Russia-Ukraine war

What you need to know
Ukrainian servicemen search a target with a US Stinger air defence missile launcher on the front line in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)

China says it’s ‘hard to meet’ discussions on Russia-Ukraine war, citing problems with arrangements

China says it will be “‘hard to meet” calls for discussions on the Russia-Ukraine war because of problems with arrangements.
 
Ukrainian servicemen search a target with a US Stinger air defence missile launcher on the front line in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)

At least 19 injured as Russia hits Ukraine’s power grid with fresh barrage

 
Firefighters put out a fire an apartment building damaged in the Russian missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, May, 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

Berlin lets Ukraine use German weapons against targets in Russia after the US also eases its stance

 
President Joe Biden arrives on Air Force One at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Del., Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Biden partially lifts ban on Ukraine using US arms in strikes on Russian territory, US officials say

 
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speak with the media prior to a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at the Czernin Palace, in Prague, Friday, May 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, Pool)

NATO ministers meet in Prague as allies ease restrictions on Ukraine’s use of their weapons

 

MORE COVERAGE OF THE WAR
A man cycles past an Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) poster with the face of its leader Julius Malema, in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, May 27, 2024. South Africans who received special permission to vote early were casting their ballots on Monday, ahead of main elections on Wednesday, May, 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

After South Africa’s historic election, what now for its global role on issues like the war in Gaza?

It was a historic day for South Africa. The political party that ended the racially divisive era of apartheid and sent global hopes soaring with a vibrant new democracy has lost its three-decade grip on power.
 
People march during a rally in support of Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his party in Budapest, Hungary on Saturday, June 1, 2024. Orbán, whose 14 years in power make him the European Union's longest serving leader, has focused his campaign for the June 9 European Parliament elections on the war in Ukraine, portraying his domestic and international opponents as warmongers who seek to involve Hungary directly in the conflict. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Orbán stages a ‘peace march’ in Hungary in a show of strength before European Parliament election

A crowd of tens of thousands has gathered in Hungary’s capital in a show of strength behind Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
 

Rare drone video shows scale of destruction in Vovchansk, Ukraine’s embattled front line town

The Associated Press has obtained rare drone footage of the destroyed ruins of the embattled town of Vovchansk in northeastern Ukraine.
 
FILE - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a press conference with his Sweden's counterpart Ulf Kristersson at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, on Feb 23, 2024. Hungary's prime minister says that he will seek to opt his country out of any NATO operations aimed at supporting Ukraine. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told state radio on Friday, May 24, 2024 that Hungary opposes a plan NATO is weighing to provide more predictable military support to Ukraine. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)

Hungary’s Orbán pushes back on EU and NATO proposals to further assist Ukraine

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is pushing back against some NATO proposals that would allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike targets within Russia.
 
Ukrainian servicemen search a target with a US Stinger air defence missile launcher on the front line in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)

Ukraine’s army chief says Russia is augmenting its troops presence in the Kharkiv region

Ukraine’s air force says that Russia has conducted an array of aerial attacks on Ukraine with cruise missiles, drones and ballistic missiles.
 
FILE - Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto talks to the media during a press conference in Nicosia, Cyprus, on April 2, 2024. Hungary’s top diplomat has visited Belarus for talks on expanding ties despite the European Union’s sanctions against the country. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó declared Wednesday, May 29, 2024 that “our position is clear: the fewer sanctions, the more cooperation!” The EU has slapped a sweeping array of sanctions on Belarus for the repression that followed mass protests fueled by the 2020 presidential election. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)

Hungary’s foreign minister visits Belarus despite EU sanctions, talks about expanding ties

Hungary’s top diplomat has visited Belarus for talks on expanding ties despite the European Union’s sanctions against the country.
 
FILE - The Storm Shadow cruise missile is on display during the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, on June 19, 2023. French President Emmanuel Macron has called for Western countries to let Ukraine strike military bases inside Russia with the sophisticated long-range weapons they are providing to Kyiv. It is the most recent sign of a potentially significant policy shift that could help change the complexion of the war. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)

France’s Macron urges a green light for Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with Western weapons

France’s president has joined the head of NATO in pushing for a policy shift that could change the complexion of the Ukraine war: allowing Kyiv to strike military bases inside Russia with sophisticated long-range weapons provided by its Western partners.
 
FILE - A JAS 39 Gripen C/D takes off during military exercise Nordic Response at Luleå-Kallax Airport, near Luleå, Sweden, Monday, March 4, 2024. The Swedish government said Wednesday, May 29, 2024, that it will donate military aid to Ukraine worth 13 billion kronor ($1.23 billion) in the largest help package Sweden has so far donated.(Anders Wiklund/TT News Agency via AP, File)

Sweden to donate $1.23 billion in military aid to Ukraine

Sweden will give $1.23 billion in military aid to Ukraine, in its largest donation so far. It includes air defense, artillery ammunition and armored vehicles.
 
United States Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo walks in the city center during an official visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

US Treasury official visits Ukraine to discuss sanctions on Moscow and seizing Russian assets

A senior U.S. Treasury official has meet with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv to discuss U.S. financial support, enforcing sanctions on Russia and using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s benefit in the war with Moscow.
 
Masai Bjoerkwall, a junior high school teacher at Viktor Rydberg's School, teaches the history of NATO and the implications of Sweden joining NATO, in Stockholm, Sweden, Friday, May 17, 2024. Slogan reads “Should we be with authoritarian states?” (AP Photo/Chisato Tanaka)

Sweden seeks to answer worried students’ questions about NATO and war after its neutrality ends

Sweden became NATO’s 32nd member in March. The abrupt end to the Scandinavian country’s 200 years of neutrality following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has worried many.
 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy steps down from a plane on arrival at the military airport in Lisbon, Tuesday, May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Ukraine gets more military aid from Europe but Putin warns of consequences if Russian soil is hit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has received a second $1 billion promise of military aid in as many days during a whirlwind tour of three European Union countries.
 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint news conference with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, Monday, May 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy gets more air defense missiles from Spain to fight deadly Russian glide bombs

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has secured from Spain a pledge of additional air defense missiles to help fight the about 3,000 bombs that he says Russia launches every month at Ukraine.
 
Firefighters put out a fire after Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May, 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

The death toll in Kharkiv attack rises to 14 as Zelenskyy warns of Russian troop movements

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia is preparing to intensify its offensive along Ukraine’s northern border as the death toll rose to 14 in an aerial bomb attack on a large construction supplies store in the city of Kharkiv.
 
West Point graduates toss their caps into the air at the conclusion of the U.S. Military Academy commencement ceremony, Saturday, May 25, 2024, in West Point, N.Y. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Biden’s message to West Point graduates: You’re being asked to tackle threats ‘like none before’

President Joe Biden has told graduates of the U.S. Military Academy that their class is being called upon to tackle threats across the globe and preserve the country’s ideals at home “like none before.”
 
Firefighters put out a fire after two guided bombs hit a large construction supplies store in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 25, 2024. Writing reads "Garden Center". (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

Zelenskyy says Ukraine has taken back control in areas of Kharkiv region, aerial attacks continue

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukrainian forces have secured “combat control” of areas where Russian troops entered Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region earlier this month.
 
Rescuers carry a body after a Russian missile hit a large printing house in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, May 23, 2024. Russian missiles slammed into Ukraine’s second-largest city in the northeast of the country and killed at least seven civilians early Thursday, officials said, as Kyiv’s army labored to hold off an intense cross-border offensive by the Kremlin’s larger and better-equipped forces. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

Russia smashes train tracks in a battered Ukrainian border region where children are being evacuated

Officials say a nighttime Russian attack has destroyed train tracks and rolling stock in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region.
 
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko as they walk upon his arrival at an international airport in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, May 23, 2024. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin arrives in neighboring Belarus for a two-day visit with a key ally

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday evening arrived in Belarus for a two-day visit. The Russian leader’s trip to the neighboring and allied country is one of several he is taking as he begins his fifth term in office.
 

Putin signs decree allowing seizure of Americans’ assets if US confiscates Russian holdings

President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree allowing Russia to confiscate U.S. assets to compensate for any Russian assets confiscated in the United States.
 
FILE - A sapper inspects fragments of a Russian air bomb that hit a living area injuring ten in Kharkiv, Ukraine, May 22, 2024. Two U.S. officials say the Biden administration is expected to announce an additional $275 million in military aid for Ukraine on Friday. It comes as Kyiv struggles to hold off advances by Russian troops in the Kharkiv region. This will be the fourth installment of military aid for Ukraine since Congress passed a long-delayed foreign aid bill late last month.(AP Photo/Andrii Marienko, File)

US will announce $275 million more in artillery and ammunition for Ukraine, officials say

Two U.S. officials say the Biden administration is expected to announce an additional $275 million in military aid for Ukraine on Friday.
 
Servicemen of Ukraine's 93rd Mechanised Brigade fire a French MO-120-RT heavy mortar at the Russian forces on the front line near the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (Iryna Rybakova via AP)

Russian missiles kill 7 in Ukraine’s second-largest city as Moscow’s troops press offensive

Officials say that Russian missiles have slammed into Ukraine’s second-largest city in the northeast of the country and killed at least seven civilians.
 
FILE - Treasure Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during an American Partnership for Economic Prosperity meeting with finance ministers at the Treasury Department, on April 19, 2024, in Washington. What to do with the Russian central bank reserves frozen in response to the invasion of Ukraine is at the top of the agenda as finance officials from the Group of Seven rich democracies meet Thursday through Saturday in Stresa, Italy, on the shores of scenic Lago Maggiore. “Securing Ukraine’s position in the medium-to-long term requires unlocking the value of immobilized Russian sovereign assets,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

With Ukraine losing ground, allies debate how to squeeze cash for Kyiv out of frozen Russian assets

Ukraine’s allies are looking for ways to squeeze money out of frozen Russian assets and use it to help Kyiv fend off Moscow’s invasion.
 
German's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks to Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko during official visit to a thermal power plant which was destroyed by a Russian rocket attack in Ukraine, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Russian attacks on Ukraine power grid touch Kyiv with blackouts ahead of peak demand

Sustained Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid in recent weeks have forced leaders of the war-ravaged country to institute nationwide rolling blackouts.
 
FILE - President Joe Biden speaks during a Jewish American Heritage Month event, May 20, 2024, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. The Biden administration says it's releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline from a Northeast reserve established after Superstorm Sandy in a bid to lower prices at the pump this summer. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Biden releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline from Northeast reserve in bid to lower prices at pump

The Biden administration says it’s releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline from a Northeast reserve established after Superstorm Sandy in a bid to lower prices at the pump this summer.
 
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Germany’s foreign minister says in Kyiv that air defenses are an ‘absolute priority’ for Ukraine

Germany’s foreign minister says sending air defense systems to Ukraine to help protect it from Russian cruise missiles, rockets and drones is an “absolute priority.”
 
Theater director Zhenya Berkovich, left, and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk are seen in a glass cage prior to a hearing in a court in Moscow, Russia, Monday, May 20, 2024. Berkovich, a prominent independent theater director, and Petriychuk, a playwright have been behind bars since early May. Authorities claim a play they staged, "Finist, the Brave Falcon," justifies terrorism, which is a criminal offence in Russia punishable by up to seven years in prison. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

Russian theater director and playwright go on trial over a play authorities say justifies terrorism

A Russian court has started the trial of a theater director and a playwright facing charges of justifying terrorism over a play they staged, the latest step in the unrelenting crackdown on dissent in Russia that has reached unprecedented levels during Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
 
A Ukrainian police officer and war crime prosecutor inspect fragments of a glide bomb in front of damaged house, after a Russian airstrike on a residential neighbourhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

At least 11 killed as Russia presses forward with its offensive in northeastern Ukraine

At least 11 people were reported killed in attacks in Ukraine’s war-ravaged northeast on Sunday, as Russia pushed ahead with its renewed offensive.
 

Poland invests $2.5 billion into fortifying border with Russia and Belarus

Poland’s prime minister says it is investing about $2.5 billion to step up security and deterrence on its border with Russia and its ally Belarus.
 
A newly recruited soldier of the 3rd assault brigade trains, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, May 17, 2024. A divisive mobilisation law in Ukraine came into force on Saturday, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukraine’s divisive mobilization law comes into force as a new Russian push strains front-line troops

A divisive mobilization law in Ukraine has come into force as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive that some fear could close in on Ukraine’s second-largest city.
 
FILE - Claire Woodall executive director of the City of Milwaukee Election Commission, teaches a class to poll workers Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Milwaukee. On Friday, May 17, 2024 The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming the Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director was fired in recent days for her role in rigging the 2020 presidential election.(AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week

Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: Milwaukee’s director of elections was not removed from her position for vote rigging in the 2020 presidential election.
 
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at his ministry in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Taiwan’s foreign minister says China and Russia are supporting each other’s ‘expansionism’

Russia and China helped each other expand their territorial reach, and democracies must push back against authoritarian states that threaten their rights and sovereignty, Taiwan’s outgoing foreign minister, Joseph Wu, said in an interview with The Associated Press.