Russia opens ports in the Black Sea, shells more than 40 towns in Donbass

The AP news agency quoted Mikhai Mizintsev, head of the Defense Control Center of the Russian General Staff as saying that 70 foreign ships from 16 countries are present at six seaports of Russia. Ukraine in the Black Sea, including in Odessa, Kherson and Mykolaiv.

Speaking at a short press conference in Moscow yesterday (May 25), Mr. Mikhail said the corridors will be open daily. Earlier, the Russian military announced that the seaport in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol had reopened after three months of shutdown due to fighting. According to a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, the Russian military has cleared mines at this seaport.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko also said that Moscow is ready to open a humanitarian corridor for ships carrying food to leave Ukraine, in return for some sanctions against Russia being lifted.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Kuleba accused Russia of “extorting the international community” by providing conditions for lifting the blockade of its seaports in connection with sanctions relief. The official warned that if Russia does not stop blocking Ukraine from exporting grain, the entire agricultural circle will be broken and create a food crisis that will last for years. Before the war, Ukraine was the 4th and 5th largest exporter of corn and wheat in the world.

Currently, 20 million tons of Ukraine’s grain is still trapped in a series of Ukrainian storage tanks when Russia has blocked seaports on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast since February.

Russia shelled more than 40 towns in Donbass

Ukraine’s military says Russian forces have shelled more than 40 towns in the Donbass region in the east of the country, threatening to shut down the last major escape route for trapped civilians.

Reuters news agency believe According to Ukrainian officials, after withdrawing from Kiev and Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv, Russia is trying to gain control of Donbass, an area that includes both Luhansk and Donetsk provinces – which are in the hands of forces. Ukrainian separatists.

Russia has poured thousands of troops into the area, launching attacks from three sides to encircle Ukrainian forces that are resisting in the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. If these two cities fall, the entire Luhansk region will be in hand Russia.

The Ukrainian armed forces said: “Russian forces shelled more than 40 towns in Donetsk and Luhansk, destroying or destroying 47 civilian sites, including 38 houses and a school, killing five civilians. killed, 12 others were injured.” Ukraine claims to have repelled 10 attacks, destroyed 4 tanks and 4 drones, killing 62 people.

However, it is still not possible to independently confirm the information on the battlefield.

Other notable developments

– The President and Foreign Minister of Ukraine asked the West for help to send more weapons to the country’s army in the context of Russia intensifying its offensive in the Donbass region. In his speech last night (May 25), the President of Ukraine called: “We need the help of our partners – weapons for Ukraine. Full help, without exception, without limits, enough to fight the war. win”.

Ukraine’s foreign minister has said that a plan to simplify the process of granting Russian citizenship to people in Russian-controlled regions in Ukraine violates international law. Before, Russian President Putin signed a decree easing the procedure for granting Russian citizenship to residents of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.

– A senior United Nations official will travel to Russia in the next few days to discuss the restoration of fertilizer exports, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said, adding that the discussions would be unrelated. to the resumption of grain shipments to Ukraine.

Hoai Linh