International

Germany announced Sunday emergency measures including increased use of coal to ensure it meets its energy needs after a drop in supply of Russian gas. "To reduce gas consumption, less gas must be used to generate electricity. Coal-fired power plants will have to be used more instead," the economy ministry said in a statement. The move comes after Moscow turned up the pressure last week on Western allies, sharply reducing flows of natural gas in its pipelines to western Europe, driving up energy prices. Gazprom said the supply reductions via the Nord Stream pipeline are the result of repair work, but EU officials believe Moscow is punishing allies of Ukraine, where Russian forces launched an invasion in February. Berlin's temporary return to coal marks a turnaround for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's ruling coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and the liberal FDP, which has vowed to wind down its coal usage by 2030. "It's bitter but indispensable for reducing gas consumption," economy and climate minister Robert Habeck said in a statement. A law outlining the new measures is due to be adopted in the coming weeks, he added. They include an "auction" system for the sale of gas to manufacturers, which, according to the government, will help bring down consumption by the powerful sector. Funding will also be released to finance the filling up of tanks before winter. Habeck stressed that the increased use of coal was only "provisional" in the face of the "worsening" situation in the gas market.   - ' Showdown' -    Gazprom has said that exports to countries that did not belong to the former Soviet Union were down 28.9 percent between January 1 and June 15 compared to the same period last year. After cutting daily gas supplies to Germany and Italy, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said last week that Moscow will play by its own rules. "Our product, our rules. We don't play by rules we didn't create," he said during a panel discussion at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia's second city. Germany is among several European countries that are highly reliant upon Russian gas for their energy needs and countries are racing to replenish their reserves for the following winter. Berlin has managed to reduce the share of its natural gas supplied by Russia from 55 percent before the invasion to 35 percent -- thanks to increased deliveries from countries like Norway and the Netherlands, and through liquefied natural gas contracts (LNG). But Habeck acknowledged that the situation was "serious". "We shouldn't be under any illusions, we are in a showdown with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," he said. The German government is also emphasising the need to save energy, including by manufacturers. "Every kilowatt counts," the minister said. It has launched a big awareness campaign directed at the general public and business. The EU wants the gas storage infrastructures of its member states to be filled to at least 80 percent of their capacity by November. In Germany, reserves are currently at 56 percent which is higher than the average of recent years, Habeck said, adding that for now supply was assured. But he warned that the "absolute priority" was making sure that gas reserves were full for winter. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, EU countries have scrambled to wean themselves off Russian energy but are divided about imposing a natural gas embargo because of the heavy reliance of several member states on Moscow's supplies.

The war in Ukraine could last for years, the head of Nato said on Sunday, as Russia stepped up its assaults after the European Union recommended that Kyiv become a candidate to join the bloc. Jens Stoltenberg said the supply of state-of-the-art weaponry to Ukrainian troops would boost the chance of freeing its eastern region of Donbas from Russian control, Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper said. * Nato's Stoltenberg says war could last years * Allies must show they will back Ukraine for long haul -Johnson * Ukraine admits setback at village near Sievierodonetsk * 'All that is ours we will take back" -Zelenskiy * Two Azovstal defence commanders moved to Russia for probe -TASS "We must prepare for the fact that it could take years. We must not let up in supporting Ukraine," Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of the military alliance, was quoted as saying. "Even if the costs are high, not only for military support, also because of rising energy and food prices." British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who visited Kyiv on Friday, also spoke of a need to prepare for a long war. This meant ensuring "Ukraine receives weapons, equipment, ammunition and training more rapidly than the invader", Johnson wrote in an opinion piece in London's Sunday Times. "Time is the vital factor," he wrote. "Everything will depend on whether Ukraine can strengthen its ability to defend its soil faster than Russia can renew its capacity to attack." Ukraine received a significant boost on Friday when the European Commission recommended it for candidate status, a decision EU nations are expected to endorse at a summit this week. That would put Ukraine on course to realise an aspiration seen as out of reach before Russia's Feb. 24 invasion, even if membership could take years. Russian attacks intensified on Ukraine's battlefields. The industrial city of Sievierodonetsk, a prime target in Moscow's offensive to seize full control of Luhansk - one of the two provinces making up the Donbas - faced heavy artillery and rocket fire again, the Ukrainian military said. "The situation in Sievierodonetsk is very difficult," said Serhiy Gaidai, the Ukrainian-appointed governor of Luhansk, adding that Russian forces, using drones for air reconnaissance, were adjusting strikes quickly in response to defence changes. "Areas near the bridges have been heavily shelled again," Gaidai said in an online post on Sunday, adding that the Azot chemical plant, where hundreds of people had been sheltering, was hit twice. "Fighting continues for full control of the city," the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said in a daily update on Sunday. Analysts at the Washington Institute for the Study of War think tank wrote that "Russian forces will likely be able to seize Sievierodonetsk in the coming weeks, but at the cost of concentrating most of their available forces in this small area". In Sievierodonetsk's twin city Lysychansk across the river, the bodies of two civilians had been found, Gaidai said, adding, "The destruction of housing in the city is increasing like an avalanche." Ukraine's military acknowledged that "the enemy has partial success in the village of Metolkine", just southeast of Sievierodonetsk. Russia's state news agency TASS said many Ukrainian fighters had surrendered in Metolkine, citing a source working for Russian-backed separatists. Russian missiles hit a gasworks in the district of Izyum to the northwest, and Russian rockets raining on a suburb of Kharkiv, the second-largest city, hit a municipal building, caused a fire, but no casualties, Ukrainian authorities said. They reported shelling further west in Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk, saying on Saturday that three Russian missiles destroyed a fuel storage depot in the town of Novomoskovsk, wounding 11 people. Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of Donetsk, the other province in the Donbas, said a civilian was killed and 11 wounded in shelling on Saturday. The Ukrainian armed forces general staff said Russian troops on a reconnaissance mission near the town of Krasnopillya had been beaten back with heavy casualties on Saturday. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield accounts. Two top commanders of fighters who defended the Azovstal steel plant in the southeastern port of Mariupol have been transferred to Russia for investigation, TASS said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose defiance has inspired his people and won global respect, said he had visited soldiers on the southern frontline in the Mykolaiv region, about 550 km south of Kyiv. "I talked to our defenders - the military, the police, the National Guard," he said in a video on the Telegram message app on Sunday that appeared to have been recorded on a moving train. "Their mood is assured: they all do not doubt our victory," Zelenskiy said. "We will not give the south to anyone, and all that is ours we will take back." Another video showed Zelenskiy in his trademark khaki T-shirt handing out medals and posing for selfies with servicemen. Zelenskiy has stayed mostly in Kyiv since Russia invaded, although in recent weeks he has made unannounced visits to Kharkiv and two eastern cities near battles. One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's stated goals in ordering troops into Ukraine was to halt the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance and keep Moscow's southern neighbour outside the West's sphere of influence. But the war, which has killed thousands, reduced cities to rubble and sent millions fleeing, has had the opposite effect - convincing Finland and Sweden to seek to join Nato - and helping to pave the way for Ukraine's EU membership bid.

British journalist Dom Phillips and his Brazilian guide, whose disappearance in the Amazon some two weeks ago sparked an international outcry, were killed by gunfire, Brazilian police said yesterday. A day after investigators identified remains found buried in a remote part of the Amazon as those of Phillips, officials said a second set of remains belonged to his guide, Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira. Authorities said both men were gunshot victims — Phillips, 57, struck by a single shot to the chest, Pereira, 41, by three shots, one to the head — with ammunition typically used for hunting. Pereira, an outspoken defender of Indigenous rights, had received multiple death threats. The two men went missing on June 5 in an isolated part of the rainforest rife with illegal mining, fishing and logging, as well as drug trafficking. Ten days later, a suspect took police to a place near the city of Atalaia do Norte in western Amazon state, where he said he had buried bodies. Soon after, the suspect’s brother was also detained. Police yesterday said an additional suspect in the case, whom they identified as Jefferson da Silva Lima, also known as “Pelado da Dinha,” had turned himself in at the police station in Atalaia do Norte. Commissioner Alex Perez Timoteo told news site G1 that evidence and testimony collected so far indicated that the suspect “was at the scene of the crime and actively participated in the double homicide that occurred.” On Friday, police said they believed the perpetrators had “acted alone, without there being an intellectual author or criminal organisation behind the crime.” Activists have blamed the killings on President Jair Bolsonaro for allowing commercial exploitation of the Amazon at the cost of the environment and law and order. For his part, Bolsonaro sought to lay blame at the door of the men themselves for undertaking a “reckless” trip in an area where Phillips was “disliked.” Phillips, a longtime contributor to several leading international newspapers, including the British newspaper The Guardian, was working on a book on sustainable development in the Amazon with Pereira as his guide. Pereira, an expert at Brazil’s indigenous affairs agency FUNAI, had received multiple threats from loggers and miners with their eye on isolated Indigenous land. The Univaja association of Indigenous peoples, which had taken part in the search for the men, rejected the police’s conclusion that the killers had acted alone. “These are not just two killers, but an organised group that planned the crime in detail,” Univaja said in a statement. The group claimed authorities had ignored numerous complaints about the activities of criminal gangs in the area.

Indigenous protesters demanding cheaper fuel in Ecuador defied a state of emergency yesterday, pressing on with road blockages now in their sixth day. A day after President Guillermo Lasso announced the restrictive measures in a bid to end the sometimes violent demonstrations, police said Indigenous people kept up protests in most of the country’s 24 provinces, including three where the president declared the state of emergency. One includes the capital, Quito. Oil producer Ecuador has been hit by rising inflation, unemployment and poverty exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Fuel prices have risen sharply since 2020, almost doubling for diesel from $1 to $1.90 per gallon (3.8 litres) and rising from $1.75 to $2.55 for petrol. Demonstrators from the country’s Indigenous community — which makes up over a million of Ecuador’s 17.7mn inhabitants — launched an open-ended anti-government protest this week that has since been joined by students, workers and others. The demonstrations have blocked roads across the country, including highways leading into the capital Quito. Talks with the president failed to end the demonstrations. Clashes with security forces during the protests have left at least 83 people injured, and 40 have been arrested. In response, Lasso’s decree empowers him to mobilise the armed forces to maintain order, suspend civil rights and declare curfews.

With a blessing for its EU ambitions and a pledge of unwavering support from Britain, Ukraine vowed yesterday to prevail against Moscow as it battled Russian assaults near a key eastern city and multiple locations came under shell and missile attack. European Union countries are expected at a summit next week to grant Ukraine EU candidate status following a recommendation from the bloc’s executive on Friday, putting Kyiv on course to realise an aspiration seen as out of reach before Russia’s February 24 invasion, even if actual membership could take years. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday stressed the need to avoid “Ukraine fatigue” after nearly four months of war. “The Russians are grinding forward inch by inch and it is vital for us to show what we know to be true, which is that Ukraine can win and will win,” he told reporters. “When Ukraine fatigue is setting in, it is very important to show that we are with them for the long haul and we are giving them the strategic resilience that they need.” On the battlefields yesterday, Sievierodonetsk, a prime target in Moscow’s offensive to seize full control of the eastern region of Luhansk, was again under heavy artillery and rocket fire as the Russian forces attacked areas outside the industrial city, the Ukrainian military said. A Russian-backed representative said a big explosion rocked the Sievierodonetsk area yesterday and a large orange-coloured cloud could be seen rising into the air. Rodion Miroshnik, of the self-styled separatist administration of the Luhansk People’s Republic, posted a video on Telegram of what he said was the cloud, adding that he could not tell if the blast occurred in or near the city. Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian attacks on towns just south of Sievierodonetsk were repulsed by Ukrainian forces, although the situation in satellite villages was “difficult.” “The Russians have thrown all their reserves in the direction of Sievierodonetsk and Bakhmut,” he said in an online post. “They are trying to establish full control over the regional centre and to cut the Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway. They’re having no success, they are dying en masse.” Gaidai said the city of Lysychansk was under constant shelling but remained fully in Ukrainian hands, although a ‘quiet’ evacuation was underway, and humanitarian convoys were being brought in daily. He said a key highway out of the city was now impassable due to Russian shelling. To the northwest, several Russian missiles hit a gasworks in Izium district, and Russian rockets rained on a suburb of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, hitting a municipal building and starting a fire in a block of flats, but causing no casualties, Ukrainian authorities said. Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky, whose defiance has inspired Ukrainians and won him global respect, said yesterday he had visited soldiers on the southern front line in the Mykolaiv region. “Our brave men and women. Each one of them is working flat out,” he said on Telegram. “We will definitely hold out! We will definitely win!”

Spain, France and other western European nations yesterday sweltered under a blistering June heatwave that has sparked forest fires and concerns that such early summer blasts of hot weather will now become the norm. The weather yesterday was the peak of a June heatwave that is in line with scientists’ predictions that such phenomena will now strike earlier in the year thanks to global warming. The French southwestern town of Biarritz, one of the country’s most sought-after seaside resorts, saw its highest all time temperature yesterday of 41 degrees, state forecaster Meteo France said. Queues of hundreds of people and traffic jams formed outside aquatic leisure parks in France, with people seeing water as the only refuge from the devastating heat. With the River Seine off limits to bathing, scorched Parisians took refuge in the city’s fountains. Temperatures in France could reach as high as 42 degrees C in some areas yesterday, Meteo France said, adding that June records had already been beaten in 11 areas on Friday. “This is the earliest heatwave ever recorded in France” since 1947, said Matthieu Sorel, a climatologist at Meteo France. With “many monthly or even all-time temperature records likely to be beaten in several regions,” he called the weather a “marker of climate change”. In a major incident in France, a fire triggered by the firing of an artillery shell in military training in the Var region of southern France was burning some 200 hectares (495 acres) of vegetation, local authorities said. “There is no threat to anyone except 2,500 sheep who are being evacuated and taken to safety,” said local fire brigade chief Olivier Pecot. The fire came from the Canjeurs military camp, the biggest such training site in Western Europe. Fire services’ work was impeded by the presence of non-exploded munitions in the deserted area but four Canadair plans have been deployed to water bomb the fires. Farmers in the country are having to adapt. Daniel Toffaloni, a 60-year-old farmer near the southern city of Perpignan, now only works from “daybreak until 11.30am” and in the evening, as temperatures in his tomato greenhouses reach a sizzling 55 degrees C. Forest fires in Spain yesterday had burned nearly 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of land in the north-west Sierra de la Culebra region. The flames forced several hundred people from their homes, and 14 villages were evacuated. Some residents were able to return yesterday morning, but regional authorities warned the fire “remains active”. Firefighters were still battling blazes in several other regions, including woodlands in Catalonia. Temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) were forecast in parts of the country yesterday — with highs of 43 degrees C expected in the north-eastern city of Zaragoza. There have also been fires in Germany, where temperatures were forecast to go as high as 40 degrees C yesterday, although only reached 36 degrees C. A blaze in the Brandenburg region around Berlin had spread over about 60 hectares by Friday evening. Dutch authorities said they expect yesterday to be the hottest day of the year so far. The UK recorded its hottest day of the year on Friday, with temperatures reaching over 30 degrees C in the early afternoon, meteorologists said. “I think at the moment people are just enjoying it being hot but if it gets any hotter than this, which I think it is meant to, then that’s a concern,” said Claire Moran, an editor in London. Several towns in northern Italy have announced water rationing and the Lombardy region may declare a state of emergency as a record drought threatens harvests. Italy’s dairy cows were putting out 10% less milk, the main agricultural association, Coldiretti, said yesterday. With temperatures far above the cows’ “ideal climate” of 22-24 degrees C, animals were drinking up to 140 litres of water per day, double their normal intake, and producing less due to stress, it said. Experts warned the high temperatures were caused by worrying climate change trends. “As a result of climate change, heatwaves are starting earlier,” said Clare Nullis, a spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organisation in Geneva. “What we’re witnessing today is unfortunately a foretaste of the future” if concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to rise and push global warming towards 2 degrees C from pre-industrial levels, she added.

British journalist Dom Phillips and his Brazilian guide, whose disappearance in the Amazon some two weeks ago sparked an international outcry, were killed by gunfire, Brazilian police said yesterday. A day after investigators identified remains found buried in a remote part of the Amazon as those of Phillips, officials said a second set of remains belonged to his guide, Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira. Authorities said both men were gunshot victims — Phillips, 57, struck by a single shot to the chest, Pereira, 41, by three shots, one to the head — with ammunition typically used for hunting. Pereira, an outspoken defender of Indigenous rights, had received multiple death threats. The two men went missing on June 5 in an isolated part of the rainforest rife with illegal mining, fishing and logging, as well as drug trafficking. Ten days later, a suspect took police to a place near the city of Atalaia do Norte in western Amazon state, where he said he had buried bodies. Soon after, the suspect’s brother was also detained. Police yesterday said an additional suspect in the case, whom they identified as Jefferson da Silva Lima, also known as “Pelado da Dinha,” had turned himself in at the police station in Atalaia do Norte. Commissioner Alex Perez Timoteo told news site G1 that evidence and testimony collected so far indicated that the suspect “was at the scene of the crime and actively participated in the double homicide that occurred.” On Friday, police said they believed the perpetrators had “acted alone, without there being an intellectual author or criminal organisation behind the crime.” Activists have blamed the killings on President Jair Bolsonaro for allowing commercial exploitation of the Amazon at the cost of the environment and law and order. For his part, Bolsonaro sought to lay blame at the door of the men themselves for undertaking a “reckless” trip in an area where Phillips was “disliked.” Phillips, a longtime contributor to several leading international newspapers, including the British newspaper The Guardian, was working on a book on sustainable development in the Amazon with Pereira as his guide. Pereira, an expert at Brazil’s indigenous affairs agency FUNAI, had received multiple threats from loggers and miners with their eye on isolated Indigenous land. The Univaja association of Indigenous peoples, which had taken part in the search for the men, rejected the police’s conclusion that the killers had acted alone. “These are not just two killers, but an organised group that planned the crime in detail,” Univaja said in a statement. The group claimed authorities had ignored numerous complaints about the activities of criminal gangs in the area.

Britain’s biggest strike action on the railway network in over 30 years will go ahead, after talks over pay broke down, the Rail Maritime and Transport Workers union said yesterday. RMT general-secretary Mick Lynch said there had been discussions in recent weeks with rail infrastructure body Network Rail, train companies and London Underground. But he added that “no viable settlements” were found. The failure of talks means more than 50,000 workers will take part in a three-day national strike on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday next week. London Underground workers will also stage a 24-hour walk-out on Tuesday. The action coincides with major events including the Glastonbury music festival, as well as national exams for teenagers. Major disruption is predicted but the RMT defended the industrial action and blamed the Conservative government for cutting billions of pounds in funding from the transport network. Jobs had been lost across the sector, while wages for staff that remain were failing to keep pace with soaring inflation, which is at a 40-year high, it argued. “In the face of this massive attack on our people the RMT cannot be passive,” said Lynch. “So... we are confirming that the strike action scheduled to take place on 21st, 23rd and 25th June will go ahead.” The Rail Delivery Group, an industry body for passenger and freight operators, predicted that “millions of people” would be affected. It promised to try to keep as many services running as possible but warned that “significant disruption will be inevitable and some parts of the network will not have a service”. The strikes, which the RMT said are the biggest since 1989, will likely compound travel chaos, after airlines were forced to cut flights due to staff shortages, causing delays and frustration. The Department for Transport said the RMT’s decision was “hugely disappointing and premature” and warned that jobs could be at risk if passengers turn away from rail, just as the sector tries to recover from a slump during the pandemic. “We urge the RMT to reconsider so we can find a solution that delivers for workers, passengers and taxpayers alike,” a spokesman said.

* UK's Patel approves extradition request * WikiLeaks says Assange will appeal * Assange's wife says dark day for press freedom British interior minister Priti Patel on Friday approved the extradition of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange to the United States to face criminal charges, bringing his long-running legal saga closer to a conclusion. Assange is wanted by US authorities on 18 counts, including a spying charge, relating to WikiLeaks' release of vast troves of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables which Washington said had put lives in danger. His supporters say he is an anti-establishment hero who has been victimised because he exposed US wrongdoing in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that his prosecution is a politically motivated assault on journalism and free speech. His wife Stella said Assange would appeal after the Home Office said his extradition had been approved. "In this case, the UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr Assange," the Home Office said in a statement. "Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the US he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health." Originally, a British judge ruled that Assange should not be deported, saying his mental health meant he would be at risk of suicide if convicted and held in a maximum security prison. But this was overturned on an appeal after the United States gave a package of assurances, including a pledge he could be transferred to Australia to serve any sentence. Patel's decision does not mean the end of Australian-born Assange's legal fight which has been going on for more than a decade and could continue for many more months. He can launch an appeal at London's High Court which must give its approval for a challenge. He can ultimately seek to take his case to the United Kingdom Supreme Court. But if an appeal is refused, Assange must be extradited within 28 days. "This is a dark day for press freedom and for British democracy," Assange's wife Stella said. "The path to Julian’s freedom is long and tortuous. Today is not the end of the fight. It is only the beginning of a new legal battle." Nick Vamos, the former head of extradition at Britain's Crown Prosecution Service, said Assange would be able to use new evidence, such as his allegations the CIA had plotted to assassinate him, and again challenge the extradition on grounds he originally argued, including its being politically-motivated. The CIA has declined to comment on his allegations. "I think he might get some traction," Vamos told Reuters. He said extradition verdicts were regularly overturned by the High Court. WikiLeaks first came to prominence when it published a US military video in 2010 showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff. It then released hundreds of thousands of secret classified files and diplomatic cables in what was the largest security breach of its kind in US military history. US prosecutors and Western security officials regard Assange as a reckless enemy of the state whose actions imperilled the lives of agents named in the leaked material. He and his supporters argue that he is being punished for embarrassing those in power and faces 175 years in prison if found guilty, although the US lawyers have said it would be more like four to six years. "Allowing Julian Assange to be extradited to the US would put him at great risk and sends a chilling message to journalists the world over," said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general. The legal saga began at the end of 2010 when Sweden sought Assange's extradition from Britain over allegations of sex crimes. When he lost that case in 2012, he fled to the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he spent seven years. When he was finally dragged out in April 2019, he was jailed for breaching British bail conditions although the Swedish case against him had been dropped. He has been fighting extradition to the United States since June 2019 and remains in jail. During his time in the Ecuadorian embassy he fathered two children with his now wife, who he married in Belmarsh high-security prison in London in March at a ceremony attended by just four guests, two official witnesses and two guards.

A Moscow court has sentenced a former US diplomat to 14 years in prison for "large-scale" cannabis smuggling, the latest American to be caught up in Russia's legal system. Russia and the United States regularly clash over the detention of each other's citizens and sometimes exchange them in scenes reminiscent of the Cold War. The sentence comes as relations between Moscow and the West, particularly Washington, are tense after Moscow began its military operation in pro-Western Ukraine. "The American citizen (Marc) Fogel has been found guilty," the Khimki court said in a statement late Thursday. It said Fogel committed "large-scale drugs smuggling" by crossing the Russian border, as well as "large-scale illegal storage of drugs without a commercial purpose". Russian authorities in January said Fogel had been arrested by customs officers after arriving from New York with his wife at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow. "During customs checks, the marijuana and hash oil were found in his luggage," officials said, adding that the drugs were hidden in contact lens cases and e-cigarette cartridges. The incident took place in August 2021. Fogel, who worked as a teacher in the Anglo-American School of Moscow, insisted the marijuana was for medical purposes and that it was prescribed in the United States after a spinal operation. Russia has not made the use of cannabis legal for medicinal purposes. Russian officials say Fogel was employed in the US embassy in Moscow and benefitted from diplomatic immunity until May 2021. Several Americans are currently detained in Russian prisons, and vice versa. In April, the United States exchanged former American marine Trevor Reed, sentenced by a Russian court to nine years in prison for violence, for a Russian pilot who had been in a US jail since 2010. And US basketball star Brittney Griner is currently in pre-trial detention in a Russian jail for drugs smuggling. Griner's detention came days before Russia defied US warnings and sent troops into Ukraine in late February.

The leaders of Germany, France and Italy, all criticised in the past by Kyiv for support viewed as too cautious, visited Ukraine yesterday and offered the hope of EU membership to a country pleading for weapons to fend off Russia’s invasion. Air raid sirens blared in Kyiv as the visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Olaf Scholz and Italy’s Mario Draghi began, with the leaders touring a nearby town wrecked early in the war. After holding talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the leaders signalled that Ukraine should be granted European Union candidate status, a symbolic gesture that would draw Kyiv closer to the economic bloc. Scholz said Germany had taken in 800,000 Ukrainian refugees who had fled the conflict and would continue to support Ukraine as long as it needs. “Ukraine belongs to the European family,” he said. On the battlefield, Ukrainian officials said their troops were still holding out against massive Russian bombardment in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, and described new progress in a counteroffensive in the south. But they said battles on both main fronts depended on receiving more aid from the West, especially artillery to counter Russia’s big advantage in firepower. “We appreciate the support already provided by partners, we expect new deliveries, primarily heavy weapons, modern rocket artillery, anti-missile defence systems,” Zelensky said after the talks with his European counterparts. “There is a direct correlation: the more powerful weapons we get, the faster we can liberate our people, our land,” he said. Macron said France would step up arms deliveries to Kyiv, while Nato defence ministers meeting in Brussels were also expected to promise more weapons. While Europe’s leaders attempted a show of solidarity for Ukraine, the continent’s dependency on Russia for much of its energy supplies was laid bare with gas deliveries through a major pipeline falling in recent days. Moscow blamed Western sanctions for holding up delivery of equipment sent abroad for repair but Germany and Italy dismissed Russia’s explanation for the shortfall which has raised concerns about supplies for winter. “(We) believe these are lies. In reality they are making a political use of gas like they are using grain for political use,” Italy’s Draghi said. Russia says grain shipments are being stifled by sanctions and mines laid by Ukraine, and denies responsibility for an emerging global food crisis. The visit to Ukraine by the three most powerful EU leaders had taken weeks to organise while they all fended off criticism over positions described as too deferential to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Critics compared Macron and Scholz to Britain’s Boris Johnson, who visited Kyiv more than two months ago. The leaders, who were joined by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, toured Irpin, a town northeast of the capital devastated soon after the invasion began on February 24, where withdrawing Russian forces left behind bodies littering the streets. Noting graffiti on a wall that read “Make Europe, not war”, Macron said: “It’s very moving to see that. This is the right message.” Scholz, Macron and Draghi all say they are strong supporters of Ukraine who have taken practical steps to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy and find weapons to help Kyiv. But Ukraine has long criticised Scholz over what it regards as Germany’s slow delivery of weapons and reluctance to sever economic ties with Moscow, and was furious this month at Macron for saying in an interview that Russia must not be “humiliated”. Italy has also proposed a peace plan which Ukrainians fear could lead to pressure on them to give up territory. After the talks in Kyiv, Macron said some sort of communication channel was still needed with Putin. Ukraine is taking hundreds of casualties a day as the war has entered a brutal attritional phase in the east. An airstrike yesterday hit a building sheltering civilians in Lysychansk across the river, killing at least three and wounding at least seven, regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said. In the south, Ukraine says its forces have been making inroads into Kherson province, which Russia occupied early in its invasion. There has been little independent reporting to confirm battlefield positions in the area. Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, tweeted that he had visited an area just 3-4km from Russian positions, where dozens of “ghost villages” were depopulated by the combat. “Our guys on the ground — the mood is fighting. Even with limited resources, we are pushing back the enemy. One thing is missing — long-range weapons. In any case, we will throw them out of the south,” he wrote.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi arrived in Kyiv on Thursday on a joint trip to show their backing for Ukraine as it struggles to withstand a Russian assault. The three travelled together overnight in a train used to transport high-profile visitors to Ukraine. "It's an important moment. It's a message of unity we're sending to the Ukrainians, of support, to talk both about the present and the future, since the coming weeks, as we know, will be very difficult," Macron said as they arrived. Romania's President Klaus Iohannis will join them for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expected to touch on Kyiv's bid to join the European Union as well as the war itself. The visit has taken weeks to organise with the three men looking to overcome criticism within Ukraine over their response to the war. "We're here, we're focused, we will join President Zelenskiy to go to a war site where massacres have been carried out," Macron said. Asked why the visit was taking place now, an Elysee official said they had considered it was best to do it just before an EU summit next week that is due to discuss Kyiv's bid to join the 27-nation bloc. The European Commission is due to make a recommendation on Friday on Ukraine's status as an EU candidate, something the biggest European nations have been lukewarm about. "A balance has to be found between Ukraine's natural aspirations to (join) the EU at a very special time, and attention to all the countries which already have candidate status and are stuck in the negotiation chapters and the fact that we must not destabilise the EU or fracture it," the Elysee official said. "DIFFICULT" Zelenskiy is expected to push his visitors to send more arms to help his hard-pressed army withstand the Russian invaders. Kyiv has accused France, Germany and, to a lesser extent, Italy, of foot-dragging in their support for Ukraine, saying they have been slow to deliver weapons and of putting their own prosperity ahead of Ukraine's freedom and security. A high-ranking official from an EU country said Zelenskiy was "in a really difficult position: the Ukrainian army not only needs weapons, but is also increasing lack of soldiers." Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Zelenskiy, told German newspaper Bild this week he was concerned the three leaders would put pressure on Kyiv to accept a peace deal favourable to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "They will say that we need to end the war that is causing food problems and economic problems...that we need to save Mr Putin's face," he said, referring to comments by Macron this month that it was vital not to humiliate the Russian leader.  Addressing this concern, Draghi said on Tuesday it was important for peace talks to open as soon as possible, but added they had to be "on terms that Ukraine deems acceptable". Ukraine has been particularly critical of Germany's military aid and the country's ambassador to Berlin, Andrij Melnyk, told German broadcaster NTV he expected Scholz to hand over heavy weapons that had been long-promised but not yet delivered. Scholz has dismissed allegations he has held back much-needed military support, saying Germany was one of the biggest military and financial backers of Ukraine, and that it was taking time to train Ukrainian soldiers to use the sophisticated artillery systems that it was offering.  

The European Union’s executive is expected to propose tomorrow that Ukraine become a formal candidate for membership of the bloc, diplomats and officials say, a significant political gesture to the country as it resists Russia’s invasion. But for the 27 EU leaders, who are set to sign off on the European Commission recommendation at a June 23-24 summit, it may force an unwelcome moment of reckoning over the failure of the bloc’s broader “enlargement” policy. EU candidate status, sought by Ukraine since 2014 when protests in Kyiv toppled an unpopular pro-Russian president, would be a milestone in its path from a former Soviet republic towards a developed economy in the world’s largest trading bloc. Candidate status “is a correct solution from a moral, economic and security perspective,” Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said alongside his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at a military base in Romania yesterday. Macron, Iohannis, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi could visit Kyiv today. “Before the war, you had a couple of eastern European members that uttered the possibility of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia having a European pathway, but you had big players always saying categorically no,” a senior EU diplomat said. “The philosophy has changed now,” the diplomat said. But with Moldova and Georgia also likely to get EU membership status if they fulfil certain conditions, the June summit in Brussels will be a high-profile reminder that EU states cannot agree on whether to bring other official candidates — Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey — into the bloc. According to five diplomats and officials, cementing Ukraine’s candidacy risks unrealistic expectations about membership for a country at war and with endemic corruption. They also said it was divisive at a time when the bloc is seeking unity over economic sanctions on Russia following its February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Eastern countries strongly support giving Kyiv the status of an EU candidate, but France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and Portugal have misgivings. Two diplomatic notes seen by Reuters show the disagreement. A Danish document argues that: “Ukraine does not yet sufficiently fulfil the criteria” of what it takes to be an EU candidate in terms of democracy, human rights, respect for minorities and the rule of law. A Lithuanian document says: “By defending their country, Ukrainians are defending European values, freedom and democracy.” A senior Ukrainian official told Reuters that some 25 conditions have been set out by Denmark and others for Ukraine to meet, although they are not legally-binding EU standards. The official said a positive decision “would give strong morale boost to the Ukrainian people. They really need this.” France, the Netherlands and Denmark also say that unless the EU — which is already slow to take decisions — is reformed, it will cease to function if it grows to include new states. France has proposed a different approach to enlargement, seeking a “ring of friends” to deepen cooperation with states that may eventually become members. That could also strengthen the EU’s role as a force for democracy and market economies. It has circulated its proposal to EU states. French officials insist it is not an alternative to membership, and Paris has been lobbying eastern and Baltic states on the idea. “The reality is that the war has meant countries across the board may need to have closer co-operation with the EU because there are big issues that concern them now,” a diplomat said. Another warned against creating a “glorified EU waiting room” for Ukraine.

The search for missing British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest was nearing the end yesterday as the area left to search kept shrinking, a spokesman for indigenous group Univaja said. Phillips and Pereira went missing more than a week ago on a remote stretch of the Itacoai River in far western Brazil, near the border with Colombia and Peru. Eliesio Marubo, a lawyer for Univaja, said that indigenous searchers tipped off the authorities after discovering traces of the men in the area, helping to focus the search. “We understand that we are heading toward the end. The search area has been further reduced,” Marubo said late on Monday. On Sunday, police said searchers had found belongings of the two men in a creek off the river near to where they were last seen on June 5. A Reuters witness yesterday observed that authorities had opened a larger channel in the brush leading to the creek where the belongings were found, allowing for bigger boats to gain access to expand the search. In a letter addressed to the Phillips family, reviewed by Reuters, the Brazilian ambassador in London apologised yesterday for passing on incorrect information that bodies had been discovered. Information received from investigating officials in Brazil misled the embassy, ambassador Fred Arruda wrote, adding, “I wholeheartedly apologise.” Brazilian federal police said that they expect to conclude this week the forensic analysis of a blood sample collected from the boat of a man suspected of a possible role in the case. Sunday’s police statement said the belongings of the missing men that were recovered included an ID card for Pereira. A firefighter on a search team told reporters of a backpack with clothes and a laptop tied to a half-sunken tree trunk. Pereira, a former head of isolated and recently contacted tribes at the government’s indigenous affairs agency Funai, was travelling on a research trip with Phillips, a freelance reporter who has written for the Guardian and the Washington Post and was working on a book on the Amazon. They were in the remote jungle area that is home to the world’s largest number of uncontacted indigenous people. The lawless region has lured cocaine-smuggling gangs, along with illegal loggers, miners and hunters. News of the pair’s disappearance echoed globally, with human rights organisations, environmentalists and free press advocates urging Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to step up the search. Indigenous protesters, carrying banners depicting the faces of the two men, walked to Brazil’s Ministry of Justice in capital Brasilia yesterday to demand justice and answers. Staff of Funai went on a one-day strike to demand greater security for indigenous experts working in the field. Bolsonaro, who once faced tough questioning from Phillips at a news conference over weakening environmental law enforcement, said last week that the two men “were on an adventure that is not recommended” and speculated they could have been executed.

French President Emmanuel Macron appealed to voters yesterday to give him a “solid majority” in Sunday’s parliamentary polls, warning against adding “French disorder to global disorder.” Speaking as he departed from Paris to visit French troops dispatched to Romania in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Macron said “the months ahead will be difficult” but called for people to back him in the name of “the higher national interest” and “common sense.” Macron’s visit this week to Romania and neighbouring Moldova has come under fire at home, landing ahead of the second round of crucial parliamentary elections in which his centrist majority is at risk. “Emmanuel Macron has planned a trip abroad for three days... after anaesthetising the campaign by refusing any debate, he saw the second round as a done deal,” Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the left-wing NUPES alliance, told Le Parisien daily. The incumbent had already been charged by opponents with sitting out April’s presidential vote, bringing home a solid but unspectacular win against far-right chief Marine Le Pen. Appearing to bet on a similar strategy in this month’s parliamentary poll, his Ensemble (Together) alliance suffered in Sunday’s first round while NUPES and the far-right made gains. Projections suggest voters could hand Ensemble 255-295 seats in the second round — uncomfortably low compared with the threshold for an absolute majority of 289. Macron’s Elysee Palace office said that in Romania the president would send “a clear message of our commitment to our Nato allies and European partners” following Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine — highlighted by France’s 500-strong deployment in the country. There have even been press reports, unconfirmed so far, that Macron could make his first visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv since the assault began in February, alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. But “people (in France) are really worried about petrol, purchasing power, not about him going to visit French soldiers abroad,” one anonymous parliamentary candidate for Ensemble complained to Le Parisien. Macron acknowledged yesterday the “disorder in our everyday lives,” telling voters “you’re already paying more for your gas, your petrol, your groceries, and the months ahead will be difficult.” “In these troubled times, the choice you have to make this Sunday is more crucial than ever,” he added, calling on both people who voted for other candidates and non-voters to rally behind him. While the campaign has been dominated by inflation and other economic impacts of the Ukraine war, the left is also trying to make it a referendum on Macron’s plans to raise the minimum retirement age to 65 as part of a pensions overhaul. But all sides have struggled to get voters excited about the poll, with just 47.5% turning out on Sunday, the lowest ever in a first-round parliament election. Since reforms to the electoral calendar in the early 2000s, interest in the legislative vote — which follows on the heels of the presidential poll — has dwindled, as it has always given the head of state a handy majority.

* Last bridge to Sievierodonetsk destroyed * Mayor says some evacuations still possible * Ukraine seeks howitzers, tanks and drones from the West * Ukraine reports gains in south Ukraine said on Tuesday its forces were still holding out inside Sievierodonetsk and trying to evacuate civilians, after Russia destroyed the last bridge to the devastated eastern city in a potential turning point in one of the war's bloodiest battles. "The situation is very difficult but there is communication with the city" despite the last bridge over the Siverskyi Donets river having been destroyed, said the Ukrainian mayor of Sievierodonetsk, Oleksandr Stryuk. "Russian troops are trying to storm the city, but the military is holding firm." Ukraine says more than 500 civilians are trapped inside a chemical factory in an industrial zone of the city where its forces have resisted weeks of Russian bombardment and assault. Evacuations were still being carried out "every minute when there is a lull and there is a possibility of transportation," Stryuk said. "But these are discrete evacuations, done one by one, and every possible chance is taken." Both sides claim to have inflicted huge casualties in the fighting over the city, Russia's main target in its battle for the east after it failed to capture Ukraine's capital Kyiv in March. Ukraine still holds Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk's twin city on higher ground on the opposite bank. But with all the bridges now cut, its forces acknowledge a risk they could be encircled if they remain. Russia's separatist proxies said any Ukrainian troops left behind must surrender or die. Damien Megrou, spokesperson for a unit of foreign volunteers helping to defend Sievierodonetsk, said there was a risk of leaving "a large pocket of Ukrainian defenders cut off from the rest of the Ukrainian troops" - as in Mariupol which fell in May after months of Russian siege. The battle for Sievierodonetsk - a city of barely more than 100,000 people before the war - is now the biggest fight in Ukraine as the conflict has shifted into a punishing war of attrition. Kyiv has said it is losing a staggering 100-200 soldiers killed each day, with hundreds more wounded. In an overnight address, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the battle for the eastern Donbas region as one of the most brutal in European history. Russia gives no regular figures of its own losses but Western countries say they have been massive, as Moscow has committed the bulk of its firepower to delivering one of President Vladimir Putin's stated objectives: forcing Kyiv to cede the full territory of two eastern provinces. Momentum in Sievierodonetsk has shifted several times over the past few weeks - with Russia concentrating its overwhelming artillery firepower on urban districts to obliterate resistance, then sending in footsoldiers vulnerable to counter-attacks. Bigger battles could lie ahead for the wider Ukrainian-held pocket of the Donbas, nearly all on the opposite bank of the river which Russian forces have found difficult to cross. Ukraine says Russia is massing to assault Sloviansk from the north and along a front near Bakhmut to the south. It has pleaded for the West to send more and better artillery to neutralise Russia's main advantage. Ukraine needs 1,000 howitzers, 500 tanks and 1,000 drones among other heavy weapons, Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Monday. Western countries have promised Nato-standard weapons - including advanced US rockets. But deploying them is taking time, and meanwhile Ukraine is running out of ammunition for its existing Soviet-era arsenal, which is dwarfed by Russia's. "In effect, (Ukraine) is wanting to field a new army, w/ western equipment, w/ unfamiliar processes, while fighting a war," tweeted Mark Hertling, a retired US three-star general and former commander of US ground forces in Europe. "Make no mistake, UKR requires support from the US & Nato," he wrote. Ukraine "will win, but it will be a tough fight. And... supporters ought to understand the dynamics of what they're facing." Beyond the Donbas, Ukrainian officials hope that Russia's focus on capturing the east will drain its forces from other areas, paving the way for counter-attacks to recapture other territory. It recaptured the area around its second largest city Kharkiv in May and has reported small but steady gains in recent days in the south, the biggest swath Russia still retains of the territory it seized after its invasion in February. Serhiy Khlan, adviser to the head of the southern, mainly Russian-occupied Kherson province, said Ukraine was having tactical success recapturing territory there for a second straight week. Troops had already advanced 5 km from Tavriysk, a town on the south bank of the Dnipro river east of Kherson city, and were gradually advancing, he said. "We have tactical victories. They are turning into a counteroffensive. For the counteroffensive, we are waiting for the reinforcement of equipment from our partners," Khlan said. Reuters was unable to verify any reports from the area.

* First Britain-Rwanda flight of migrants due on Tuesday * Judge allows flight to proceed, but numbers on it dwindle * UK says deportation policy will stop Channel crossings Britain's first scheduled flight taking asylum seekers to Rwanda was due to depart on Tuesday, with the government warning that anyone who avoided it through last-minute legal challenges would be put on a later flight anyway. "We are expecting to send the flight later today," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told Sky News. "I can't say exactly how many people will be on the flight. But the really important thing is that we establish the principle." "There will be people on this flight and if they're not on this flight, they will be on the next flight because we are determined to break the model of the appalling people traffickers." Britain has struck a 120-million-pound ($148 million) deal with Rwanda to send some migrants, who had arrived illegally by crossing the Channel in small boats from Europe, to live in the landlocked African country. The government says the policy is needed to stem the flow of migrants risking their lives in Channel crossings and smash the people-smuggling networks. But the plan has horrified political opponents, charities and church leaders who say it is inhumane. The United Nations' refugee chief called it "catastrophic", the entire leadership of the Church of England denounced it as an "immoral policy that shames Britain". The courts have thrown out last-ditch bids by human rights groups and campaigners to halt the first flight, but London's High Court is set to hear further cases before it departs on Tuesday evening. Amid legal challenges, only a few people are now scheduled to leave on that first plane. Some 37 individuals had been scheduled to be removed on Tuesday, which charities said included people fleeing Afghanistan and Syria as well as Iran and Iraq. However a string of successful legal challenges has reduced that number to seven, according to charity Care4Calais. At least three High Court appeals were still to be heard. Human rights groups say the policy will put migrants at risk. The UNHCR has said Rwanda, whose own human rights record is under scrutiny, does not have the capacity to process the claims, and there is a risk some migrants could be returned to countries from which they had fled. A full hearing to determine the legality of the policy as a whole is due in July.

The Court of Appeal in London has refused to grant an injunction to block Britain from sending its first flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda, a plan the United Nations’ refugee chief described as “catastrophic” Britain has agreed to a deal with Rwanda to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda in return for an initial payment of £120mn ($148mn) and additional sums based on the number of people deported. The government has not provided details of those selected for deportation but charities say they include people fleeing Afghanistan and Syria. Amid legal challenges, the number of people scheduled to leave on today’s plane has fallen to less than a dozen. However, a high court judge on Friday refused to grant a temporary injunction to block the flight, and yesterday three justices on the Court of Appeal upheld that decision. Judge Rabinder Singh said they could not interfere with the original “clear and detailed” judgement, and refused permission for further appeal. A full hearing to determine the legality of the policy as a whole is due in July. The government says the deportation strategy will undermine people-smuggling networks and stem the flow of migrants risking their lives by crossing the English Channel in small boats from Europe. Human rights group say the policy is inhumane and will put migrants at risk.  The UNHCR has said Rwanda, whose own human rights record is under scrutiny, does not have the capacity to process the claims, and there was a risk some migrants could be returned to countries from which they had fled. “We believe that this is all wrong... for so many different reasons,” UN High Commissioner For Refugees Filippo Grandi told reporters. “The precedent that this creates is catastrophic for a concept that needs to be shared like asylum.” Initially, some 37 individuals were scheduled to be removed on the first flight to Rwanda, but the charity Care4Calais said that number has dwindled in the face of legal challenges to just eight. Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government was determined to press ahead with the policy despite the legal challenges and opposition, reportedly including from Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne. “It’s very important that the criminal gangs who are putting people’s lives at risk in the Channel understand that their business model is going to be broken and is being broken by this government,” Johnson told LBC radio. “They are selling people false hope and luring them into something that is extremely risky and criminal.” The government said the deportation plan would deter the Channel crossings, although more than 3,500 people have reached Britain in small boats since the middle of April when the Rwanda scheme was unveiled, according to government figures As the court hearings were taking place about 35 migrants arrived in Dover, some carrying their possessions in black bags, where they were taken away by British border forces.

The United Nations human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, indicated on Monday that she would not seek a second term, the surprise announcement coming in a wide-ranging speech to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council. Bachelet made a trip to China last month for which she was criticised by rights groups as well as some Western governments, including the United States, who said conditions Chinese authorities imposed on the visit did not enable a complete and independent assessment of the rights environment. "As my term as High Commissioner draws to a close, this Council's milestone fiftieth session will be the last which I brief," she said, without giving a reason. Some diplomats said they had expected Bachelet, a former president of Chile who is seen as close to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to stay on after her term expires later this year. There was murmuring in the Geneva Council room when she made the announcement. In the same speech, she said her office was working on an updated assessment of the human rights situation in China's western region of Xinjiang, where there are widespread allegations that mostly Muslim Uyghur people have been unlawfully detained, mistreated and forced to work. China denies all accusations of abuse in Xinjiang. "It will be shared with the government for factual comments before publication," she said of her report, without giving a timeline.

* Sievierodonetsk at the epicentre of Donbas battle * Fierce fighting in the city - Zelenskiy * Russian troops control about 70% of city, says regional governor * Hundreds of civilians shelter in chemical plant Russian forces swarmed into the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk and pounded a zone where hundreds of civilians were sheltering, a Ukrainian official said on Monday - a scene that mirrored Moscow's brutal assault on Mariupol last month. Pro-Moscow separatists claimed the last bridge out of Sievierodonetsk had been destroyed and Ukrainian defenders there must now surrender or die. Ukraine said there was still another way out although it was severely damaged. Ukraine has issued increasingly urgent calls for more Western weapons to help defend Sievierodonetsk, which Kyiv says could hold the key to the outcome of the battle for control of the eastern Donbas region and the future course of the war. Regional governor Sergei Gadai said fighting was raging and Ukrainian forces were defending building by building. "The battles are so fierce that fighting for not just a street but for a single high-rise building can last for days," he said on social media. Russian forces now controlled about 70% of Sievierodonetsk, he said, and were destroying it "quarter by quarter" in one of the bloodiest assaults since they launched their invasion on Feb. 24. "Russians continue to storm the city, having a significant advantage in artillery they have somewhat pushed back the Ukrainian soldiers," Gaidai, who is governor of the Luhansk region that includes Sievierodonetsk, said on Monday. Russian artillery fire pummelled the Azot chemical plant, where hundred of civilians were sheltering, he said. "About 500 civilians remain on the grounds of the Azot plant in Sievierodonetsk, 40 of them are children. Sometimes the military manages to evacuate someone," he said, noting the lack of a cease-fire agreement or agreement on evacuation corridors. Gaidai said the twin city of Lysychansk across the Siverskyi Donets river to the west was also being shelled by Russian forces, and a six-year-old child had been killed there. Reuters could not independently confirm that account. Russia's RIA news agency quoted a pro-Moscow separatist spokesperson, Eduard Basurin, as saying the last bridge over the river linking the two cities had been destroyed on Sunday. Ukrainian troops were effectively blockaded in Sievierodonetsk and should surrender or die, Basurin said. Gaidai also said one crossing was destroyed on Sunday, but there was still another "half destroyed" bridge remaining, though it could not be used for heavy vehicles. "If after new shelling the bridge collapses, the city will truly be cut off. There will be no way of leaving Sievierodonetsk in a vehicle." As Mariupol fell to Russia last month, hundreds of civilians and badly wounded Ukrainian soldiers were evacuated after being trapped for weeks in the Azovstal steelworks there. Ukrainian officials have expressed concern about the fate of troops who surrendered after many were taken to Russia, and say cholera is spreading among remaining residents due to bodies left buried in rubble from destroyed residential buildings. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on Sunday that severe fighting was ongoing in the Donbas, "literally for every metre". Attacks that resulted in child casualties had created a lasting image of Russia for the rest of the world. "Not Peter the Great, not Lev Tolstoy, but children injured and killed in Russian attacks," he said, an apparent reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin's remarks last week comparing Moscow's military campaign to Russian emperor Peter the Great's 18th century conquest of lands held by Sweden. Russia has denied targeting civilians. Putin launched what he called a "special operation" to restore Russian security and "denazify" its neighbour. Ukraine and its Western allies call this a baseless pretext for an invasion which has raised fears of wider conflict in Europe. More than five million people have fled Ukraine, thousands have died and cities have been reduced to rubble in an assault that has sparked a global energy and food crisis by disrupting gas, oil and grain supplies from Russia and Ukraine. After failing to take the capital Kyiv, Moscow turned its attention to expanding control in the Donbas, where pro-Russian separatists have held territory since 2014. In Sievierodonetsk, the last pocket of Ukrainian land held in the Luhansk region, Ukrainian and Russian forces were both suffering heavy losses, Roman Vlasenko, head of Sievierodonetsk district administration, told local TV. "Our boys are holding on but the conditions are tough," he said. Vlasenko said the city had been without communications and normal services for a month. In Pokrovsk, southwest of Sievierodonetsk, women, children and elderly, some in wheelchairs, boarded the only train evacuating people on Saturday from the conflict zone to relative safety in faraway Lviv, near the border with Poland. "We held on until the last moment, we didn't want to leave, but life has forced us to survive," Lyuba, a woman from Lysychansk, told Reuters Television as she waited for the train to depart. "We are leaving, we don't know where, to whom, but we are leaving.” Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak issued the latest appeal for more weaponry, boiling it down into a list of equipment he said was needed for heavy weapons parity, including 1,000 howitzers, 500 tanks and 1,000 drones. "We are waiting for a decision," he said, adding that Western defence ministers would meet on Wednesday in Brussels. Russia issued the latest of several recent reports saying it had destroyed U.S. and European arms and equipment, hoping to send the message that delivering more would be futile. Russia's defence ministry said high-precision air-based missiles had struck near the railway station in Udachne northwest of Donetsk, hitting equipment that had been delivered to Ukrainian forces. There was no immediate word from the Ukrainian side. Moscow has criticised the United States and other nations for sending Ukraine weapons, threatening to strike new targets if the West supplied long-range missiles.