Ukraine updates: US sanctions Russia, North Korea arms deals
Published May 16, 2024last updated May 16, 2024
What you need to know
The United States has sanctioned two Russian individuals and three Russian companies for facilitating arms transfers between Russia and North Korea, including ballistic missiles used in Ukraine, the Treasury Department said Thursday.
It's the latest round of sanctions imposed by the Treasury and State departments to disrupt and expose arms transfers between the two countries, it said. This includes the transfer and testing of North Korean-produced ballistic missiles to Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has accused Russian troops of executing civilians in captured territory in the northeastern Kharkiv region and using some civilians left behind in Vovchansk as "human shields."
Here's a look at the latest developments from Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, May 16:
NATO European commander says Russia unable to break through in Kharkiv
General Christopher Cavoli, NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe, said he was confident Ukrainian forces would hold their lines in the region around Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine.
The top US general said the Russian army was trying to regain territory in Kharkiv lost to the Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2022, with some local gains, but that Moscow had yet to mass enough soldiers for a major push.
"The Russians don't have the numbers necessary to do a strategic breakthrough," Cavoli told a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels after a meeting of military chiefs from across the trans-Atlantic alliance.
"More to the point, they don't have the skill and the capability to do it, to operate at the scale necessary to exploit any breakthrough to strategic advantage," he added.
Cavoli said Ukraine's allies were now shipping "vast amounts" of ammunition and short-range air defense systems, as well as "significant amounts" of armored vehicles that would help fight the Kharkiv advance.
US announces new sanctions targeting arms transfers between Russia, North Korea
The United States has announced sanctions against two Russian individuals and three Russian companies for facilitating Russian-North Korean arms transfers, including missiles for use in Ukraine.
It is the latest round of sanctions imposed by the Treasury and State Departments to disrupt and expose arms transfers between the two countries, a Treasury Department statement said, including transferring North Korean-produced ballistic missiles to Russia.
"Today's action reflects our commitment to disrupt the DPRK's [Democratic People's Republic of North Korea] deepening military cooperation with Russia," Brian Nelson, the Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the statement.
"The United States will continue to take action to hold accountable those who seek to facilitate the shipment of weapons and other materiel to enable Russia's war," he added.
The statement said Russia and North Korea had increased military cooperation over the past year, with Pyongyang providing ballistic missiles and ammunition to Russia and seeking military assistance in return.
Ukraine accuses Russian troops of war crimes in Kharkiv region
Ukraine has accused Russian troops of kidnapping civilians and killing a non-combatant in the city of Vovchansk in the northeastern Kharkiv region, which has again become a key front in the war.
"The first shootings of civilians by the Russian military have become known," Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote on his Telegram channel.
According to Klymenko, a resident who tried to flee and defied Russian orders was killed. Other residents of the embattled city were prevented from leaving, "kidnapped and driven into cellars," he wrote.
Meanwhile, the head of police investigations in the Kharkiv region said on television that "35 to 40" people were being held captive and that Russia was interrogating them.
"The Russians keep them in one place and actually use them as a human shield, as their command headquarters is nearby," said Serhii Bolvinov.
Almost a week ago, Russia launched a new major offensive in northeastern Ukraine. The Russian military managed to occupy several border villages in the Kharkiv region, and Ukraine began evacuating civilians from the area.
However, due to the heavy fighting around the small town of Vovchansk, around 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the border with Russia, not everyone could be brought to safety.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was sending yet more reinforcements to the area, and the Ukrainian army said it had managed to partially halt Russia's advance.
Russia expels British defense attache in tit-for-tat diplomatic row
Russia has declared Britain's defense attache persona non grata and given the diplomat a week to leave the country, in response to London's expulsion of Russia's defense attache earlier this month over spying allegations.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had summoned a representative of the British Embassy in Moscow on Thursday to express its "strong protest in connection with the unfriendly and groundless decision" to expel the Russian attache from London.
On May 8, Britain announced several measures aimed at Moscow's intelligence operations in the UK. These included the expulsion of Maxim Elovik, a Russian colonel whom the British government described as an "undeclared military intelligence officer," the revocation of the diplomatic status of several Russian-owned properties because they are believed to have been used for intelligence purposes, and the imposition of new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas and visits.
The decision followed news that five men had been charged with offenses under the National Security Act in connection with alleged espionage activities in the UK on behalf of Russia.
dh/msh (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)