In his video address on Friday, May 27, the Ukrainian president recalled his country’s determination to defend the Donbass region, which has been pounded by the Russians for several weeks. He promises to continue to defend the cities of Lyman and Severodonetsk, priority targets of the Russian army. Exasperated by the bellicose positions of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill, the Moscow branch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has proclaimed its full independence.
- The Ukrainian Orthodox Church emancipates from Russia
The Moscow branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church announced on Friday May 27 that it would sever its ties with Russia because of the pro-invasion position of the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill.
At the end of a council devoted to Russian “aggression”, “the full independence and autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church” was proclaimed. The communiqué specifies that the relations of the Ukrainian Church with its Moscow leadership had been “complicated or non-existent” since the beginning of the conflict. As for Kirill, “not only did he not condemn Russia’s military aggression, but he also found no words for the suffering Ukrainian people,” said a spokesman.
This initiative is the second Orthodox schism in Ukraine in a few years. Part of the Ukrainian Church, represented by the kyiv Patriarchate, had already broken with Moscow in 2019 because of the Kremlin’s interference in the country. Ukraine is central to the Russian Orthodox Church, with some of the most important monasteries located in this country.
- Zelensky promises to do everything to save the Donbass…
The Ukrainian president has pledged to “do everything” to defend Donbass, where the Russian army has intensified its offensive, pushing Ukrainian forces to consider a strategic withdrawal on certain front lines. “The situation in the Donbass is very, very difficult,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday May 27. “We protect our land and do everything to strengthen the defense of this region,” he said.
And while the territorial defense of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian separatist “republic” of Donetsk indicated on Telegram that it had “taken complete control” of the key locality of Lyman, with the “support” of the Russian army, President Zelensky retorted: “If the occupiers think that Lyman and Severodonetsk will be theirs, they are wrong. Donbass will be Ukrainian”.
- … And denounces the “genocide” committed by Russia
In the same video message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of “genocide” in the Donbass, where Russian forces are carrying out “deportations” and “mass killings of civilians”. In April, the Ukrainian Parliament had already adopted a resolution describing the Russian actions as “genocide”. US President Joe Biden also used this expression.
- ICC calls on Russia to cooperate with international investigation
From The Hague, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, called on Russia to cooperate in the investigation he opened four days after the Russian invasion, into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine. “The invitation is there, my door is open and I will continue to knock on the door of the Russian Federation as well,” Karim Khan said in a court interview in The Hague. “If there are any allegations from the Russian Federation, if it is conducting its own investigations or prosecutions or if it has relevant information, please share it with us,” he added.
- Strikes on Dnipro, new bombardments in Donetsk
Russian missiles targeted a military installation in the city of Dnipro, located on the Dnieper River, on Friday. “We deplore a dozen dead and between 30 and 35 injured, all soldiers,” said Guennadi Korban, head of local defense. In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city located 50 km from the Russian border, the airborne warning sirens also sounded again. On Thursday, shelling left nine dead and 19 injured, all civilians, according to kyiv.
In the southeast of the country, in Mariupol, a major port devastated by bombs, the pro-Russian authorities reported the discovery of 14 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers near the Metallurg stadium. “The search is continuing, there could be up to 40,” said a health official.