Day 98 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Russia blows up Nitric Acid Tank in Sievierodonetsk, Mariupol Port Resumes Operations

Apartment building in Sievierodonetsk damaged by shelling

Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

The Russians took "most" of a key eastern city

Russian forces are taking control of most of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, the regional governor said.

"Unfortunately, today Russian troops took control of most of the city," Luhansk Governor Sergiy Gaidai said in a video.

The industrial city is key to Russia's goal of conquering the Donbas region, where Moscow has shifted most of its firepower after failing to take Kyiv.

Russian strike on a tank with nitric acid

Gaidai also said Russian forces had struck a nitric acid tank at a chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk, and called on residents to stay in shelters.

"For the Russian military, for Russian commanders, for Russian soldiers, any madness is absolutely acceptable," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an evening televised address on Telegram.

EU agrees to ban 90% of Russian oil

EU leaders have agreed to ban the import of most Russian oil after reaching an agreement with Hungary that allows it to continue receiving Russian crude oil.

The deal bans the import of oil delivered by tankers but doesn’t cut off pipeline supplies, a key request from landlocked Hungary, whose leader Viktor Orban warned that a complete oil blockade would be an "atomic bomb" for his country's economy.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the agreement would reduce about 90% of Russian oil imports to the EU by the end of the year.

Gazprom reduces gas supplies

Danish energy company Orsted has announced that Russian gas giant Gazprom Export will cut off supplies to Denmark on June 1st after the Danish company refused to pay in rubles.

The Dutch energy company GasTerra says Gazprom has cut off gas supplies for the same reason.

Finland, Bulgaria and Poland have their gas supplies already cut off.

"Thousands" of alleged war crimes in Donbas

Ukraine is investigating several thousand cases of alleged war crimes in the Donbas region, according to Kyiv's chief prosecutor.

During a visit to The Hague, Ukraine's chief prosecutor, Iryna Venediktova, said about 15,000 cases of alleged war crimes had been reported across Russia since the February 24 invasion.

Port of Mariupol resumes operations

A cargo ship bound for Russia has left occupied Mariupol less than two weeks after the last Ukrainian defenders of the strategic port city surrendered, new city officials said.

Dozens of container vessels have been blocked in Ukrainian ports by Russian ships. Russia is in talks with Turkey to create a secure corridor for shipping companies.

Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron said he and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had called on Vladimir Putin to end Russia's blockade of Ukraine's major Black Sea port of Odessa under a UN resolution.

“Banking sanctions hurt Africa”

African Union President Macky Sall has warned EU leaders that their decision to exclude Russian banks from the SWIFT system risks damaging food supplies in Africa by hampering Russian grain imports.

On Monday, the EU banned Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, from participating in the SWIFT system as part of the sixth round of sanctions against the Russian economy.

This makes it difficult to receive and make international payments, but Sberbank says it is working "normally".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that it is up to the West and Kyiv to resolve the growing global food crisis.

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