Ukraine updates: Switzerland to host 'peace summit' in June

Ukrainian officials in the southern region of Odesa said four people, including one child, were killed in a Russian missile strike early Wednesday evening. 

Seven others were injured, including one person who lost their legs and was in critical condition. 

Regional governor Oleh Kiper added that the strike was likely carried out with Iskander-type ballistic missiles.

While farther away from the front line in Ukraine's east, Odesa has come under more frequent attack with longer range weapons in recent months, including a strike in mid-March that killed 20 people, mostly emergency workers who were responding to the site of a previous strike. 

For every artillery shell fired by Ukrainian forces, Russia fires five. And this difference may grow from one to 10 in the coming weeks, General Christopher Cavoli, head of the US European Command told Congress in Washington on Wednesday. 

"We're not talking about months. We're not talking hypothetically," he said.  "If one side can shoot and the other side can't shoot back, the side that can't shoot back loses."

His remarks come as the US Congress continues to delay passing a $60 billion funding bill that Ukraine says is essential for continuing in it war effort against Russia. Cavoli told the lawmakers that the US flow of 155mm artillery shells has been a lifeline for Ukraine. 

"The biggest killer on the battlefield is artillery. In most conflicts, but in this one definitely. And should Ukraine run out, they would run out because we stopped supplying," he said. 

Evgenia Kara-Murza told DW her husband, Vladimir Kara-Murza, was put in a Siberian penal colony for trying to expose the truth about the level of oppression in Vladimir Putin's Russia.

A Russian missile and drone attack targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure in southern Ukraine on Wednesday.

A substation belonging to Ukrenergo state energy company was damaged in the strike on Mykolaiv, causing emergency blackouts that affected over 400,000 consumers.

Regional governor Oleh Kiper said that the strikes on the Odesa region targeted critical and logistics infrastructure. Two employees of the state-owned railways were injured in that attack.

Russia has targeted Ukrainian utilities throughout the war but has recently stepped up attacks. 

In the last month it destroyed at least eight power plants and several dozen substations.

The United States allocated $138 million for urgently needed military equipment to Ukraine and for repairs and upgrades to its HAWK missile systems.

"Ukraine has an urgent need to increase its capabilities to defend against Russian missile strikes and the aerial capabilities of Russian forces," the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.

"Maintaining and sustaining the HAWK missile system will enhance Ukraine's ability to defend its people and protect critical national infrastructure."

Ukraine is also waiting for the US Congress to approve a $60 billion aid package that has been blocked by Republicans for months.

Ukraine began receiving HAWK missile system deliveries since 2022 as an upgrade to the Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems.

 

A European Union court declared sanctions imposed on two prominent Russian oligarchs in connection with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine to be null and void.

The EU's General Court found that the European Council did not provide sufficient evidence to justify placing Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman on its sanctions list for the period February 2022 until mid-March 2023.

However, the court decision only applies retroactively to the period in question up to March 2023.

A court spokesman told Reuters news agency that the two men remain on the EU sanctions list, as the punitive measures were since rolled over.

The oligarchs have appealed the extension for the period after March 2023 in a separate case, and the court spokesman said that this new appeal is in its initial stage.

Nevertheless, the court ruling that EU sanctions were not sufficiently substantiated is a source of embarrassment for the bloc.

The Swiss government said that it will hold a two-day Ukraine peace conference in June.

"There is currently sufficient international support for a high-level conference to launch the peace process," the Swiss government, or Federal Council, said in a statement. 

Russia has said it would not take part in such an event.

The peace conference aims to establish a framework favorable for a lasting peace in Ukraine, along with "a concrete roadmap for Russia's participation in the peace process."

The peace conference is based on discussions between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassius in recent months. 

Top officials from dozens of countries are expected to attend the event. 

 

The German government has drawn up a 15-point plan for economic reconstruction in Ukraine. 

The proposal is based on financial subsidies and other forms of assistance for small and medium-based firms in Ukraine. The strategy is also based on investment guarantees for German companies seeking to do business in the country.   

"Ukraine needs more than weapons to survive this war. It is also important that the economy continues to function and the country can finance reconstruction," German Development Minister Svenja Schulze said.   

wd,ac/wmr (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)