Metro Observer Daily

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on June 6 that the United Kingdom has been providing weapons Kyiv needs to fight the war with Russia and thanked Prime Minister Boris Johnson for "complete" understanding of the needs. Britain said on Monday that, in coordination with the United States, it will supply Ukraine with multiple-launch rocket systems that can strike targets up to 80 km (50 miles) away as part of a new UK military aid for Kyiv. Meanwhile, Moscow warned on Monday that it would respond to Western supplies of long-range weapons to Ukraine by stepping up efforts to push Kyiv's forces further from its border.  Theater on Podil opens to sold out performances A theatre in Ukraine’s capital has reopened for the first time since Russian forces invaded the country, and tickets sold out for Sunday’s performance. Theatre on Podil was the latest cultural institution in Kyiv to resume operations. Movie theatres and the National Opera opened their doors at the end ...

  President Joe Biden on Monday signed a bipartisan measure to support a “lend-lease” programme, which would help accelerate and streamline military aid to Ukraine and its allies. The US president signed the measure hours after President Vladimir Putin marked Russia’s Victory Day, a holiday celebrating Russia’s defeat of Nazi Germany during the Second World War. To know more:  https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2022/02/18/russia-ukraine-latest-news/

  April 24 (Reuters) – No humanitarian routes were established out of the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Sunday, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said, blaming Russian forces for not holding their fire. Vereshchuk said that the Ukrainian side would try again on Monday to establish safe passage out of Mariupol. She called for U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is scheduled to travel to Moscow before visiting Kyiv next week, to demand a ceasefire and open up humanitarian corridors from Mariupol. “This is what Guterres should talk about in Moscow, if he is preparing to talk about peace,” Vereshchuk said.

  KYIV, April 24 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that he had talked with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the eve of the Turkish president’s talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskiy said he and Erdogan discussed the need for the immediate evacuation of civilians from the mostly Russian-occupied port city of Mariupol, including the surrounded but Ukrainian-held Azovstal factory, and the exchange of Ukrainian troops holed up at the plant.

  Humanitarian corridors have opened in several Ukrainian cities to allow non-combatants to leave, officials say. An apartment building is damaged following shelling in Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv Ukraine  is evacuating civilians through six “humanitarian corridors”, including from Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says after Russia declares a temporary ceasefire. The European Commission announces a plan to cut Russian gas imports by two-thirds this year. United States President  Joe Biden  bans imports of Russian oil and gas, while the United Kingdom says it will phase out Russian energy products by year’s end. Ukrainian President  Volodymyr Zelenskyy  calls for more Western action against Moscow as Russian advance continues.

  Kyiv  residents awoke Wednesday to an air raid alert urging them to get to bomb shelters as quickly as possible over fears of incoming Russian missiles, while the strategic port city of Mariupol remained encircled as a humanitarian crisis grew. Moscow said it was ready to provide humanitarian corridors on Wednesday for people fleeing the capital and four other Ukrainian cities. Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia's National Defence Control Centre, said that Russian forces would "observe a regime of silence" from 10 am Moscow time to ensure safe passage for civilians wishing to leave Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol. Follow our live blog for the day’s latest developments. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky  US  President Joe Biden  announced a ban on US imports of oil from Russia in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The UK also said they would phase out Russian oil imports by the end of the year.  The UN said the number of refugees fle...

  Intelligence experts Tuesday painted a picture of an increasingly determined  Vladimir Putin  set to “double down” on his invasion of  Ukraine  despite being ill-prepared for the consequences to Russia’s economy and with little prospect for long-term success. Vladimir Putin “I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now. He's likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties," CIA Director William Burns told lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee during the yearly worldwide threats hearing. "But the challenge that he faces, and this is the biggest question that's hung over our analysis of his planning for months now … is he has no sustainable political end game in the face of what is going to continue to be fierce resistance from Ukrainians.” Check Out :  https://thehill.com/policy/international/597406-angry-putin-set-to-double-down-in-ukraine-intel-chiefs-tell-lawmakers

 The Ukrainian and Russian delegations arrived Monday at the Belarus border for talks aimed at halting the conflict as the Russian invasion entered a fifth day. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was sceptical about the outcome of the talks but said they were worth a "try". Follow our live blog for all the latest developments.  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivering an address in Kyiv  The rouble plunged to an all-time low on Monday after Western nations announced fresh sanctions and Russian President Vladimir Putin put nuclear-armed forces on high alert. Ukraine is due to talks with Russia at its border with Belarus on Monday from 3pm GMT. President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was sceptical about the outcome of the talks, but that they were worth a “try”. The UN General Assembly on Monday holds a rare emergency special session of the 193-member body on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine . Also on Monday, the UN Security Council holds a meeting on the h...

 A spat between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Biden is pushing gas prices ever higher. It started under Obama. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2018 AS RUSSIA ORDERED troops into Ukraine on Monday, gas prices soared to their highest levels in over seven years. While the media focuses on the conflict in Ukraine, a major cause of the gas price spike has gone overlooked: Moscow’s partnership with Saudi Arabia has grown dramatically in recent years, granting the two largest oil producers in the world the unprecedented ability to collude in oil export decisions. The desert kingdom’s relationship with the U.S. has chilled in the meantime, as demonstrated earlier this month, when President Joe Biden pleaded with the Saudis to increase oil production — a move that would not only have helped to alleviate rising inflation and gas prices, but also reduced Russia’s extravagant pr...

 KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine said early on Thursday it had closed its airspace to civilian flights because of a “high risk” to safety, hours after a conflict zone monitor warned airlines should stop overflights over the risk of an unintended shootdown or cyberattack. Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, near the Kremlin Wall during the national celebrations in Moscow Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine on Thursday in what appeared to be the start of war in Europe. “The provision of air traffic services to civilian users of the airspace of Ukraine is suspended,” Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise said on its website. “We will additionally inform about changes in the use of Ukraine’s airspace,” the agency added, without providing further details. Eurocontrol, which coordinates air traffic in Europe, said that Ukraine’s airspace was not available because of militar...

DEMOCRATS IN THE House of Representatives  are planning to expedite a massive bill that would dramatically increase U.S. security assistance to Ukraine and lay the groundwork for substantial new sanctions on Russia — hastening a war-friendly posture without opportunity for dissent as concerns over a military invasion abound. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told members on a caucus call Tuesday that she’s looking to skip marking up the bill and move it straight to the House floor, setting up the possibility of a vote as soon as early next week, two congressional sources told The Intercept. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to talk to the press. Pelosi’s office did not immediately reply to a request for comment. “This is how the space for nonmilitary options gets slowly closed off in Washington, without any real debate,” one of the sour...