June 29, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The United States has not conveyed to Russia its plans to bolster its force posture in Europe, according to US officials.

"There has been no communication with Moscow about these changes nor is there a requirement to do that," said John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, after Biden announced a series of measures meant to strengthen US and NATO forces in the region.

A second official told reporters the announcements did not violate any agreements between Russia and NATO, which stipulate parameters for positioning troops in Europe.

"The decision to permanently forward station the Five Corps headquarters forward command post does not, you know, is consistent with that commitment and our understanding of the NATO Russia founding act," said Celeste Wallander, United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Affairs.

Earlier, Biden said the US would establish a permanent headquarters for the Fifth Army Corps in Poland, maintain an extra rotational brigade of 3,000 troops in Romania, enhance rotational deployments to the Baltic states, send two more F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the United Kingdom and station additional air defense and other capabilities in Germany and Italy.

The United Kingdom announced further sanctions against Russian citizens and companies on Wednesday, including some described as being in Russian President Vladimir Putin's "inner circle." 

Among those sanctioned is Vladimir Potanin, described by the UK government as Russia's second-richest man, with an estimated net worth of nearly $16 billion, and a "key supporter of the Kremlin" accused of continuing "to amass wealth as he supports Putin's regime." 

Putin's cousin Anna Tsivileva has also been sanctioned. As president of the Russian coal mining company JSC Kolmar Group -- also sanctioned Tuesday -- the UK believes Tsivileva and her husband Sergey Tsivilev, the governor of the coal-rich Kemerovo region, have "significantly benefitted" from their relationship with Putin. 

The UK's latest sanctions also target Russian citizens and companies for their alleged involvement in supporting the Assad regime in Syria, a key Russian ally in the Middle East. 

"As long as Putin continues his abhorrent assault on Ukraine, we will use sanctions to weaken the Russian war machine. Today's sanctions show that nothing and no one is off the table, including Putin's inner circle," a UK government spokesperson said. 

Working together with international allies, the government said it would introduce measures to prevent Russia from using UK trusts services used to manage assets of others. 

The British government says it has sanctioned more than 1,000 people and more than 120 businesses since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.  

Eleven body fragments have been found at the site of the Kremenchuk mall bombing, a local official has told CNN, as more than 50 people continue to be treated for their injuries. 

Anton Stoletniy, chief prosecutor of the Poltava region, said the body fragments would have be analysed to determine “how many different people they come from.”

Stoletniy said 54 people remain in hospital, 35 of whom are seriously injured. The number killed in the bombing stands at 18.

His update followed an address by the Poltava region military administration, Dmytro Lunin, to Ukrainian television earlier Wednesday in which Lunin said "eight body fragments" had so far been found, with "relatives doing DNA tests."

Stoletniy said that three-quarters of the shopping mall's structures had been “dismantled” so far, with 300 rescue workers employed in the task.

US President Joe Biden was meeting royalty in Spain on Tuesday when word arrived that an audacious plan he had hatched six months earlier was in the final stages of completion.

The leaders of Finland and Sweden were meeting across town in a conference room with the leader of Turkey, who for weeks had thrown up roadblocks to their accession to NATO. The group had reached a breakthrough. But they wanted a gut check to ensure Biden approved.

Leaving his meeting with King Felipe VI at the Royal Palace, Biden took the call from Finland's President Sauli Niinistö and Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson. They walked him through what they'd agreed to with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey. And he gave the sign-off.

In the six-and-a-half months since Biden placed his first phone call to Niinistö suggesting he join NATO, the security situation in Europe has been altered drastically.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has thrown out long-standing assumptions about the security of nations along its borders.

And countries that had for decades upheld a strict neutrality policy are suddenly reconsidering their stance.

Read the full story here.

NATO leaders have reiterated their support for Ukraine and announced increased security deployments on the eastern edge of the military alliance, as Russian forces make progress in their campaign to encircle the city of Lysychansk.

Here are the latest headlines:

US President Joe Biden announced a significant strengthening of US force posture in Europe as he began a two-day NATO summit in Madrid. 

Speaking alongside the NATO secretary general, Biden listed new troop movements, equipment shipments and military installations meant to demonstrate the importance of security as Russia's war in Ukraine grinds on. 

He said the US would establish a permanent headquarters for the Fifth Army Corps in Poland, maintain an additional rotational brigade of 3,000 troops in Romania, enhance rotational deployments to the Baltic states, send two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the United Kingdom and station additional air defense and other capabilities in Germany and Italy.

"Together with our allies, we are going to make sure that NATO is ready to meet threats from all directions across every domain, land, air, and sea," Biden said. 

He praised the breakthrough diplomacy with Turkey that has set the stage for Finland and Sweden – two longtime neutral countries – to join NATO, saying it sent a clear signal to Russia that the alliance was united and growing.

"Their decision to move away from neutrality and the tradition of neutrality to join the NATO alliance is going to make us stronger and more secure and NATO stronger," he said. "We are sending an unmistakable message in my view… that NATO is strong, united, and the steps we are taking during this summit are going to further augment our collective strength."

Biden said the two Scandinavian countries' expected accession was a sign Putin's aims had backfired.

"I said Putin was looking for the Finlandization of Europe. He's going to get the NATOization of Europe, and that is exactly what he did not want, that's exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe. And I think it’s necessary," he said.

Read the full story here.

A video has emerged showing what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says is the moment the missile strike hit the busy shopping mall in Kremenchuk, Ukraine on Monday.

CNN cannot independently verify the specific target of the strike shown in the video.

The explosion and fire that swept through the building, has sparked fears of mass casualties. At least 18 civilians have been killed, and over 50 injured.

Watch the video here:

Clearing the wreckage at the shopping mall in the center of the city hit by a Russian missile on Monday is undergoing, said Vitalii Maletskyi, the mayor of Kremenchuk.

Maletskyi told Ukrainian television Wednesday: "Rescuers from three regions of Ukraine are working at the scene. They have not yet reached the epicenter of the explosion. There is still a large area to work on where the ceiling collapsed, the supporting structures collapsed."

Dmytro Lunin, head of Poltava region military administration, said clearing the wreckage would continue for two to three days. 

Twenty-five people had been admitted to a hospital, he said. One person had died in hospital.

"Eighteen bodies and eight body fragments were found at the scene. Relatives are doing DNA tests now," Lunin told Ukrainian television, adding that three rescue officers had also been injured while dismantling the debris.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday that NATO allies would continue to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia for “as long and as intensively as it is necessary."

On Tuesday, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said Berlin would provide a division of 15,000 troops, with 65 planes and 20 ships, to NATO's high-readiness force.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday that the alliance would scale up the number of troops at high alert to more than 300,000 from 2023.