May 12, 2022: Russia-Ukraine news

Finland "must be aware of the responsibility and consequences" of joining NATO, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday, adding that Russia "will be forced" to take retaliatory steps if the country joins the alliance.  

“The statement by Finnish President S. Niinistö and Finnish Prime Minister S. Marin, who spoke today in favor of Finland joining NATO, is a radical change in the country's foreign policy," the Russian foreign ministry said, adding "Helsinki must be aware of the responsibility and consequences of such a move."

Finland's possible accession to NATO would cause serious damage to bilateral Russian-Finnish relations, which are maintaining stability and security in the Northern European region, the ministry said. 

"Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to stop the threats to its national security that arise in this regard," it said. 

"Joining NATO will also be a direct violation of Finland's international legal obligations, primarily the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947 and the 1992 Treaty between Russia and Finland on the fundamentals of relations,” Russia's foreign ministry said. 

Finland shares an 800-mile border with Russia.

The State Migration Service of Ukraine is conducting a “complete audit” into the services provided to its Russian citizens, in order to “single out those individuals who conduct certain activity against Ukraine,” the agency's head, Natalia Naumenko, told journalists in Kyiv on Thursday.

“We are working on gathering an understanding for each one of these cases, and not just us, but our law enforcement agencies as well,” Naumenko added.

Citizens of Russia and Belarus make up the largest expat community in Ukraine, with over 150,000 nationals currently living in the country. Ukrainian Migration Service stopped processing Ukrainian citizenship applications for Russians in the country during the ongoing conflict. 

Naumenko added that those Russian nationals with a valid residence permit in Ukraine are “free to travel in an out of the country through controlled checkpoints.”

Sanctions imposed on Russia by the West are "provoking" a global crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday during a meeting on economic issues.

"Their authors, guided by short-sighted, inflated political ambitions, Russophobia, to a greater extent hit their own national interests, their own economies, the wellbeing of their citizens. We see this, first of all, in a sharp increase in inflation in Europe," said Putin.

According to the Russian leader, continuation of the West's "obsession with sanctions" will inevitably lead to the "most difficult, intractable consequences" for the European Union as well as the poorest countries in the world.

"The blame for this lies entirely with the elites of Western countries, who are ready to sacrifice the rest of the world in order to maintain their global dominance," he said.

Putin added that Russia is coping with external challenges provoked by Western sanctions and the inflation in the country is slowing down.

"The weekly increase in prices has already dropped to 0.1% -- this is already close to the weekly growth rate that corresponds to the inflation target of the Bank of Russia," he said.

A Russian merchant ship loaded with grain stolen in Ukraine has been turned away from at least one Mediterranean port and is now in the Syrian port of Latakia, according to shipping sources and Ukrainian officials.

CNN has identified the vessel as the bulk carrier Matros Pozynich.

On April 27, the ship weighed anchor off the coast of Crimea and turned off its transponder. The next day, it was seen at the port of Sevastopol, the main port in Crimea, according to photographs and satellite images.

The Matros Pozynich is one of three ships involved in the trade of stolen grain, according to open-source research and Ukrainian officials.

Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, produces little wheat because of a lack of irrigation. But the Ukrainian regions to its north, occupied by Russian forces since early March, produce millions of tons of grain every year. Ukrainian officials say thousands of tons are now being trucked into Crimea.

Kateryna Yaresko, a journalist with the SeaKrime project of the Ukrainian online publication Myrotvorets, told CNN the project had noticed a sharp increase in grain exports from Sevastopol to about 100,000 tons in both March and April.

From Sevastopol, according to satellite images and tracking data reviewed by CNN, the Matros Pozynich transited the Bosphorus strait and made its way to the Egyptian port of Alexandria. It was laden with nearly 30,000 tons of Ukrainian wheat, according to Ukrainian officials.

But the Ukrainians were one step ahead. Officials say Egypt was warned that the grain was stolen, and the shipment was turned away. The Matros Pozynich steamed toward the Lebanese capital of Beirut with the same result. The ship turned off its transponder again on May 5, but imagery from Tankertrackers.com and Maxar Technologies shows it traveled to the Syrian port of Latakia.

The Ukrainian defense ministry estimates that at least 400,000 tons of grain has been stolen and taken out of Ukraine since Russia's invasion.

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Shell has announced plans to sell some of its Russian businesses to Lukoil, the country’s second biggest oil producer.

The deal will include 411 retail gas stations and a lubricant blending plant in Torzhok, which is 200 kilometers (124 miles) north-west of Moscow.

No details were given on the financial terms of the deal, which is expected to be completed later this year.

On March 8, Shell announced plans to withdraw from all of its Russian energy businesses in a phased manner.

In April the company revealed that its exit from Russia could cost it as much as $5 billion.

"Under this deal, more than 350 people currently employed by Shell Neft will transfer to the new owner of this business," said Huibert Vigeveno, Shell’s downstream director, in a statement.

Earlier Thursday, German engineering firm Siemens also announced plans to exit Russia. 

"We join the international community in condemning the war in Ukraine and are focused on supporting our people and providing humanitarian aid," said Roland Busch, Siemens president and CEO. "Today, we announced our decision to carry out an orderly process to wind down our industrial business activities in Russia."

The Kremlin said on Thursday that "everyone wants to avoid" a direct clash between Russia and NATO, but added that Russia will be ready to give "the most decisive response" to those who would try to get involved in the so-called "special military operation" in Ukraine.

"Everyone wants to avoid a direct clash between Russia and NATO: Both Russia and NATO, and, most importantly, Washington," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a regular conference call.

"At the same time, Russia will be ready to give the most decisive response to the side that tries to somehow get into Ukraine and get into the special operation being carried out by the Russian armed forces," he added.

Foreign energy companies under Russian sanctions won't be able to participate in gas supplies, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.

"Blocking sanctions have been introduced. Therefore, there will be no relations with these companies, they are simply prohibited," Peskov told reporters on a regular conference call, commenting on the decree published the day before.

On Wednesday, the Russian government approved a list of 31 foreign companies -- all current or former subsidiaries of Russian state gas company Gazprom -- which are now subject to special economic measures, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.

Among the companies on the list are Gazprom Germania GmbH, Gazprom Marketing & Trading Ltd., and the operator of the Polish part of the pipeline Yamal-Europe.

German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Thursday that Germany had found alternative suppliers to Gazprom Germania.

''Last night Putin published a decree that European gas suppliers will now be sanctioned by Russia. In Germany, Gazprom and its subsidiaries are affected, which means that some of the subsidiaries now no longer receive gas from Russia,'' Habeck told the German parliament without providing further details on the alternative suppliers.

At least three people have died and 12 were injured after a school and a boarding school were shelled at night by Russian forces in the northern Ukrainian city of Novhorod-Siversky, Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska said, as she accused Russian of "waging war against our children."

"Tonight, the Russian army fired rockets from a plane at a school and boarding school in the city of Novhorod-Siversky, Chernihiv region. Rescuers are currently working there, but we already know of 3 dead and 12 injured. The bombing was aimed. The Russians, who claim to be attacking only military installations, are waging war against our children. In fact, they are waging war against our future," Zelenska said in a Telegram post Thursday.

She added that, according to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, 1,635 educational institutions in the country have been affected by bombing and shelling, with 126 being completely destroyed.

What Russia says: According to the Russian defense ministry, its armed forces used high-precision air-based missiles to hit four command posts, 34 areas of concentration of Ukrainian manpower and military equipment, as well as two ammunition depots near Novhorod-Siversky. 

"The attacks have resulted in the elimination of more than 320 nationalists and up to 72 armored and motor vehicles," the defense ministry said during a briefing on Thursday.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba praised Germany's response to the war with Russia, saying Germany has now moved in ''the right direction'' following tensions between Kyiv and Berlin.

''We see an evolving position of Germany on the most important issues -- this position is moving into the right direction,'' Kuleba told reporters in Berlin Thursday.

This could be the supply of weapons to Ukraine or the sanctions that need to be imposed against Russia, he said. "We see the positive dynamic.''

In recent months, the German government and Chancellor Olaf Scholz have come under pressure from Ukraine and politicians at home for not doing enough to help Ukraine defend itself against the Russian invasion.

But at the end of April, Germany agreed to deliver Gepard anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine, and last week it said it will supply Ukraine with seven self-propelled howitzers.

While relations between the two countries have improved, ''we have to make sure that the positive dynamic is maintained and we all move forward and that right decisions are being taken,'' Kuleba said. 

The decision about Ukraine's membership of the European Union, due to be taken at the European summit at the end of June, will largely define the future of Europe, he said.

''The EU needs Ukraine as much as Ukraine needs the EU,'' Kuleba said.