May 24, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The Ukrainian military has for the first time released footage of special forces using foreign-made kamikaze drones targeting Russian positions. According to the Ukrainian military, the drone was equipped with a powerful explosive that caused damage to a Russian tank after it flew into it. 

"The combat use of kamikaze UAVs is a constant practice for SOF of Ukraine in the war with Russian invaders," the Ukranian military said. "This is a good example of how the help of foreign partners together with the training and professionalism of our soldiers give positive results at the front."

The US sent 100 Switchblade drones to the Ukrainian military in April. The small, portable, so-called kamikaze drones carry warheads and detonate on impact. The smallest model can hit a target up to six miles away, according to a company that produces the drones.

Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Russia's Security Council, said in remarks published Tuesday that Russian forces aren't "chasing deadlines" in Ukraine, suggesting a possibly open-ended timeline for the Russian invasion.  

In an interview with the Argumenti and Fakti national newspaper, Patrushev said "Nazism has to be eradicated in full 100%, otherwise it will resurface in a few years in a much uglier form."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed — falsely — that Russia is waging a campaign of "denazification" in Ukraine, a vaguely defined goal. Patrushev, a former spy chief, is seen as a hawkish member of Putin's inner circle. 

The Ukrainian prosecutor general's office said Tuesday it had charged members of the Russian military and a Russian mercenary group as suspects in the high-profile murder of a Ukrainian village mayor and two members of her family.

Olha Sukhenko, the mayor of the village of Motyzhyn, was found murdered along with her husband and son after Russian forces withdrew from the Kyiv region. The prosecutor general's office said it had identified and charged five Russian servicemen and three members of the Wagner private military group. The regional prosecutor's office had charged them in absentia of violating the laws of war combined with premeditated murder.

According to investigators, the suspects abducted the mayor of Motyzhyn and her husband and son to a temporary base, where they tortured them in an attempt to obtain information about Ukrainian troops and territorial defense forces and subsequently murdered them. 

The bodies of the mayor and her family members were found partly buried in a shallow grave.

According to the statement from the prosecutor general's Office, the suspects allegedly robbed civilians, tortured and killed them and burned their homes. The statement said pre-trial investigations had been carried out by the investigative department of the main directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine in Kyiv and Kyiv region; it did not name the suspects. 

Russian officials have dismissed allegations of war crimes by Russian troops as fake, despite firsthand evidence gathered by international news media. The participation of Wagner mercenaries in several conflicts, including in Ukraine, has been widely documented.

NATO member countries broadly support welcoming Finland and Sweden as members, the alliance’s secretary general told CNN’s Richard Quest in Davos. 

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he is “confident” that NATO will find a solution to Turkish concerns about the membership bid of the two countries. 

Stoltenberg said it is important for member states to “recognize that Turkey is an important ally,” and is “key in both the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria but also in addressing Russia in the Black Sea.” 

To grant membership to Finland and Sweden, there would need to be an agreement by the 30 current NATO allies. Turkey has said it won't support their joining unless certain demands are met.

“We are in close contact with Stockholm, Helsinki and Ankara and I am confident we will be able to find a solution,” Stoltenberg said, adding that he expects Russia to “protest” if NATO does decide to accept the two new member states.

The head of the UN World Food Programme called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to reopen ports in Ukraine to prevent children around the world from starving.

Speaking to CNN's Julia Chatterley at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, David Beasley called on the Russian leader to “have a heart.”

The growing food crisis has been a major issue at the forum, with Beasley being one of the leading voices calling for action. He warned that the Ukraine war has meant that “the breadbasket of the world was becoming the bread line of the world.”

Some background: Before the war, wheat supplies from Russia and Ukraine accounted for almost 30% of global trade, and Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest exporter of corn and the fifth-largest exporter of wheat, according to the US State Department. 

“The world is facing a food security crisis. It is immediate and long term. If we are struggling now to feed 7.7 billion, what is going to happen when we have 10, 12, 13 billion? That is on top of climate impact. It's going to be resonating around the world,” he added.

He also said that renewed focus on the food crisis was a good thing, with world leaders recognizing the size of the problem, with solutions to solve issues.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier today accused Putin of "weaponizing" food supplies in his invasion of Ukraine. The Russian army is confiscating grain suppliers and machinery in areas of Ukraine and blocking exports from ports in the Black Sea, von der Leyen said.

The president of the European Commission said a European embargo on Russian oil could come soon. 

President Ursula von der Leyen spoke to CNN's Richard Quest at the World Economic Forum.

Some EU members, including Hungary, continue to oppose a European Commission proposal to phase out Russian oil by early 2023. A Russian oil embargo would be the sixth package of EU sanctions on Russia since it invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Von der Leyen also said Russia must play a role in Ukraine's reconstruction. "The needs of reconstruction, financial needs are massive, and all of us should pay in, also the international financial institutions," she said. "And I think it would be only fair that Russia also pays its share. Therefore we are now looking into the legal possibilities to also add the assets that are frozen to this reconstruction effort. It's not trivial, it's not easy on the legal ground but we are working on it."

United States climate envoy John Kerry warned business and world leaders on Tuesday against locking in long-term fossil fuel use as countries shun Russia’s energy exports. 

The US has banned the import of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas and coal in response to its invasion of Ukraine, and the European Union is working toward phasing out Russian oil by the year end, while replacing much of its gas.

Europe is importing more liquified natural gas from the US to replace some of the Russian gas imports it usually relies on. 

“We have to do some of those things, we have to make up for the gas,” Kerry said. “So, where are you going to get it from? Well, Europe has made a decision to completely accelerate their deployment of renewables and France has determined that they're going to have to double down on nuclear and make different choices.”

He added that the basic technologies were now available for the world to reach its climate goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% over this decade.

“We can't do it if the new theology is going to be ‘we got to build out a massive gas infrastructure’ without regard to abatement and mitigation of that gas. The reason we're in the predicament we're in today is fossil fuel burning in a way that has polluted the atmosphere,” he said. “And so much so that this blanket is heating up the planet at an unacceptable rate.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Tuesday he discussed with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken military aid and ways to unblock Ukraine's food exports. 

"Russian thieves steal Ukrainian grain, load it onto ships, pass through Bosporus, and try to sell it abroad," Kuleba ​wrote in another tweet. "I call on all states to stay vigilant and refuse any such proposals. Don’t buy the stolen. Don’t become accomplices to Russian crimes. Theft has never brought anyone luck."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that Russia is "weaponizing" the food and energy sector and that the Russian army is confiscating grain suppliers and machinery in parts of Ukraine, and blocking exports from ports in the Black Sea. 

View Kuleba's tweet here:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Tuesday with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and discussed diplomacy and potential ways to get Ukrainian grain out of the country, according to a statement from the US State Department.

"The Secretary noted the global food security crisis resulting from President Putin’s brutal war requires a global response, and they discussed potential means to export Ukraine’s grain to international markets," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in the statement.

Blinken also gave Kuleba details about the $40 billion in supplemental appropriations that was signed into law this weekend, the readout said.

"The Secretary again underscored the United States’ strong support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Moscow’s aggression," according to Price.