News Feed

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.

Want to partner with the Kyiv Independent?

Contact the Tellers Agency to connect your brand with independent media.

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.

MORE NEWS

Illia Ponomarenko: Why some Ukrainian soldiers use Nazi-related insignia

Where does Russia expect Ukraine’s counterattack? Overview of defensive lines

Russia’s Kinzhal missile is not hypersonic. Nor is it invincible

watch us on facebook

News Feed

Edit post

Media: South Africa trying to convince Putin not to come due to arrest warrant

by The Kyiv Independent news desk May 1, 2023 4:40 PM 2 min read

South-Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa (R) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) attend the first plenary session as part of the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, on Oct. 24, 2019. (Photo by Sergei Chirikov/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

This audio is created with AI assistance

South African officials are trying to persuade Russian dictator Vladimir Putin not to come to South Africa for a BRICS summit in August due to the International Criminal Court's warrant for his arrest, South Africa's Sunday Times reported on April 30.

The officials want Putin to attend the summit virtually, according to the Sunday Times.

According to government sources cited by the Sunday Times, a special commission established by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa concluded that, if Putin were to set foot in the country for the summit, they would be compelled to arrest him.

"We have no option not to arrest Putin," a government official told the Sunday Times. "If he comes here, we will be forced to detain him."

The ICC issued arrest warrants on March 17 for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian official overseeing the forced deportations of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia.

The ICC says that there are "reasonable grounds to believe" Putin holds direct accountability for supervising the deportations and that he neglected to exert authority over Russian soldiers and civilians executing the crime across occupied Ukrainian regions from the onset of Russia's all-out war against Ukraine.

South Africa, as one of the 123 countries party to the Rome Statute, is obliged to execute arrest warrants issued by the ICC.

On April 25, Ramaphosa's office walked back on public statements he'd made considering withdrawing from the ICC due to its "unfair treatment" of other countries.

The office said the statement was a "communication error" that the African National Congress (ANC) made during a media briefing.

"The presidency wishes to clarify that South Africa remains a signatory (of the ICC)," Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement.

BRICS summits are held to promote further commercial, political, and cultural cooperation between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

Comments