War

At least 4,113 civilians have been killed and 4,916 more have been injured since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The data were released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as of early May 31. The casualties included “a total of 4,113 killed (1,550 men, 1,023 women, 95 girls, and 100 boys, as well as 69 children and 1,276 adults whose sex is yet unknown); a total of 4,916 injured (978 men, 658 women, 115 girls, and 138 boys, as well as 168 children and 2,859 adults whose sex is yet…

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova and Eurojust President Ladislav Hamran have discussed the coordination of actions of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on Russian crimes in Ukraine. She wrote this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports. "We discussed with Eurojust President Ladislav Hamran the coordination of our now-largest Joint Investigation Team on Russia's crimes in Ukraine. The most important issue is the exchange of information and evidence and their safe storage," the prosecutor general said. According to her, it is necessary to develop an effective and modern model of operational interaction so that the expansion of the Joint Investigation Group yields results…

Most of Sievierodonetsk is controlled by the enemy, but the city is not encircled. Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, said this on Telegram, Ukrinform reports. "Most of Sievierodonetsk is controlled by the Russians. The city is not surrounded, and there are no prerequisites for this. Critical infrastructure in the city is almost 100% destroyed, the housing stock is 90% damaged, and 60% of buildings are seriously damaged, that is they cannot be restored,” Haidai said. Due to the shelling, it is impossible to bring humanitarian goods to Sievierodonetsk, as well as to evacuate people. As was…

In one of the Russian airstrikes on Sievierodonetsk, where fierce battles continue, a tank with nitric acid was hit at a chemical plant, causing a leak. This was announced on Telegram by the head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Haidai, Ukrinform reports. "Air strike on Sievierodonetsk. The ruscists hit a tank with nitric acid at a chemical plant. Effects on humans: nitric acid is dangerous if inhaled, swallowed, as well as in contact with skin and mucous membranes," wrote the official. Read also: Ammonia leaks in Donetsk region due to hostilities. Six localities in impact area He urged…

Four bodies of civilians have been recovered from under the rubble of an apartment block destroyed in Russia’s missile strike on the city of Kharkiv back in February 2022. The relevant statement was made by the Main Department of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service in Kharkiv Region on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. “On May 31, 2022, the Ukrainian State Emergency Service continued emergency and rescue works, dismantling the rubble of a 16-storey apartment block in Industrialnyi District. Yesterday, on floor 15, using special tools, rescuers unblocked the bodies of two victims, a man and a woman. Today, two more…

President of the Slovak Republic Zuzana Čaputová has visited Irpin and Borodianka as part of her visit to Ukraine. The relevant statement was made by Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. “In Borodianka and Irpin, I have seen with my own eyes the destruction brought by Russian soldiers to Ukraine. Hundreds of kilometers to the east and to the south, thousands of other Ukrainian civilians – women, men, children – are facing the same destruction today,” Čaputová wrote. She expressed confidence that Ukraine will flourish again, when this nightmare ends. “Just like flowers that have bloomed…

A joint press conference of International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan and Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has started in The Hague. The press conference is taking place in Eurojust, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova delivered her speech first. In her words, the judicial front is very important, as “about 200-300 war crimes are committed daily”. Venediktova stressed that hostilities are continuously raging in Ukraine. “It is a brutal war. We do not have access to the occupied territories, but I hope, thanks to international colleagues, we will be able to achieve justice,” Venediktova noted.…

OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid announces the release of one of the four OSCE SMM members from militants’ captivity in eastern Ukraine. “Very relieved about the release [from captivity] of one OSCE SMM national mission member,” Schmid posted on Twitter. The official urged for the release of the three colleagues who remain in detention in Donetsk and Luhansk and noted that she would continue to work tirelessly for their immediate return to their loved ones. On April 29, OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau and OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid stated that the OSCE would take immediate steps…

Two Russian servicemen, Aleksandr Bobykin and Aleksandr Ivanov, who had opened fire from Grad multiple rocket launchers on Kharkiv region, were sentenced to 11 years and 6 months in prison. The sentence was read out at the Kotelevsky district court of Poltava region on May 31, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. The court considers well-founded and proven all the charges brought against servicemen. "The court has no doubts about the voluntariness of their position. The guilt has been proved in full," reads the verdict. The mitigating circumstances are sincere remorse, confirmed by a full confession and cooperation with the investigation on…

A 12-year-old child and a woman were killed in the Russian shelling of Kharkiv region in the morning. Over the past 24 hours, three people were killed and 14 were injured in the region. “Over the past 24 hours, the enemy shelled Osnovyansky and Kyivsky residential districts of Kharkiv city and Kharkiv, Izium, Chuhuiv, and Bohodukhiv districts of the region. Unfortunately, three people were killed: a woman in the town of Korotych of Kharkiv district, a man in the village of Udy of Bohodukhiv district, and a woman in Chkalovske town, Chuhuiv district. A total of 14 civilians were injured…