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2:38 AM

Russia shells 9 communities in Sumy Oblast

Russian forces shelled nine communities in Sumy Oblast on May 28, firing close to 50 rounds from various types of weapons, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on Telegram.

12:19 AM

War update

Ukraine war latest: Russia launches largest drone attack on Kyiv; Ukraine to sanction Iran

11:25 PM

Zelensky congratulates Erdogan on victory in presidential election after run-off vote

With almost 99% of ballots counted in the second round of Turkey's presidential election, incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan received 52% of the votes, according to unofficial data published the state-run Anadolu Agency.

10:36 PM

1 wounded in Russian shelling of Kharkiv Oblast.

The Russian military heavily shelled the Kupiansk district of Kharkiv Oblast on May 28, the State Emergency Service reported. As a result of the attack, a 74-year old woman suffered shrapnel wounds in the village of Kucherivka.

9:23 PM

General Staff: Over 100 Russian soldiers desert in occupied Lysychansk and near Bakhmut.

About 80 Russian soldiers in the occupied city of Lysychansk, Luhansk Oblast, as well as about 30 mercenaries of the Wagner Group near the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast deserted from the battlefield, the General Staff reported on May 28.

9:10 PM

Official: Ukraine won't join NATO until war ends.

Fedir Venislavskyi, the Ukrainian president's representative in the Ukrainian parliament, said on May 28 that the NATO alliance is unlikely to accept Ukraine until the war with Russia ends.

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8:32 PM

Reznikov reports 100% hit rate for new British-made cruise missiles used by Ukraine.

The air-launched Storm Shadow missiles, jointly developed by Great Britain and France and capable of hitting targets at a distance of more than 250 kilometers, were delivered to Ukraine on May 12 from the UK, CNN reported.

6:50 PM

General Staff: Canadian sappers training Ukrainian soldiers in Poland.

Canadian military sappers have been training Ukrainian soldiers on mine safety in Poland, Ukraine’s General Staff reported on May 28. According to the General Staff, the courses are part of the Canadian UNIFIER training mission.

5:08 PM

Zelensky thanks air defense, first responders after overnight Russian attack.

“The Air Defense Forces of Ukraine. You heard the air raid alarm differently than most people,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in the aftermath of Russia's overnight attack on Kyiv on May 28. “You look up to destroy enemy missiles, aircraft, helicopters, and drones. Every time you shoot down enemy drones and missiles, lives are saved.”

4:26 PM

Lukashenko claims Russia will give nukes to any state that joins 'Union State.'

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claimed Russia will give nuclear weapons to any state that joins the Union State of Russia and Belarus, Russian state-controlled media said.

2:54 PM

Lavrov calls move to supply Ukraine with Western fighter jets ‘unacceptable escalation.’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the pledged delivery of fighter jets by some Western states is an "unacceptable escalation," criticizing the West for what he called an attempt to "weaken Russia," according to Russian state-controlled media.

1:51 PM

Russia claims drones targeted oil refinery near Black Sea.

Russia’s Krasnodar regional authorities claimed an overnight attempted drone attack on the Ilsky Oil Refinery. According to the report, the attack caused a fire at the oil refinery.

1:35 PM

Zelensky asks parliament to sanction Iran for 50 years.

The bill includes a complete ban on trade with Iran, investments, and transferring technologies, as well as stopping Iranian transit across the Ukrainian territory, and preventing the withdrawal of Iranian assets from Ukraine.

12:22 PM

Russian attacks kill 1, injure 8 civilians across Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

Russian attacks in Kherson, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia oblast have also damaged housing, infrastructure, and power grid, regional authorities reported on May 28.

11:43 AM

Death toll rises in Russian strike on Dnipro clinic after more body fragments identified.

Authorities identified fragments of the bodies found on the site, proving they belonged to the three people who had been recorded missing.

10:40 AM

Russian attacks kill 2 in Kharkiv Oblast, hit infrastructure in Zhytomyr Oblast.

Russian shelling and airstrike killed two civilians and injured three others in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast over the past day, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on May 28.

9:38 AM

General Staff: Russia has lost 206,600 troops in Ukraine.

General Staff added an estimated 400 casualties to its count of Russian losses over the past 24 hours.

7:01 AM

More than 40 Russian drones shot down over Kyiv overnight.

Kyiv's air defenses shot down over 40 drones Russia launched at the capital overnight on May 28, in what the Kyiv City Military Administration says was the largest drone attack on the city since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

6:11 AM

Media: Explosions reported in Zhytomyr.

Explosions were heard in the central city of Zhytomyr early in the morning of May 28, the Suspilne news outlet reported at around 5:30 a.m. local time.

4:22 AM

Zelensky on sanctions: 'Russia and those helping it will gain nothing and lose everything'.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during an address on May 27 that Ukraine would keep up its sanctions regime against Russia and those helping it in its war against Ukraine.

2:56 AM

Russia launches largest drone attack at Kyiv in 14th mass aerial assault this month, killing at least 1.

Debris from an aerial target that was shot down fell onto a gas station in Kyiv's Holosiivskyi district, killing one person and injuring at least one, the Kyiv City Military Administration reported on Telegram.

2:29 AM

Explosions occur in Kyiv, authorities say air defenses at work.

Explosions were reported in Kyiv just after 1 a.m. local time overnight on May 28, Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said on Telegram, adding that air defenses were operating and Russian aerial targets had been shot down.

1:25 AM

Media: Russia hunts down 7 deserters recruited from prisons.

Seven Russian servicemen who were formerly inmates have deserted near Soledar in Donetsk Oblast, Russian state news agency TASS and Baza, a Russian Telegram news channel, reported on May 27, citing their sources.

1:12 AM

Austria to finance demining in Ukraine.

Austria will finance demining equipment worth 2 million euros ($2.2 million) for Ukraine, the Austrian government announced in a statement.

12:34 AM

Russian shelling of Zaporizhzhia Oblast injures two civilians.

Two men in their 60s were injured when Russia shelled a residential area in the settlement of Stepnohirsk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast on May 27, according to regional governor Yuriy Malashko.

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Opinion

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Eugene Czolij: The UN Security Council’s darkest month

by Eugene Czolij April 4, 2023 2:10 AM 3 min read

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting virtually at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on March 31, 2023. (Photo by Aleksey Babushkin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

This audio is created with AI assistance

Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent.

On April 1, 2023, for the whole month of April, Russia assumed the Presidency of the UN Security Council.

Unfortunately, this is not a bad April Fools' joke, but quite an eye-opener of Western complacency as Russia mocks our fundamental values and respected institutions.

Article 24 (1) of the Charter of the United Nations stipulates that its Security Council, which is composed of 15 UN member states, has the following functions and powers: "In order to ensure prompt and effective action by the United Nations, its Members confer on the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and agree that in carrying out its duties under this responsibility the Security Council acts on their behalf."

In February of 2022, during its last term as President of the UN Security Council, Russia launched its unprovoked all-out war against Ukraine.

On April 12, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden qualified the atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine during this all-out war as "genocide" and later explained that: "I called it genocide because it's become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out even the idea of being Ukrainian."

Moreover, eight UN member states, namely Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine, have recognized this genocide with appropriate acts of their parliaments.

On Jan. 3, 2023, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal indicated that the damages caused by Russia's genocidal war against Ukraine have already surpassed USD 700 billion.

On the eve of the first anniversary of Russia's all-out war against Ukraine, namely on Feb. 23, 2023, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in which it "reiterates its demand that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders."

On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for the "unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, contrary to ... the Rome Statute."

This means that, for the entire month of April, the UN Security Council, whose primary responsibility is the "maintenance of international peace and security," will be presided by Russia, a country sanctioned by UN member states for its all-out war, and whose president is wanted for his involvement in the hideous crime of the unlawful deportation to Russia of society's most vulnerable individuals, namely innocent children.

This not only defies logic and basic common sense but demonstrates a lack of firm political will of the West to take all the necessary measures to stop a genocide and ensure that Ukraine liberates in 2023 all territories occupied by Russia.

The sheer egregiousness of Russia's presidency of the UN Security Council should be a serious wake-up call for the international community to take all the necessary steps to help Ukraine fully regain and then protect its territorial integrity, which will promote peace, security, and stability in the world.

Eugene Czolij

Eugene Czolij is president of the Ukraine-2050 nongovernmental organization and served as president of the Ukrainian World Congress from 2008-2018. Ukraine-2050 was established to help implement within one generation – by 2050 – strategies for the sustainable development of Ukraine as a fully independent, territorially integral, democratic, reformed and economically competitive European state.

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