June 5, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated that Moscow’s actions have nothing to do with the looming energy and food crisis in the world and again blamed economic and financial policies of the West for creating such a scenario.

Current and former energy officials tell CNN they worry that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the wake of years of underinvestment in the energy sector have sent the world careening into a crisis that will rival, or even exceed, the oil crises of the 1970s and early 1980s.

US President Joe Biden has blamed Russia's invasion for domestic price hikes and global food supply shortages.

In an interview with state TV channel Rossiya-1, conducted Friday and aired in full Sunday, the Russian leader blamed the United States for "injecting large sums of money" into its economy as a means of combating the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, which led to inflation and an "unfavorable situation in the food market, because first of all, food prices went up."

Putin also blamed "the short-sighted policy of European countries, and above all the European Commission, in the energy sector" as another reason for the crisis in food and energy market. 

“Among other things, the Europeans did not listen to our urgent requests to preserve long-term contracts for the supply of the same natural gas to European countries, and they also began to (terminate the contracts) … This had a negative impact on the European energy market: Prices crept up. Russia has absolutely nothing to do with it," he said. 

As soon as gas prices went up, fertilizer prices "immediately increased, because some of these fertilizers are produced, including at the expense of gas. Everything is interconnected," Putin added. 

"But we warned about this, and this has nothing to do with any military operation of Russia," Putin said. 

The Kremlin said last week that Moscow is ready to make a “significant contribution” to avoid the food crisis through the export of grain and fertilizers, if the West lifts “politically motivated restrictions” on Russia.  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with soldiers on the frontline and internally displaced Ukrainians during a trip to Zaporizhzhia region on Sunday. 

Zelensky "visited the frontline positions of the Ukrainian military," taking the opportunity to acquaint himself "with the operational situation on the frontline of defense," a statement from the Ukrainian Presidency said. 

The president spoke with the soldiers, presenting them with state awards and thanking them for their service, according to the statement. 

He also paid a trip to a sanatorium where internally displaced Ukrainians, forced to flee their homes, have been receiving shelter and medical care, according to a separate statement from the Ukrainian Presidency. 

Some more context: Almost 12 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky told lawmakers in Luxembourg on Thursday. 

"I understand that everyone wants to return home. And this housing, no matter how comfortable it is, cannot be compared with your own home. There is nowhere better than home," Zelensky told the IDPs on Sunday. 

IDPs who had traveled from the southern city of Mariupol recounted to the president the "tragic events they had to endure due to the Russian invasion, "appealing to him for help with recovering lost documents and issuing death certificates of relatives who died in the temporarily occupied territories, according to the statement. 

Zelensky invited them to put forward suggestions for "legislative changes" that could be made to simplify the procedures for obtaining these documents. 

He assured the IDPs that all those who have lost their homes will be provided with "comfortable housing," according to the statement. 

Finally, Zelensky gave a gift to 8-year-old boy, Yehor Kravtsov, who kept a diary while living under shelling in Mariupol. Yehor, whose "Mariupol Diary" writings were published on social networks, shared his experiences of the city's bombing with Zelensky.

Serhiy Hayday, the head of the Luhansk region military administration, says there is "good news" from the city of Severodonetsk, which has been under Russian bombardment for weeks.

In a post on his Telegram channel, Hayday says: "Our Armed Forces have cleared up half of the city. Half of the city is really controlled by our defenders." Last week, Hayday said that Russian forces held about 80% of Severodonetsk, but Ukrainian forces have clawed back parts of the city in street fighting since then. 

Hayday says he expects Russian forces to redouble their efforts to take the city in the next few days by using heavy artillery. 

"They have no other tactics," he said "They cannot fight in another way."

Hayday said there are approximately 15,000 civilians still in Severodonetsk. "Now evacuation is impossible because of constant fighting," he said.

Lysychansk is across the Siverskyi Donets river from Severodonetsk and is heavily defended by Ukrainian troops.

Wales’ men’s soccer team defeated Ukraine 1-0 on Sunday to secure a berth in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 

Ukraine thought they had begun the game in perfect fashion as Oleksandr Zinchenko took a free-kick quickly after 3 minutes and found the back of the net — only for Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz to disallow the goal as the Manchester City player took the set piece before the whistle was blown.

Ukraine continued to dominate the early exchanges but were unable to capitalize, with Welsh goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey making a string of excellent saves. In the 34th minute, Gareth Bale’s free kick deflected off the head of Andriy Yarmolenko and into the goal to give Rob Page’s team the lead, which they took into the half-time break.

Both teams had good chances in the second half - Aaron Ramsey missing for Wales and Roman Yaremchuk for the visitors. In the end, one goal was enough for Wales to seal their spot at the forthcoming tournament.

As had been the case in Ukraine’s semifinal victory against Scotland last Wednesday, the build-up to the match was an emotional affair. Players and fans again sang the national anthem pridefully in unison as yellow and blue flags dominated the Cardiff City Stadium in Wales.

The Welsh FA handed out 100 tickets to Ukrainian refugees living in the area before the match as a gesture of solidarity. Ukraine manager Oleksandr Petrakov revealed on Saturday that the team had received a flag from their home country which they had hung in the dressing room.

The World Cup playoff final was due to be played in March but was postponed due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Wales qualified for the match by defeating Austria 2-1 on March 24. 

Wales will join England, the United States and Iran in Group B. 

It is only the second time the nation from the British Isles has qualified for the World Cup, and the first since 1958.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup takes place in Qatar from November 21 to December 18.

The shortage of drinking water in Mariupol is now at a critical level, according to an adviser to the mayor.

Petro Andrushenko said people had to register to receive drinking water and can only get it every two days. 

The damage to Mariupol during more than two months of bombardment was so severe that most basic services, such as electricity, gas and piped water, are yet to be restored by the Russian-backed local authorities.

Andrushenko said: "The amount of water was small before, but now it has decreased altogether. It is necessary to register in the queue ... In the future, the temperature will rise, the water level will fall, and the water will be less."

Andrushenko, who is not in Mariupol, claimed that the water being provided by the occupying authorities is "very conditional drinking water. Without boiling, it cannot be consumed in normal life at all, and there is no place to boil, that is, only on the [outside] fire. In fact, people use it as it is. This is a double threat at once."

Andrushenko repeated his warnings of epidemics due to the high level of garbage and the number of corpses buried in shallow graves throughout the city.

So far there have been no confirmed reports of dysentery or other epidemic diseases in Mariupol. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday that Moscow would strike new targets if the US supplied long-range missiles to Ukraine, according to Russian state media.   

Delivering new arms to Kyiv only aims to “drag out the armed conflict for as long as possible,” Putin said in an interview to Rossiya-1 TV channel, Russian state media TASS reported.

In the case of deliveries of long-range missiles to Kyiv, Russia will draw "appropriate conclusions" and strike those “facilities” that it has not yet targeted, he said.  

"If they are supplied, we will draw appropriate conclusions from this and use our own weapons, of which we have enough, in order to strike at those facilities we are not targeting yet," Putin said, commenting on the situation regarding the supply of American multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to Ukraine.  

Here are more of the latest headlines from the Russia-Ukraine war:

Western allies “must understand” that providing heavy weaponry to Ukraine “is not a one-time aid” but has to be continued until “victory,” Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Sunday.

“Weapons have already begun to arrive, but it is not enough to give a very strong rebuff to the Russian army,” Maliar said. “We will always need support, given that we have already entered a protracted war. The West must understand that this is not a one-time aid, but to a victory.”

The scene in Severodonetsk: Maliar said that the situation on the ground is “hot” and changing constantly, so it’s difficult to give updates on how much of the city Ukraine controls.

“No one can say for sure because, during the fighting, some part of the city may now be under the control of Russian troops, but in 30 minutes, the situation could change radically,” Maliar said. “The only thing we can say for sure is that the (Ukrainian) armed forces are strongly resisting. Otherwise, the city would have fallen.”

The threat to Kyiv: “Kyiv is constantly under threat,” Maliar said. “We need to understand that the war is in a hot phase, and Kyiv remains the main goal of the Russian Federation.”

Maliar also spoke about the fighters from around the world who have signed up for the International Legion, which she said is legally part of the Ukrainian armed forces.

“The International Legion proved itself in battle,” Maliar said, including in the liberation of Kyiv, and now the international fighters “are also in the hottest spots.”

She said they have applications “from almost all over the world,” with some people signing up as “professional fighters who can perform very high-level military tasks” and others who join after being motivated by “the injustice” of the conflict.

Russia “launched 5 X-22 cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea in the direction of Kyiv” at 6 a.m. local time on Sunday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

One missile was destroyed by Ukraine’s air defense unit, and the rest hit “infrastructure facilities in the north of the Ukrainian capital,” the military said.

Earlier, Vadym Denysenko, adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, said one military target and one civilian target were hit.

Several of the missiles hit the Darnytsia Carriage Repair Plant, injuring one railway worker, according to Oleksandr Kamyshin, CEO of the Ukrainian state railway enterprise Ukrzaliznytsia. Passenger trains were not delayed by the attacks, he said.

Kamyshin denied the Russian reports that his company was housing any military equipment, and he invited journalists to visit the plant and verify that.

“I officially declare that there is no military equipment on the plant's territory. This plant repaired cargo carriages, including those we use for grain export,” Kamyshin said.

“Their real target is the economy of Ukraine and the civilian population,” he said. “They also want to block our opportunity to export Ukrainian products to the West.”

Ukrainian air defenses shot down four Russian missiles aimed at Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, an update from Operational Command South said on Sunday.

“During a night attack from the sea by missiles across the south of Ukraine, two missiles were shot down by forces of our divisions over the sea, on approach to the Mykolaiv region,” the statement said.

At dawn, the Mykolaiv region was “again subjected to a massive missile strike using aircraft” and two missiles were shot down by air defenses, the statement said.

“Such audacious actions again reveal the real intentions of the terrorist country — pseudo-care of humanitarian corridors and unblocking ports — this is just an excuse to gain access to Ukraine's maritime infrastructure,” the statement said.

Russia also tried to regain lost positions in two areas of Mykolaiv but “suffered heavy losses and retreated,” a separate update from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Sunday.

In nearby Kherson, the military said there has been no mobile or internet connection for six days, and the Russian troops controlling the city have opened a branch of a party called ‘United Russia’ where they “collect data from the city’s residents.”

Heavy fighting is also taking place in the Beryslav district, and many houses, roads and bridges have been destroyed, the military said.