Heger’s comments came as he was visiting the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, with top EU officials ahead of a scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday. Zelensky referred to the S-300 by name when he spoke to US lawmakers via video last month, calling for defense systems that would allow Ukraine to “close the skies” on Russian warplanes and missiles. NATO members Bulgaria, Slovakia and Greece have S-300s capable of launching missiles of hundreds of kilometers (miles) and hitting cruise missiles as well as warplanes. Slovakia had previously stated that it was willing to give the S-300 to Ukraine on the condition that it would have a suitable replacement.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: – Officials say Russian missile kills 30 civilians at train station – Congress votes to suspend Russia’s trade regime, ban oil – UN General Assembly votes to suspend Russia from UN Rights Council – UN Assistant Secretary-General: “I’m not optimistic” about a ceasefire in Ukraine – Russia moves troops and focuses to the east, but this strategy also carries risks – Ukrainian refugees find the fastest way to the US via Mexico – Go to for more coverage
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS: LVIB, Ukraine – Ukrainian officials are raising the death toll from a rocket attack on a crowded train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk as local hospitals bend to an influx of injured. Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kirilenko said an updated count showed 39 people were killed in Friday’s strike. Ukrainian officials had earlier put the number at around 30. Officials put the number of injured at between 87 and 300. Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksandr Goncharenko told Ukrainian television that between 30 and 40 surgeons were treating the injured and hospitals could not cope with the increase in admissions. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said about 4,000 people were in and around the station, most of them women and children. The Ukrainian government is urging people to leave the area before an expected new attack by Russian forces. Russian-backed separatists control part of the Donetsk region, but Kramatorsk remains under the control of the Ukrainian government.
BRUSSELS – The European Union has returned its ambassador to Ukraine to the capital, Kyiv, in a move that underscores the improved security situation there and the commitment of the 27-nation bloc to the besieged country. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell made the announcement on Friday during a visit to Kyiv, where he met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Borrell said the ambassador’s return would help ensure that the EU and the Ukrainian government can work more directly and closely together. Russian forces tried to enter Kyiv in the days following its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, but despite heavy casualties, the city withstood the attacks and the government was able to continue operating from there. Borel described as “impressive” the fact that the Ukrainian government was operating fully under “very difficult conditions”.
ROME – The United Nations says world food prices, such as cereals and vegetable oils, hit a record high last month amid the effects of the war in Ukraine. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on Friday announced its Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in international prices for a basket of goods, doubled in March from a record high last month. The FAO said the index reached 159.3 points last month, up 12.6% from an all-time high in February since the index was created in 1990. The Rome-based agency says the war in Ukraine is largely responsible for the 17.1% rise in prices for cereals, including wheat and all coarse grains. Russia and Ukraine together account for about 30% and 20% of world wheat and maize exports, respectively.
LONDON – Britain has added two adult daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin to its sanctions list following similar moves by the United States and the European Union. The government announced Friday that it was imposing assets and travel bans on Putin’s daughters, Katerina Tikhonova and Maria Vorontsova, as well as on Yekaterina Vinokourova, the daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Britain says it has imposed sanctions on more than 1,200 Russian individuals and businesses since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, including 76 oligarchs and 16 banks. He says Western nations have frozen a total of 275 billion pounds ($ 360 billion), or 60 percent of Russia’s foreign exchange reserves.
KYIV, Ukraine – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says about 30 people have been killed and about 100 injured in a rocket attack on a railway station in Kramatorsk in the east of the country. Writing on social media platforms, Zelensky said thousands of people were present at the station at the time of the strike. The head of the Ukrainian railway service, Olexander Kamyshin, made similar comments about the strike. Kramatorsk is a town in a part of the Donetsk region controlled by the Ukrainian government and its railway station was used to evacuate civilians. Zelensky attacked the Russian forces, saying that “they are cynically destroying the civilian population” and described it as “an evil without limits”. Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk have blamed Ukrainian forces.
KYIV, Ukraine – The governor of Ukraine’s Sumy region, which borders Russia, is urging locals to avoid using forest roads, walking on the sidewalks or approaching damaged military equipment after Russian troops leave the area. Dmytro Zhyvytskyy warned on Friday in the Telegram messaging app that locals were still in danger because of mines and other ammunition left behind by Russian forces. In a message apparently addressed to residents of the area, Zhyvytskyy said that any explosions in the area in the short term are likely to be the sounds of rescuers and working minesweepers working to deactivate ammunition and other explosives. He said earlier this week that Russia no longer controls any settlements in the region.
BRUSSELS – The European Union (EU) has imposed sanctions on two adult daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of a new package of measures aimed at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to two EU officials. The EU has included Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova in the up-to-date list of people facing asset freezing and travel bans. The two EU officials from different EU member states spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the updated sanctions list has not yet been published. The move from the European bloc follows a similar move two days earlier than the United States. – By Samuel Petrequin and Raf Casert in Brussels.
BRUSSELS – Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger and two top European Union officials are in Kyiv seeking support for the bloc in war-torn Ukraine. Heger tweeted on Friday that he, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief had come up with proposals for trade and humanitarian aid for President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government. Part of that, Heger says, is “to offer options for transporting grain, including wheat.” Ukraine is a major global supplier of grain and Russia’s war against Ukraine is creating shortages, especially in the Middle East. He added that all three wanted to help Ukraine move towards closer ties with the EU by “creating a group of reforms”. Ukraine applied for EU membership, but was already in dire need of reform, especially to eliminate rampant corruption, years before Russian troops invaded in February.
LONDON – The British Ministry of Defense has estimated that at least some of the Russian forces that had withdrawn from northern Ukraine will be transferred to the eastern Donbass region to continue fighting. In a daily update, the ministry says many of these forces will need significant replenishment before they are ready to deploy further east, with any massive redeployment from the north likely to take at least a week. He says Russian bombardment of cities in the east and south continues and Russian forces have advanced further south than the strategically important city of Izium, which remains under their control.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Latvia says it has blacklisted 15 Russian and Belarusian nationals on the grounds that their activities pose a threat to the nation’s national security. A list of nine Russians and six Belarusians was provided by the Latvian State Security Service – the counterintelligence service – to Interior Minister Marija Golubeva. The State Security Service said Friday that it included individuals “who may be involved in obtaining information or providing support for Russia’s foreign policy interests.” He says that among them are those who, despite the crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, express their support for the Kremlin. Earlier this month, Latvia announced it would close two Russian consular missions and deport a total of 13 Russian diplomats and officials currently in the Baltic state.
MOSCOW – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov acknowledged that Russia had suffered “significant troop losses” during its military operation in Ukraine. “Yes, we have significant troop losses and it is a huge tragedy for us,” Peshkov said. Speaking in an exclusive interview with the British television network Sky on Thursday, Peshkov also hinted that the operation could end “in the foreseeable future”. He said Russian forces were “doing everything they could to end this operation”. He said: “And we hope that in the coming days, in the predictable …
