Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin said that 20 countries have decided to send additional military assistance to Kyiv.
“About 20 countries have announced new security assistance packages. Many countries are donating critically needed artillery ammunition (…), tanks and other armored vehicles,” Austin said at a press conference on Monday following a meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group.
He said that other countries have taken on new commitments to train the Ukrainian military.
Austin thanked the Czech Republic for its significant support, including the recent transfer of combat helicopters, tanks and missile systems.
In addition, the chief of the Pentagon announced Denmark’s decision to send Ukraine a Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher and ammunition.
In addition, the Pentagon chief welcomed the contribution of Italy, Greece, Norway and Poland to the supply of Ukraine with artillery. Separately, Austin noted the role of Britain in coordinating the transfer of military assistance to Ukraine.
The chief of the Pentagon announced that the third meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group will be held on June 15 on the sidelines of the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
The group’s first meeting took place in April at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Ukraine is in the process of finding a state that could provide consular services to Ukrainian citizens forcibly deported to the Russian Federation, said the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova.
“We need a foreign state that will provide consular services to our citizens. We are working on this,” the ombudsman told Interfax-Ukraine at the Russia War Crimes House exhibition in Davos during the World Economic Forum.
According to her, in particular, Ukraine has appealed to Switzerland on this issue, but due to a number of circumstances it cannot fulfill this function.
Denisova also said that Russia’s stated data on the export of 1.347 million citizens of Ukraine, including more than 240 thousand. children, grow every day and were not fake.
The ombudsman stressed that she had reliable information that Russia was preparing for such an operation in advance.
“I have already received confirmations and evidence – materials from the Russian Federation – and there is clearly defined with signs the readiness of temporary accommodation of Ukrainians on February 21. That is, they sent directives from top to bottom… That is, they prepared in advance, I think they began to prepare in 2021, “said Denisova.
She clarified that these directives went from the Ministry of Emergencies, then to the federal districts, from there to the regions, and then to the cities.
“Then I have information that they collected at 4 am on April 29 how much was filled and how much was still free: 1200 or so was on April 29 and 33% was free. I think they will get up to 2 million,” said the ombudsman. .
According to her, it is a question of sending even to the territories furthest from Ukraine, for example, to the Yamal-Nenets district.
Denisova said that the Ukrainian side is cooperating with Russian citizens – volunteer organizations that raise funds to help deported Ukrainian citizens, because many of them do not have documents, things, “and no one talks about money at all.”
According to her, there used to be contacts with the Russian ombudswoman, but she believes that “you are all lying”, so now these contacts do not work.
The Commissioner of the Rada noted that attempts are being made at various levels, including the private one, to deport Ukrainian citizens from the Russian Federation.
“We are provided with lists of citizens who want to leave. We check Ukrainian citizenship and send it to the consulate in Narva. Volunteers buy tickets, they (Ukrainian citizens) come to Narva and cross it (border), and meet them in Estonia,” she said. the state of affairs of Denisov.
At the same time, she stressed that it is impossible to evacuate a significant number of people in this way, so it is literally hundreds.
In this regard, the Ombudsman recalled the clear resolution of the UN Human Rights Council of May 12, which calls for the forced deportation of Ukrainian citizens to Russia and the requirement to allow international human rights organizations, as well as provide an opportunity to return to Ukraine. Denisova added that a similar resolution was recently adopted by the European Parliament.
Another 580 foreign companies remain to work in the Russian market and do business there “as usual”, while they left Russia or stopped operations there 1,439 thousand. international companies from 70 countries and 55 different industries, said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba.
“Currently, there are 580 more companies on the Foreign Ministry’s radar, which continue the so-called business as usual from Russia, that is, they pretend that nothing has happened,” he said on Instagram on Monday.
The Minister added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent to eight of the largest international corporations to stop working in Russia, these are system players in the Russian market. Without receiving a reaction, the ministry intends to continue working with them in another plane.
“We can’t order them to leave. But we need to work from different sides,” Kuleba said.
INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES, RUSSIAN MARKET, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
Ukraine has temporarily suspended international adoption during the war, but is grateful to partner countries that provide asylum to Ukrainian children, said Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova.
“There is a request from many countries to adopt our children, but there is a note from Prime Minister Denis Shmygal that we have suspended any international adoption. Because the child has left and may be considered an orphan, but his parents may be found,” Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova told the agency. Interfax-Ukraine “at the exhibition Russia War Crimes House in Davos during the World Economic Forum.
According to her, there are no problems with Ukrainian children who have left for the partner countries, and Ukraine is grateful for the asylum provided to them and for ensuring their safety.
“Then there will be time to give him (the child – IF) the appropriate status and decide his fate,” – said Denisova.
At the same time, she stated the problem with the forced deportation of Ukrainian orphans and children deprived of parental care to Russia. According to her, such information has been confirmed for 2,161 children.
The ombudsman said that these children had been taken out and were being prepared for adoption by Russian citizens. “This is the genocide of the Ukrainian people. This is clearly established in the Convention against Genocide and defined by the Rome Charter,” Denisova stressed.
Russia War Crimes House is organized by the Pinchuk Foundation and PinchukArtCentre in partnership with the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukrainian Pravda and the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers.
Losses among civilians from February 24, when Russia started the war against Ukraine, to 24:00 on May 22 amounted to 8,462 civilians (three days earlier – 8,189), including 3,930 dead (3,838), according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner. on Human Rights (UNHCR) on Monday.
“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are much higher as information from some places of intense fighting is delayed and many reports are still awaiting confirmation,” the document said.
According to him, this applies, for example, to Mariupol (Donetsk region), Izyum (Kharkiv region) and Popasnaya (Luhansk region), where there are reports of numerous casualties among the civilian population. They are subject to further verification and are not included in the above statistics.
“The cause of most civilian deaths or injuries was the use of explosive devices with extensive damage, including heavy artillery shelling and multiple rocket launchers, as well as missiles and air strikes,” the statement said.
According to confirmed UN data, 1,482 men, 973 women, 98 boys and 90 girls died, while the sex of 69 children and 1,218 adults has not yet been determined.
Among the 4,532 injured were 124 boys and 106 girls, as well as 164 children, the sex of whom has not yet been established.
Compared to the summary, three days earlier the child died and 11 others were injured.
UNHCR notes that at midnight on 23 May, 2,072 (1992) deaths and 2003 (1,872) injuries were recorded in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in government-controlled territory, and 128 (127) deaths and 522 (509) wounded in self-proclaimed territories. “republics”.
In other regions of Ukraine under government control (in Kiev, as well as in Zhytomyr, Zaporizhia, Kyiv, Sumy, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Chernihiv regions) the UN recorded 1730 (1719) dead and 2007 (1970) wounded .
The summary traditionally states that the increase in the previous summary should not be attributed only to the cases of May 20-22, as during this period the Office verified a number of cases for the previous days.
The Federal Ministry of Finance, the Federal Bank of Germany, German banks and the National Bank of Ukraine will launch a program for Ukrainian refugees to exchange cash hryvnia for euros on May 24, the press service of the German Ministry of Finance said.
According to the report, the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Bank of Germany have signed an agreement with the National Bank of Ukraine on the initial volume of exchange of 1.5 billion UAH.
It is stated that refugees can exchange 100, 200, 500 and 1000 banknotes (up to 10 thousand hryvnias) for euros in German banks and savings banks participating in the program.
The conversion into euros takes place at the exchange rate published on the Bundesbank website (www.bundesbank.de/wechselkurse-ua), the report said.
The press service noted that the exchange will be registered in an online application submitted by the European Central Bank to ensure that the individual maximum amount of the exchange is not exceeded, for which the identity of each adult refugee wishing to participate in the exchange is recorded and verified.
It is specified that the exchange is initially possible within three months, and the losses resulting from the exchange are borne by the federal budget.
