Ukraine: Man accused of 'treason' after Kramatorsk attack

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where the two discussed environmental damage caused by Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine.

Thunberg, who attained notoriety for her work as a main figure in the Fridays for Future movement, is in Ukraine with an international working group that is documenting the massive environmental damage caused by the war with the aim of forcing Moscow to pay compensation.

Zelenskyy told Thunberg and her team — which includes former Swedish Vice President Margot Wallström, former Irish President Mary Robinson, and Finnish Vice President of the EU Parliament Heidi Hautala — "We need your professional help." 

Speaking of the recent destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in the Kherson region, Thunberg said: "I don't think the world's response to this ecocide has been sufficient. I don't think any response can be sufficient, because there are simply no words to describe this brutality." 

The young Swede chastised Russia for "deliberately targeting the environment and people's livelihood and homes." Ukraine continues to lack clean drinking water in many areas, its agricultural sector has been severely disrupted by the war, and much of its biodiversity destroyed, too. 

Mike Pence,  former vice president of the United States and a current Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential race, made a surprise 12-hour visit to Ukraine Thursday.

Pence is an outlier among Republicans in that he has consistently voiced support for Ukraine's efforts and been a staunch critic of Russia.

Pence said there is no room for "Putin apologists" in the party and advocated a larger role for America on the world stage, saying, "I truly do believe that now, more than ever, we need leaders in our country who will articulate the importance of American leadership in the world."

Pence served as vice president under Donald Trump who regularly praised Putin and preferred an isolationist stance — a sentiment echoed by many in the party and its base.

On Thursday, Pence took a different tack, saying, "I'm here because it's important that the American people understand the progress that we've made and how support for the Ukrainian military has been in our national interest."

Pence met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and received several briefings on the current security situation as well as alleged Russian human rights abuses.

He also participated in a commemoration ceremony honoring fallen Ukrainians as well as visiting a mass burial site in Bucha and laying a wreath for war dead in Kyiv. 

His trip was sponsored by the evangelical Christian charitable organization Samaritan's Purse, which is run by influential preacher Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham.

At least two people were killed by Russian shelling in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, local authorities said. 

On the Telegram messaging app, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote, "Two local people were killed, and two more are in the hospital in moderate condition." 

Russian projectiles hit the city 12 times on Wednesday, he added. 

The Russian shelling reportedly hit a civilian shelter where humanitarian aid was being handed out to the population.   

The city of Kherson has been the target of repeated Russian attacks.   

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the rebellion by Russian mercenary outfit the Wagner Group over the weekend "demonstrates that there are cracks and divisions within the Russian system."

Stoltenberg also said that it was too soon to draw final conclusions relating to the recent events and said it wasn't clear how many Wagner forces would move to Belarus.

Stoltenberg made the comments as he arrived at an EU summit in Brussels.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, has not mentioned Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin by name since his mutiny, but has insisted that Putin has not been weakened by the rebellion.

"The data we have show the prevailing and dominating support of the president and the special military operation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, using Moscow's term for its invasion of Ukraine.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has expressed worry over the developments in neighboring Belarus.  

Russian Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was exiled to Belarus on Tuesday after staging an aborted rebellion over the weekend in Russia.

"We are extremely concerned about the developments in Belarus. Prigozhin is already there... I cannot say 100% but it is very likely that he is already there," Nauseda said in comments made before an EU leaders' summit in Brussels.

The Baltic country's leader also repeated a call for a bolstering of NATO's eastern flank.

"The fighter groups or these serial killers (as) I call them... they could emerge in Belarus at any moment and nobody knows when they could turn against us," he added.

Kyiv appears to be looking to NATO to provide a clear indication on Ukraine's possible membership in the alliance.

"Ukraine continues to work actively with all NATO allies to convince them that the time for clarity on Ukraine's membership in the Alliance has come," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted after speaking by phone with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

The topic is expected to be a prominent feature at the upcoming NATO summit in July.

Earlier this week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that continued support for Ukraine was crucial.

Russian officials on Thursday declined to answer questions about General Sergei Surovikin's whereabouts.

Surovikin who goes by the nickname "General Armageddon" by Russian media, has not been seen in public since appearing in a video in which he called on Yevgeny Prigozhin to halt the Wagner Group's advance.

The senior commander appeared unshaven and looking exhausted in the video while holding a rifle by his side.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred questions about Surovikin to the Defense Ministry, which has also not made any statement about his status.

Asked by reporters if the Kremlin could clarify the situation with Surovikin, Peskov said: "No, unfortunately not."

"So I recommend that you contact the Defense Ministry; this is its prerogative," Peskov added.

A man has been arrested in Ukraine on suspicion of committing treason by aiding Russia's missile strike on a packed restaurant in the eastern city of Kramatorsk.

According to the prosecutor general's office, a man employed at a local gas transportation firm helped Russia target the restaurant premises. The suspect allegedly filmed vehicles with military license plates in the parking lot before handing the material on to Russian intelligence.

The death toll from Tuesday's attack has risen to 12 people, with three children among the dead while around 60 others have been injured.

"Anyone who helps Russian terrorists destroy lives deserves the maximum punishment," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video message on Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that Israel delivered its pledges to Ukraine as he rejected allegations of neutrality toward the war. 

Earlier this week, Israel summoned Ukrainian Ambassador Yevhen Korniychuk after "repeated statements against Israeli policy," according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

The Kyiv envoy had said Netanyahu's government was cooperating with Russia and the prime minister was "justifying Israel's complete inaction" in suppling weapons to Ukraine.

"We're not neutral. We expressed our sympathy and our position with Ukraine," Netanyahu said in the interview, noting that Israel offered Kyiv civil defense systems.

Netanyahu added that Israel, however, had "limitations" and "concerns" about the potential threats that it could face if it delivered weapons to Kyiv.

"I think it is important to understand that we are concerned also with the possibility that systems that we would give to Ukraine would fall into Iranian hands and could be reversed engineered and we would find ourselves facing Israeli systems used against Israel," he said.

Ukrainian authorities on Thursday raised the death toll of a missile attack in the eastern city of Kramatorsk to 12.  

Emergency services said three children were among the dead, and at least 60 people were injured. 

Kramatorsk came under Russian attack on Tuesday, with a missile hitting a restaurant in a busy street. 

The United Kingdom will on Thursday introduce a law banning lawyers from representing Russian businesses. 

"The UK legal system underpins many international contracts and businesses and we will no longer allow Russia to benefit from our knowledge and expertise," Britain's Justice Minister Alex Chalk said in a statement. 

The new law won't prevent British lawyers from representing Russian nationals, but it could bar them from advising Russian companies on global trade deals, or from advising overseas financial institutions on lending to Russian businesses.

The move builds on British sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in February last year.

Germany and the United States will continue to closely coordinate their efforts to support Ukraine's army, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday.

The minister made his first official visit to Washington on Wednesday to meet with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and President Joe Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan.

"We agree on all key issues," Pistorius told reporters after the meeting.

"Both of them have more than clearly underlined and repeatedly emphasized how much they appreciate the German commitment," Pistorius said.

"They know very well the scale we are on and that we are now the second-largest supporter of Ukraine. There was not a hint of criticism."

Meanwhile, the US praised Germany's contributions to the war effort, which includes a €2.7 billion ($2.95 billion) package that was announced in May.

"As Russia continues to direct this war of choice, I appreciate everything that Germany has done to strengthen Ukraine's capability," Austin said.

"Your security assistance and training contributions for Ukraine's defenders have been invaluable, and we must keep pushing hard to help Ukraine succeed."

The Ukrainian army is making incremental gains in its counteroffensive, officials said on Wednesday.

"Every day, there is an advance," said Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar.

"Yes, the advances are slow, but they are sure." 

She pointed to advances near the occupied towns of Berdiansk and Mariupol. She also noted the recapture of the village of Rivnopol earlier this week.

The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, General Valery Zaluzhniy, also reported gains. 

"Ukraine's defense forces are proceeding with their offensive action and we have made advances. The enemy is offering strong resistance, while sustaining considerable losses," Zaluzhniy wrote on Telegram.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday that his government would send a note of diplomatic protest to Russia after three Colombians were injured in a missile strike that killed 11 at a restaurant in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.

"Russia has attacked three defenseless Colombian civilians. In so doing it violated the protocols of war," he said on Twitter.

The three Colombians who were injured are decorated writer Hector Abad Faciolince, former peace negotiator Sergio Jaramillo and journalist Catalina Gomez.

Abad and Jaramillo were on a mission to express Latin American solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

The European Union has trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, according to figures announced by Kyiv on Wednesday.

"A total of 24,000 Ukrainian soldiers have already been trained in the EU," Lieutenant General Serhiy Nayev said.

This training often covers how to use Western weapons systems as well as modern military tactics.

kb,zc/sri (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)