Russia Ukraine war live: Moscow ‘tortures’ 5,000 Ukrainians as Kyiv says third of Putin’s Black Sea fleet destroyed

Ukrainian MP on how Britain can help country win Russia war: ‘Let’s make Putin pay’

Ukrainian MP Kira Rudik has asked her country’s allies to switch from “helping Ukraine fight, to letting us win the war.” She said limitations on issues such as weapons delivery need to be lifted so Ukraine does not have to face Russia “empty-handed”. The People’s Deputy of Ukraine also said she understands the strain many are facing under the cost of living crisis, and suggested donating around £50 billion of Russian money frozen in Britain to the Ukrainian war effort. She said: “Let’s make Putin pay for what he broke.”

Since Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, fears have risen in neighboring Moldova that it could also be in Moscow’s crosshairs.

Like Ukraine, Moldova is a former Soviet republic that has aligned itself with the West and aspires to join the European Union. And both countries hope to eventually reintegrate Russian-speaking breakaway territories that view Moscow as their protector.

After a short war in the early 1990s, Transnistria declared independence from Moldova, where today’s pro-Western government has firmly opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war with Ukraine.

As many as 95 people are still missing after last week’s attack near Moscow when gunmen sprayed concertgoers with automatic weapons and set the venue on fire, a Russian news outlet reported on Wednesday.

The official toll from the attack on Crocus City Hall now stands at 140 dead and 182 wounded. But the Baza news service, which has good contacts in Russian security and law enforcement, said 95 more people appeared in lists compiled by the emergency services based on appeals from people about missing relatives.

“These lists include people with whose relatives have not been able to get in touch since the terrorist attack, but who are not on the lists of wounded and dead,” Baza said. “Some of these people died, but have not yet been identified.”

Russian investigators said the attack was carried out by four shooters using Kalashnikov automatic weapons. More than 500 rounds were found at the scene.

The shooting began shortly before the Soviet-era rock group “Picnic” was set to play to a full house of 6,200 people. More than 200 people could have been in the blazing building moments before the roof collapsed, Baza reported on Saturday, citing emergency service sources who reviewed surveillance footage.

Russia attacked the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv with guided bombs on Wednesday for the first time since 2022, damaging a school and a residential area, regional police said.

“Kharkiv was hit by aerial bombs – for the first time since 2022,” Serhiy Bolvinov, the head of the investigative department of the regional police, said on Facebook.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, fears have risen in neighboring Moldova that it could also be in Moscow’s crosshairs.

Like Ukraine, Moldova is a former Soviet republic that has aligned itself with the West and aspires to join the European Union. And both countries hope to eventually reintegrate Russian-speaking breakaway territories that view Moscow as their protector.

After a short war in the early 1990s, Transnistria declared independence from Moldova, where today’s pro-Western government has firmly opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war with Ukraine.

Read the full article here:

A Russian court sentenced Lyusya Shtein, a member of Pussy Riot and a former municipal deputy in Moscow, to six years in prison in absentia for anti-war social media posts, the court’s press service said on Wednesday.

Shtein, 27, was found guilty of spreading “war fakes” in connection with a March 2022 post on X, in which she accused Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine of “bombing foreign cities and killing people”, Russian independent news outlet Mediazona reported.

At least 19,855 people have been detained in Russia for expressing anti-war views since President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors crackdowns on dissent.

Those found guilty of spreading “false information” about Russia’s army risk 10 years in prison.

The Moscow court said Shtein, who served as a Moscow municipal deputy until 2022, would begin her sentence once she could be extradited to Russia.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general Andriy Kostin claims that 5,600 Ukrainians have been tortured by Russia, while more than 10,000 civilians are being held in occupied territories.

“There are different numbers. We estimate tens of thousands, more than 10,000 for sure. We are talking only about those who were forcibly resettled, and not about those who made such a decision at their own discretion,” Kostin told Interfax-Ukraine, answering a question about the number of civilian hostages held by the enemy.

He added that the number of victims suffering from torture of mistreatment may be “much higher” but there was a lack of information available in occupied territories.

Russian air strikes on Ukraine’s Kharkiv on Wednesday killed one person and injured another six, the city’s mayor said.

“Five-story houses were severely damaged. The institute of emergency surgery was also damaged,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on the Telegram messenger app.