While Ukraine is beginning to think about where to host the Eurovision Song Contest next year, bitter fighting continues, especially in the east of the country. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks of a very difficult situation in the Donbass industrial area there. Regional authorities expect new attacks by Russian troops in several directions.
Selenskyj: Next ESC in Ukraine
Following the victory of the Kalush Orchestra band at the ESC held in Turin, the Ukrainian President was determined to fulfill his obligations as host country despite the current Russian war of aggression. “Next year Ukraine will host Eurovision!” Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram news channel that night. Selenskyj also referred to the band’s appeal to the ESC to save the port city of Mariupol, which was besieged by Russian troops. “We are doing everything so that one day Ukraine’s Mariupol will receive Eurovision participants and guests. Free, peaceful, rebuilt!” he wrote.
Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko wrote to Telegram that the government is starting to think about where to hold the Eurovision Song Contest. The Ukrainians won with 631 points, well ahead of British singer Sam Ryder, who finished second with 466 points.
Foreign Minister Kuleba: Please accept the consequences of the Russia sanctions
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on people in Germany to accept the consequences of the sanctions against Russia. “Sometimes it’s better to help someone else and endure a short period of deprivation rather than sitting at home watching TV and doing nothing, just allowing the problem to eventually knock on your door,” Kuleba said at ” Picture TV”. Ukraine offers a fair deal: “Give us everything we need and we will contain Russia and defeat it in Ukraine so they never knock on your door.”
Kyiv refuses to surrender territories to Russia
Kuleba also reiterated in the interview that his country is not ready for agreements with Russia that would leave Ukrainian territory in the hands of the attackers. “There is nothing wrong with a ceasefire if it is the first step towards a solution where Ukrainian territory is liberated,” he said. “But we will not accept that there is a partial separation of territory.” The government in Kyiv will “not allow diplomacy to simply prolong our suffering and simply postpone the next phase of the war.”
Zelenskyy: Russia wants at least a small victory in Donbass
According to Zelenskyy, the situation in the Donbass region remains “very difficult” for Ukraine. The Russian troops were trying to achieve “at least some victory” there, Zelenskyy said in his daily video address at night. That seems “particularly crazy” on the 80th day after the invasion. Russian troops are concentrating their attacks on eastern Ukraine after failing to advance towards Kyiv. Selenskyj was confident: “Step by step we are forcing the occupiers to leave our country.”
Ukrainian military: Russian attacks across the east
According to Ukrainian military information, Russian troops are attacking on a broad front in the east of the country. Among other things, the Russian army is particularly active in Donetsk, the Ukrainian general staff wrote on Facebook on Saturday. Russian troops regrouped in the Sieverodonetsk region. The Russian military is trying to encircle Ukrainian units in the Donbass, an adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said on television. In Mariupol, the Azovstal Steel Plant, which is trapping the city’s last Ukrainian defenders, continues to be bombed and shelled.
Zelenskyi signs law banning pro-Russian parties
Parties that support the Russian war of aggression should soon be able to be banned in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law passed in early May, the Ukrainian parliament announced on its website. The law will come into effect one day after its official publication. For example, the ban is intended to hit parties that justify or deny Russia’s war against Ukraine. As early as March, Ukrainian authorities halted the activities of nearly a dozen parties allegedly linked to Russia. Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February.
That will be important on Sunday
You can read all further developments in our live ticker on the Ukraine war.
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