, said the shortfall is being partly compensated for through increased supplies from Norway and the Netherlands.
Nord Stream 2 has really died after Russian attacked Ukraine and nobody is thinking about switching to that, she said.
She also noted that the majority of Russian gas reaches Germany through a sister pipeline, Nord Stream 1, rather than via Ukraine.
Germany has pledged to end imports of Russian natural gas by 2024 at the latest.
Ukraine shuts down Russian pipeline supplying Western Europe
Ukraine shut down a pipeline Wednesday that carries Russian natural gas to homes and industries in Western Europe, while a Kremlin-installed official in a southern region seized by Russian troops said the area will ask Moscow to annex it.
The immediate effect of the energy cutoff is likely to be limited, in part because Russia can divert the gas to another pipeline and because Europe relies on a variety of suppliers. But it marked the first time since the start of the war that Ukraine disrupted the flow westward of one of Moscow's most lucrative exports.
Meanwhile, the talk of annexation in Kherson and Russia's apparent willingness to consider such a request raised the possibility that the Kremlin will seek to break off another piece of Ukraine as it tries to salvage an invasion gone awry. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
Putin is 'weeks behind' schedule
VLADIMIR Putin is 'weeks behind' schedule and will look to escalate his attacks, becoming more 'unpredictable' as he prepares for a long war.
According to a senior US defence official, Russian forces are several weeks behind where Vladimir Putin expected, after shifting the focus of military operations to Ukraine's eastern Donbas.
Speaking in a briefing call with reporters on Tuesday, the official said that Putin is "easily two weeks, or maybe even more, behind where he wanted to be in the east".
In the US, National Intelligence Director Avril Haines, said that Putin is now 'preparing for a prolonged conflict' in Ukraine.
Avril said: “We assess President Putin is preparing for prolonged conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond the Donbas."
“The uncertain nature of the battle, which is developing into a war of attrition, combined with the reality that Putin faces a mismatch between his ambitions and Russia’s current conventional military capabilities likely means the next few months could see us moving along a more unpredictable and potentially escalatory trajectory.”
Ukraine set to halt key Russian gas pipeline to Europe
Ukraine has said for the first time since the war started that it would suspend the flow of natural gas through a transit point.
Kyiv blames Moscow for the move, saying it would move the flows elsewhere.
GTSOU says it will stop shipments via the Sokhranivka route from today.
That comes after it declared a so-called force majeure, a clause invoked when a business is impacted by something that is beyond its control.
Putin's media turn on him
VLADIMIR Putin's puppet media have finally turned on him as they complain of the 'shameful' length of time it takes for weapons to reach the front line.
Putin's propagandists have begun openly criticising the state of Russia's military.
Even the Kremlin's most-hardened of supporters struggle to ignore the scope of its failings in Ukraine.
Vladimir Solovyov, moaned last week about the 'shameful' length of time it takes for weapons to reach the front while guests on Russian state TV talk shows complained that men are being sent into battle 'with weapons of yesteryear'.
They even went as far as to say the Russian economy cannot sustain the war.
Mikhail Khodaryonok, a retired Russian colonel, told viewers 'we don't have the reserves' to turn the war in Moscow's favour.
The news comes as Russia is struggling to make significant military gains in Ukraine's Donbas region
War correspondent, Aleksandr Sladkov, said Moscow's armies are 'making a feat out of something that should be routine'.
Russian spy boss compares US to German Nazi propaganda machine
A Russian spy chief on Wednesday compared the U.S. State Department to the World War Two Nazi propaganda machine constructed by Joseph Goebbels, saying Washington had launched an anti-Russia messaging campaign across social media.
Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia's foreign intelligence agency (SVR), said the United States was encouraging the spreading of fake information on the popular Telegram messaging service in an attempt to "discredit" and "dehumanise Russia's political and military leadership in the eyes of the Russian people".
In a statement published on the SVR website, Naryshkin said."Their actions have a lot in common with the traditions of the Third Reich's ministry of public education and propaganda and its head Joseph Goebbels,"
Naryshkin provided no evidence to support the claims of a U.S.-backed information campaign.
Russia regularly accuses the West of funding and supporting anti-Kremlin movements and has labelled dozens of independent human rights groups and media outlets in Russia "foreign agents" over recent years.
Help those fleeing conflict with The Sun’s Ukraine Fund
PICTURES of women and children fleeing the horror of Ukraine’s devastated towns and cities have moved Sun readers to tears.
Many of you want to help the five million caught in the chaos — and now you can, by donating to The Sun’s Ukraine Fund.
Give as little as £3 or as much as you can afford and every penny will be donated to the Red Cross on the ground helping women, children, the old, the infirm and the wounded.
Donate here to help The Sun’s fund
Or text to 70141 from UK mobiles
£3 — text SUN£3
£5 — text SUN£5
£10 — text SUN£10Texts cost your chosen donation amount (e.g. £5) +1 standard message (we receive 100%). For full T&Cs visit redcross.org.uk/mobile
The Ukraine Crisis Appeal will support people in areas currently affected and those potentially affected in the future by the crisis.
In the unlikely event that the British Red Cross raise more money than can be reasonably and efficiently spent, any surplus funds will be used to help them prepare for and respond to other humanitarian disasters anywhere in the world.
For more information visit https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/disaster-fund
UK signs historic agreement with Sweden to defend against threats from '21st century tyrant' Putin
Boris Johnson said the UK "will not hesitate" to act after signing a historic security agreement with Sweden to defend against any threat from "21st century tyrant" Vladimir Putin.
The British Prime Minister said it was "a sad irony" that the security assurance declaration was signed days after marking VE Day, but was more important than ever under the "grim circumstances" following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.
Mr Johnson, deploying some of his strongest language yet to condemn the Russian president, said: "This week, many of us have been paying tribute to the brave men and women who secured victory and peace in Europe 77 years ago.
"So, it's a sad irony that we've been forced to discuss how best to fortify our shared defences against the empty conceit of a 21st century tyrant."
Speaking alongside Swedish counterpart Magdalena Andersson at her Harpsund country retreat on Wednesday, he added: "The many carcasses of Russian tanks that now litter the fields and streets of Ukraine, thanks to Swedish-developed and British-built NLaws (anti-tank weapons), certainly speak to how effective that co-operation can be."
He added: "Most importantly, this is an agreement that enshrines the values that both Sweden and the UK hold dear, and which we will not hesitate to defend."
Labour claims Ukrainian refugees 'being badly let down'
Labour has claimed ongoing problems at the Passport Office are "getting worse" and added people "are being badly let down" by the Government.
Speaking on the topic of Ukrainian refugees, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Of 80,000 applications only 19,000 applications to Homes for Ukraine have arrived.
"Really for Home Office ministers to think that it's somehow a triumph to take four weeks to issue basic visas to people who are fleeing war in Europe is totally shameful."
Ms Cooper added: "The very communities to whom they (Government) keep making false promises about levelling up, are our towns that are being hardest hit by anti-social behaviour, persistent unsolved crimes.
She added: "A Conservative Government that is not a party of law and order any more, that too often is a party of crime and disorder.
"A party that is weak on crime, that is weak on the causes of crime, that is letting more criminals off and letting our communities down. Britain deserves better than this."
Putin is ‘weeks behind’ schedule
VLADIMIR Putin is ‘weeks behind’ schedule and will look to escalate his attacks, becoming more ‘unpredictable’ as he prepares for a long war.
According to a senior US defence official, Russian forces are several weeks behind where Vladimir Putin expected, after shifting the focus of military operations to Ukraine’s eastern Donbas.
Speaking in a briefing call with reporters on Tuesday, the official said that Putin is “easily two weeks, or maybe even more, behind where he wanted to be in the east”.
In the US, National Intelligence Director Avril Haines, said that Putin is now ‘preparing for a prolonged conflict’ in Ukraine.
Avril said: “We assess President Putin is preparing for prolonged conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond the Donbas.”
“The uncertain nature of the battle, which is developing into a war of attrition, combined with the reality that Putin faces a mismatch between his ambitions and Russia’s current conventional military capabilities likely means the next few months could see us moving along a more unpredictable and potentially escalatory trajectory.”