Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now


Reuters | Updated: 20-05-2022 22:44 IST | Created: 20-05-2022 22:44 IST
Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Russian troops bombarded a riverside city in what appeared to herald a major assault to seize the last remaining Ukrainian-held territory in a province it claims on behalf of separatists. FIGHTING

* The commander of Ukraine's Azov Regiment said in a video that civilians and heavily wounded fighters had been evacuated from Mariupol's Azovstal steelworks, giving no further clue about the fate of the rest of its defenders. * Germany will deliver the first 15 Gepard tanks to Ukraine in July, a defence ministry spokesperson in Berlin said.

* In a sign of Russia's urgent need to bolster its war effort, parliament will consider a bill to allow Russians over 40 and foreigners over 30 to sign up for the military. * President Vladimir Putin said that the number of cyber attacks on Russia by foreign "state structures" had increased several times over and that Russia must bolster its cyber defences by reducing the use of foreign software and hardware.

DIPLOMACY * Finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies said they have mobilised $19.8 billion for Ukraine and pledged to give more if needed.

* Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he will speak to Finland on Saturday, while maintaining his opposition to Finnish and Swedish NATO membership bids over their history of hosting members of groups Ankara deems terrorists. * Not all Russians should be blamed for their government's decision to invade Ukraine and that includes Russian members of the International Olympic Committee, IOC president Thomas Bach said, defending his decision not to sanction them.

ECONOMY * Ukraine has exported 643,000 tonnes of grain since the start of May, considerably less than during the same period last year.

* Russia has fulfilled obligations on paying coupons on two Eurobond issues in full, the finance ministry said, days before the May 26 deadline for coupon payouts. * Seizing Russian state assets to help finance the rebuilding of Ukraine remains a possibility, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said, but he added that no decision on the matter was taken at a meeting with his G7 counterparts.

* McDonald's franchisees in Russia will have the option of working under a new brand that will launch imminently, the TASS news agency quoted Oleg Paroev, McDonald's Russia's general director, as saying. (Compiled by Frank Jack Daniel and Nick Macfie)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Give Feedback