Russia says it will act if NATO moves nuclear forces nearer its border; Ukraine makes territorial gains

Russian forces are withdrawing from the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine said in an operational update Saturday.

“Russian enemy did not conduct active hostilities in the Kharkiv direction. Its main efforts were focused on ensuring the withdrawal of his troops from the city of Kharkiv, maintaining the occupied positions and supply routes,” Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesperson for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said in an address on YouTube, according to an NBC News translation.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, has seen significant bombarded since Russia began its full scale invasion in late February.

But Ukraine’s resistance has moved quickly over recent days make territorial gains and drive Russians away from the city.

On Friday, the Pentagon said Ukraine continued to make progress in reclaiming towns and villages around Kharkiv.

“We have seen some progress by them pushing Russian forces closer to the border and away from Kharkiv,” the official, who declined to be named, said on a call with reporters.

— Katrina Bishop

Moscow will take adequate precautionary measures if NATO deploys nuclear forces and infrastructure closer to Russia’s border, RIA news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as saying on Saturday.

Moscow has no hostile intentions towards Finland and Sweden and does not see “real” reasons for those two countries to be joining the NATO alliance, Grushko added.

— Reuters

A request from authorities in Kherson, Ukraine, to join the Russian Federation is part of Moscow’s strategy to use rigged votes to place Ukrainian regions under Russian control, the U.K. Defence Ministry said Saturday.

“A central part of Russia’s original invasion plan was highly likely to use rigged referendums to place the majority of Ukraine’s regions under long-term pro-Russian authority,” the ministry said in a regular intelligence update.

Kherson’s administration, which was imposed by Russia after its troops took over the city in March, this week formally requested that the Kherson Region be made part of Russia.

“The fact that Russia has only succeeded in imposing a pro-Russia local leadership in Kherson highlights the failure of Russia’s invasion to make progress towards its political objectives in Ukraine,” the British ministry said.

Russia will “almost certainly” manipulate the results of any referendum held in Kherson to decide whether to leave Ukraine, the Defence Ministry said.

Russia’s defense ministry was unavailable for immediate comment.

Kherson lies on the Dnipro River near the Black Sea, only about 60 miles (97 km) from Crimea, which Russia took over the last time it invaded Ukraine in 2014.

Invading Russian troops took control of Kherson in the early part of the current war, but the Ukrainians who live there have carried out public protests against the occupation regardless.

Ukraine’s military said in March that Russian troops used stun grenades and gunfire to break up at least one of those protests.

Moscow claims its troops do not target civilians, despite overwhelming proof that they have done so in Ukraine.

— Ted Kemp

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said although Ukrainians are doing everything they can to drive out the Russians, “no one today can predict how long this war will last.”

“This will depend, unfortunately, not only on our people, who are already giving their maximum,” he said in his nightly video address to the nation. “This will depend on our partners, on European countries, on the entire free world.”

He said he was thankful to all those who are working to strengthen the sanctions on Russia and increase military and financial support to Ukraine. “This is the only recipe for protecting freedom in the face of the Russian invasion. And for Western countries, this is not simply an expense. This is not about accounting, it’s about the future.”

Zelenskyy said Ukraine on Friday shot down the 200th Russian aircraft of the war and he noted Russia’s heavy losses in tanks, armored vehicles, helicopters and drones.

“And for what? So that the Lenin statue can stand for a bit longer in temporarily occupied Genichesk? There is and can be no other result for Russia.”

Russian forces in April restored the Lenin statue in Genichesk, a town in the southern Kherson region.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine was engaged in “very difficult negotiations” to try to evacuate the wounded fighters trapped in the Mariupol steelworks. “We’re talking about a large number of people. Of course, we are doing everything to evacuate all of the rest, each of our defenders. We have already brought in everyone in the world who can be the most influential mediators.”

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces have retaken towns and villages from Russian troops. He said work was underway to restore electricity, running water, telephone communications and social services.

— Associated Press

Russian state-owned utility company Inter RAO will halt exports of electricity to Finland starting Saturday, the company’s Finnish subsidiary said.

RAO Nordic, the subsidiary that imports electricity from its Russian parent company, said that it will stop supplying Finland because it hasn’t received payment from Finnish sources in recent days.

“We are forced to note that for the volumes which have been sold on Nord Pool exchange since the 6th of May funds have not yet been credited to our bank account,” the company said in a statement. “This situation is exceptional and happened for the first time in over twenty years of our trading history.”

Power imports to Finland will be halted from 1 a.m. local time on Saturday “for the time being,” Finnish grid operator Fingrid said in a separate statement, citing RAO Nordic.

“The lack of electricity import from Russia will be compensated by importing more electricity from Sweden and by generating more electricity in Finland,” said Reima Päivinen, senior vice president of power system operations at Fingrid.

Fingrid, a state-owned business, said imported electricity from Russia has covered about 10% of Finland’s total consumption. The stoppage comes as Finnish leaders warm up to the idea of joining NATO in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

— Thomas Franck