May 26, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Two captured Russian soldiers pleaded guilty in Kotelevsky court in Ukraine’s Poltava region on Thursday to “violating laws and customs of war conducted with preliminary group conspiracy.”

Oleksandr Bobykin and Oleksandr Ivanov are accused of firing Grad rockets from Russia’s Belgorod region towards Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on Feb. 24.

According to the case details made public on the court website, the men fired artillery and damaged “objects of civil and critical infrastructure, including private homes” in Kazacha Lopan and Veterynrne in the Kharkiv region. The soldiers were captured by Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region, according to the court memos. 

The court is due to deliver a verdict on May 31.

At least four people have been killed and seven more wounded in shelling of regional centers in the Kharkiv area, according to Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the regional military administration. 

In a message posted on his Telegram channel on Thursday, Syniehubov urged residents to stay in shelters during the ongoing exchanges of fire between Ukrainian and Russian forces.

“The most intense fighting is happening in Izium region. The Russian forces are trying to improve their strategic positions in the Izium area and renew their offensive on Sloviansk,” he said. 

Syniehubov added that a number of other towns have been shelled in the last 24 hours, including Pyatyhatky, Balakliya, Tsyrkuny and the Chuhuyiv area.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed Finland and Sweden's applications to join NATO in a phone call on Thursday.

Erdogan has voiced his opposition to Finland and Sweden joining the military alliance, claiming that their alleged sheltering of Kurdish "terrorist organizations" should bar them from entry. 

The Turkish president told Macron that "Sweden and Finland's contacts with individuals and so-called organizations under the control of the terrorist organization PKK/YPG would not be compatible with the spirit of alliance under NATO,” according to the Turkish Directorate of Communications readout of the call.  

The two leaders also addressed the food security crisis, focusing particularly on the "urgent need to enable the export of Ukrainian grain," according to the Élysée. 

"They discussed the various possible ways to transport crops out of Ukraine, identified in conjunction with the United Nations, and agreed to remain in contact in order to find a solution quickly," the Élysée said. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Eurasian Economic Union partners to choose “natural” partners and neighbors over other “well developed” economies on Thursday.

Putin spoke via video link at the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) forum opening in Bishkek. He added there are more than 180 projects worth $300 billion on the EAEU forum agenda.

EAEU is an economic union of post-Soviet economies initiated by Russia in 2015 to create a single market for Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

It's impossible to "switch off" Russian President Vladimir Putin's "imperialist" aims, the German Chancellor said Thursday.

In his closing speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Olaf Scholz said that the horrors in Ukraine cannot be ignored. 

He said Putin will only seriously negotiate peace if his army can’t break Ukrainian defensive forces, with neither Ukraine nor the European Union accepting peace dictated by Putin. 

Scholz's comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky criticized Henry Kissinger's remarks after the former US Secretary of State appeared to suggest that Ukraine agree to give up much of the Donbas and Crimea. Zelensky on Wednesday compared Kissenger's views to appeasement of Nazi Germany in 1938.

Meanwhile, Scholz said that NATO "will not become a party to this war," as that would put nuclear powers in opposition to each other. He added that Germany will welcome Sweden and Finland into NATO with "open arms."

Earlier, Scholz spoke of the war's impact on the international community, stressing "we cannot let Putin win this war, and I firmly believe he will not win it."

He added that his country would be ready to defend itself at all times in light of Russia's actions.

Russia plans to take the whole of Ukraine, with the capital of Kyiv being its main target, according to city mayor Vitali Klitschko.

It is clear that Russia is not carrying out a "special operation" but rather a "genocide" in Ukraine, Klitschko said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.

He warned that Ukraine is not only defending its own sovereignty, but that of all like-minded nations.

"We defend not just our families, we defend all of you," said Klitschko. "We defend you because we have the same values."

The war is a danger to Europe and the whole world, Klitschko said. He made a plea for "fast decisions" from other leaders on sending Ukraine more defensive weapons, which he says they need quickly.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has spoken out against Russia's "bullying" and "atrocities" in Ukraine during a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday.

Truss used an address to the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to speak out against Russian maneuvering in the Balkan nation, and urged partners to continue to rally behind Ukraine.

"As Russia meddles here, Putin’s troops are committing atrocities just 700 miles away in Ukraine. The people of Ukraine need our support," said Truss.

"They need that support from the whole of Europe, from the whole of the free world. We need to back the people in their brave fight for their country," she added, urging allies not to compromise with or appease Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We have seen Russia’s bullying tactics – just this week flagrantly saying they will let Ukrainian grain flow only if sanctions on them are lifted," said Truss.

"That is trying to hold the world to ransom, and it must not succeed. So now it is about digging deep, not backsliding," she added.

"Democracy and freedom must prevail over autocratic aggression," said Truss. "Putin must lose in Ukraine. Putin’s aggression must never succeed in Europe."

Germany is working "flat out" to end its reliance on Russian gas imports, the country's Chancellor said Thursday, adding there was "no doubt" that both Berlin and the European Union would end their dependence on energy imports from Moscow.

Russian oil could be completely phased out by the end of the year, Olaf Scholz added during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

He said Germany was looking towards liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and alternative sources of supply.

The EU is following the "same path," Scholz said. However, Ukraine is asking for maximum sanctions against Moscow, including an immediate ban on Russian oil and trade. 

This restructuring will have an impact on EU economies, which is already being felt by a rise in energy prices, he warned.

Some background: Germany was one of Russia's largest importers of oil last year.

Before the Ukraine crisis, an $11 billion undersea pipeline -- Nord Stream 2 -- was being built to deliver gas from Russia to Germany.

In February, when Russia invaded, Germany halted its approval of the pipeline, leaving the 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) pipeline empty since its completion in September 2021.

Russia says that "illegal actions" by the West are causing problems with grain supplies in Europe, after the Kremlin was accused of obstructing grain exports from Ukraine.

"We absolutely reject these accusations," presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists Thursday. "On the contrary, we blame countries of the West for taking a number of illegal actions that have led to this 'blockade.'"

Asked whether this meant Western sanctions need to be lifted in order for grain supplies to resume, Peskov said: "They must cancel those illegal decisions that prevent the charter of ships, the export of grain, etc."

Earlier this week, the head of the UN World Food Programme called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to reopen blocked ports in Ukraine to prevent a global food crisis.

And European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has accused Putin of "weaponizing" food supplies in his invasion of Ukraine by confiscating grain supplies and machinery, as well as blocking exports from ports in the Black Sea.

Prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, wheat supplies from Russia and Ukraine accounted for almost 30% of global trade.