Today is a sad anniversary of the war in Ukraine: day 500. Follow the developments in Ukraine and Russia here in this live blog.
The UN criticizes Russia for thousands of civilian deaths in Ukraine
More than 9,000 civilians, including 500 children, have been killed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, according to the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), exactly 500 days after the start of the ‘invasion. “Today we mark another sad milestone in the war that continues to take a terrible toll on Ukrainian civilians,” said Noel Calhoun, deputy head of HRMMU.
Although the number of victims has been lower on average this year than in 2022, according to UN observers the number increased again in May and June. For example, on 27 June another thirteen civilians, including four children, were killed in a rocket attack on Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine. And in Lviv, far from the front line, emergency services pulled a tenth body from the rubble of a building on Friday.
Turkish President Erdogan: Ukraine deserves NATO membership
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ukraine “undoubtedly deserves” to join NATO. He said this after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky in Istanbul. Kiev has been pushing hard for a quick decision on NATO membership, although the alliance generally does not allow a country to have an ongoing territorial dispute. Next week, NATO will meet for a summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
The US soon dampens Ukraine’s hopes for NATO membership
US President Joe Biden said on Friday that joining the Western military alliance for Ukraine is very unlikely in the near term. “I don’t think there is a consensus within NATO on whether or not to include Ukraine in the NATO family, right now, in the midst of a war,” Biden told CNN.
On Friday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had already indicated that Ukraine needs to implement the necessary internal reforms before it can be considered for NATO membership. Next week, NATO will meet for a summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, which will also be attended by Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky.
Washington agrees to supply cluster weapons to Ukraine
The United States will continue to supply cluster weapons to Ukraine, a White House spokesman confirmed. The controversial bombs or missiles that Ukraine and Russia also use in their war cause a sort of shower of explosives and many scattered shells fail to explode. This leads to years of suffering among civilians, even after the end of the war. Ukrainian leader Volodimir Zelensky asked Washington for more of these weapons last year, but the US government has long said it would only consider this.
The White House says President Joe Biden made the difficult decision after consultations with allies. Security adviser Jack Sullivan said “the United States will not leave Ukraine defenseless.” He acknowledges that “the ammunition poses a serious risk to civilians due to unexploded components, which is why we have been delaying the decision for so long.” According to a Defense Ministry spokesman, Russia is also using them and this would justify their delivery.
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
