Britain has confirmed that it will supply Ukraine with long-range M270 missile systems.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said at CNN, specifying that this step was "closely coordinated" with the decision of the states to supply Ukraine with the Himars missile system. The Ukrainian military, Wallace added, will be trained to use rocket launchers in the UK in order to maximize their efficiency.

Britain, he continued, supports Ukraine and has taken a leading role in providing the weapons needed to defend the country .

Meanwhile, the Russian advance in the east of the country continues. The offensive is focusing on Severodonetsk , where 800 people, including children, have barricaded themselves in bunkers created in a factory.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky , Moscow troops today control about 20% of Ukraine .

Angela Merkel spoke of the conflict, in silence for about six months, after her farewell to politics. According to the former German chancellor, Russia would be " a barbaric aggression " and Kiev has the full "right to defend itself".

In the meantime, the approval of the sixth package of EU sanctions against Russia, which includes the gradual embargo on oil arriving by sea in Europe with exceptions for crude oil transported via pipelines, is in the pipeline. The Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow Kirill has been excluded from the list of sanctions.

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The day by the hour:

Interpol, risk of weapons ending up in criminal hands

Interpol fears that the weapons sent to Ukraine by Western allies since the beginning of the war will end up in the hands of criminal groups in Europe. The alarm was raised by the secretary general of the organization Jurgen Stock, who called on arms supplying countries to focus on tracking mechanisms. "The wide availability of weapons in the ongoing conflict will lead to the proliferation of illicit weapons in the post-conflict phase," said Stock, quoted by international media.

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Zelensky's party joins the group of European liberals

The party of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, "Serve the People" officially joins the European liberals of the Alde, the group present at the European Parliament. The announcement comes during the ongoing congress in Dublin which is also attended by a delegation from + Europe, led by the secretary Benedetto Della Vedova and composed of Anita Bernacchia, Elena Buratti, Gianfranco Dell'Alba, Francesco Franco, Desideria Mini, Nicoletta Parisi and Michele Usuelli.

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Usa: "Putin has cancer"

Vladimir Putin is ill with cancer and underwent some treatment in April. The news was reported by Newsweek citing American intelligence according to which the Russian president had escaped an attack in March. The American 007 are worried about an increasingly "paranoid" Putin who makes the war in Ukraine unpredictable.

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The oligarch Medvedchuk risks 15 years

Ukraine's state investigation office has completed criminal investigations into pro-Russian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who was captured in April after fleeing house arrest in the early days of the war and accused of treason in favor of Moscow. The former Ukrainian deputy faces up to 15 years in prison and the confiscation of assets. The indictments were forwarded to the court and defense. This was announced by the same office, quoted by local media.

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New sanctions on Moscow also by the US

The US has announced new sanctions against Moscow targeting government leaders, oligarchs and companies linked to Vladimir Putin and key sectors of the Russian economy, as well as further limiting the Kremlin army's access to US technology.

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Green light for EU ambassadors to sixth sanctions package

The sixth package of anti-Russian sanctions, which includes the gradual embargo on oil arriving by sea in Europe with derogations for crude oil transported via pipelines, was adopted by the meeting of the ambassadors of the 27 member countries.

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Patriarch Kirill excluded from sanctions blacklist

Patriarch Kirill has been removed from the blacklist of the sixth EU sanctions package . This is what we learn from European sources.

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Frontex, now more Ukrainians return than flee

Some 5.3 million Ukrainian citizens have fled to the EU since the start of the war in February, while the total number of displaced people who have entered Europe, including non-Ukrainian citizens, is 7 million. This was reported by the latest Frontex bulletin, the European border control agency. In recent weeks, there have been more people returning to Ukraine than those leaving the country: between 25 and 31 May, in fact, almost 260,000 Ukrainians left the EU. In total, 2.3 million Ukrainians have returned to their country since the start of the war.

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Angela Merkel: "A barbaric aggression from Russia"

"My solidarity goes to Ukraine invaded and attacked by Russia and I support their right to self-defense," Angela Merkel said last night during a speech in Berlin, as reported by Tagesschau. The former chancellor added that she supports all the efforts of the German government, the EU, the US, NATO, the G7 and the United Nations to "put an end to this barbaric war of aggression by Russia".

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Severodonetsk, 800 people hidden in a bunker

About 800 people are taking refuge in various anti-aircraft bunkers in the basement of the Azot chemical factory in Severodonetsk, which has been targeted by Russian raids. This was reported by the governor of the eastern Ukrainian region of Lugansk, Serhiy Gaidai, quoted by CNN. "There are inhabitants who were asked to leave the city, but they refused. There are also children, but not many," he added.

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"Russia does not close the window to Europe"

Russia does not intend to "close the window" to Europe, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who insisted: "We have no intention of closing anything." The BBC reports it.

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A monastery hit: three dead

The Holy Dormition Orthodox Monastery in Svyatogorsk was hit. During the bombing, which took place on May 30, "Archimandrite Galaktion, monk Aristokliy and Sister Varvara were killed". Three other monks were injured while the number of deaths and injuries among the laity is unknown. This was reported by Hilarion, Metropolitan of Donetsk and Mariupol.

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Zelensky: "Russia controls 20% of Ukraine"

Russia currently occupies about 20% of the Ukrainian territory: said the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, during a speech in video link to the Luxembourg Parliament. The UNIAN agency reports it. Zelensky added that 2,603 settlements must be liberated by Russian forces.

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Bombs on a school in Kharkiv, a woman killed

A woman died and a man was injured last night in Russian bombing that also hit a school in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Regional officials made it known, according to CNN. The woman's body was found under the rubble of the school.

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A Ukrainian official "executed" by the Russians

In the Mariupol district, the Russian occupation forces kill or imprison public administrators, officials, Ukrainian volunteers, anyone who refuses to cooperate. "The Mariupol Municipality wrote on Telegram quoting the mayor Vadym Boychenko, reports Ukrinform. mayor, a public official was executed by a firing squad.

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Moscow: "Foreign mercenaries in Ukraine halved"

The 'foreign mercenaries' in Ukraine have been halved by Russian high-precision fire and due to their poor training, said the spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, quoted by the Guardian. "Hundreds of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine were killed by Russian long-range high-precision weapons shortly after they arrived at the places where they received training and coordination from tactical units," Konashenkov says.

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Another 60 155 mm howitzers are arriving from Poland

Poland will sell another 60 Krab self-propelled howitzers of caliber 155 mm to Ukraine, according to the Polish news site Dzennik, taken up by the agency Ukrinform. The contract, worth three billion zlotys (just over 653 million euros), represents the largest arms export order ever received from Poland in the last 20 years. The howitzers will be produced at the Huta Stalowa Wola plant, which is part of the Polish Armaments Group. Currently, the production capacity of the plant is 20-30 pieces per year. The howitzers will be delivered in the coming months. By the end of May, Poland had already supplied Ukraine with 18 Krab self-propelled howitzers.

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Over 260 children killed in Ukraine

Over 260 children have died in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion: the office of the attorney general of Kiev announced today on Telegram, according to reports from the Ukrinform agency. Since last February 24, 261 minors have been killed, 18 more than yesterday, while the injured are over 460, the prosecutor's office specified.

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Ukraine: "Russians control 80% of Severodonetsk"

There is still fighting in the streets of Severodonetsk, but Russian forces now control about 80% of this strategic city in eastern Ukraine, according to the head of the Lugansk regional military administration, Serhiy Gayday, according to CNN. . "In some streets, our defenders are successful," Gayday said, noting that six Russian soldiers have been captured. Fighting also continues in the villages south and west of the city, as Moscow troops try to completely surround the Ukrainian defenses.

(Unioneonline)

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