Ukraine live briefing: Russia slams Azov commanders’ release from Turkey; Biden faces a divided NATO
NATO member states will meet in Vilnius, Lithuania, this week, with Ukraine’s candidacy and Sweden’s blocked bid to join the military alliance expected to dominate the agenda. President Biden heads to Europe on Monday.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Key developments
- Ukraine hailed Turkey’s facilitation of the release of the Azov Brigade commanders, who defended a steel plant in the southern port city of Mariupol last year during a nearly three-month siege. The Azov Brigade is one of Ukraine’s most adept military units. Formerly an independent, far-right militia with ultranationalist roots, Russia designated it a terrorist group in 2022.
- After Russia captured the Azov Brigade commanders in spring 2022, they were transferred to Turkey as part of a prisoner swap. Zelensky said at the time they would stay there until the end of the war. Peskov said Saturday that the release breached the terms of an existing agreement.
- Biden faces the challenge of uniting allies at this week’s NATO summit, where divisions are mounting over the Ukraine war. In addition to questions over the expansion of the alliance, Ukraine’s demand for an invitation and Turkey’s resistance to Sweden’s membership bid, Biden is also likely to face tensions over the U.S. decision to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine — which has also been criticized by figures within his own party.
- The leaders of Britain, Germany and Spain said they would not send cluster munitions to Ukraine, distancing themselves from the U.S. decision. Canada also opposes the move, an official told The Washington Post, citing an international treaty prohibiting their use and transfer. The United States, Ukraine and Russia are not signatories to the treaty.
Battleground updates
- Ten people were killed in Russian attacks across the Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine, Ukraine’s national police said Sunday. According to the Telegram message, 13 people were also injured in the strikes, which hit residential buildings, a shop, a youth center and cars.
- Russia is strengthening defenses on the Crimean Peninsula in anticipation of a Ukrainian offensive, Ukraine’s military media center said Saturday on Telegram. Russian troops are carrying out fortifications in the north, west and east of the peninsula, including provisions to prevent attacks on ships and fleet bases, the statement added. Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.
- Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to environmental damage worth $56 billion, the Ukrainian minister for environmental protection said in a statement. Each day of the war, now in its second year, causes more than $100 million of environmental damage, he said, adding that the estimate did not include the destruction caused by the recent breach of the Kakhovka dam.
Global developments
- Polish President Andrzej Duda made an unannounced visit to the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk on Sunday, where he commemorated the 80th anniversary of anti-Polish massacres alongside Zelensky, according to his office. The Volhnyia massacres — in which Warsaw estimates 100,000 Poles were killed by Ukrainian nationalists — has strained ties between the countries since World War II. Sunday’s joint service underlines how Russia’s invasion has pushed neighboring countries to directly address old wounds, bringing them closer. Poland has been a major hub for the delivery of aid to Ukraine during the war.
- NATO’s summit in Lithuania on Tuesday and Wednesday will take place under high security, with nearly 1,000 troops from 16 member countries and advanced air defense systems pressed into service, Reuters reported. Lithuania shares a border with Russian ally Belarus.
- Portugal supports Ukraine’s NATO candidacy, the two countries said in a statement Saturday, following a phone call between their leaders. Portugal has provided substantial military aid to Ukraine independently and through the European Union initiative. In March, Portugal delivered three Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine.
From our correspondents
Ukraine pushes to reclaim Bakhmut, fighting on fallen city’s flanks: Russia captured the embattled city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, in May following weeks of fierce fighting — its only significant territorial gain in 2023. But now, its troops are battling Ukraine’s counteroffensive push from the city’s flanks in an inch-by-inch fight, report Fredrick Kunkle and Serhii Korolchuk.
On a recent moonlit night, a four-man Ukrainian squad attempted to float a drone amid the ruins of a kindergarten in a village south of the city.
“We are trying to pin as many Muscovites as possible around Bakhmut,” said Mykola Bielieskov, a research fellow with Ukraine’s National Institute for Strategic Studies.
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