Ukraine Briefly

May 30, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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• The leaders of France and Germany held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend to discuss unblocking grain shipments from Ukraine as well as arms shipments to Kyiv, Agence France-Presse reported. Putin said Moscow was ready to find solutions for the grain shipments from Ukrainian ports but demanded the lifting of Western sanctions. He also warned the European leaders against ramping up arms supplies to Ukraine.

• Russia said Saturday that its soldiers and separatist rebels had taken control of a vital railway junction in eastern Ukraine, the second minor city to fall to Russian forces this week as they sought to take control of the entire contested Donbas area, the Associated Press wrote. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that using force to reclaim all land lost to Russia since 2014 is unfeasible, saying that doing so “would cost us hundreds of thousands of lives,” according to the Washington Post.

• A resident of a Russian village near the Ukrainian border died after a “full day” of bombardment, according to Russian authorities, making her the third civilian casualty on Russian soil as a result of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which has killed thousands and displaced millions, Moscow Today reported.

• The World Health Organization endorsed a Western-led resolution denouncing Russia’s activities in Ukraine, which it claims have resulted in a health emergency, Reuters added. The resolution was adopted with 88 votes in favor, 12 against, and 53 abstentions.

This story originally appeared in the May 30, 2022 newsletter, The Grim Reaper’s Harvest.