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Moscow expelled 85 diplomats from France, Italy and Spain on Wednesday in retaliation for the removal of Russian diplomats from European countries due to the war in Ukraine.
Russia's foreign ministry made the announcement after summoning France's ambassador, Pierre Levy, and telling him that the expulsion of 41 employees of Russian diplomatic missions was a “provocative and unfounded decision”. The diplomats have two weeks to leave.
The three countries are among European nations that have collectively expelled more than 300 Russians since the February 24 invasion. In many cases, they accused Russian diplomats of spying, which Moscow has denied.
Russia's response has included sending home 45 Polish staff and 40 Germans last month. It has also announced tit-for-tat moves against Finland, Romania, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Japan, among others.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi condemned the expulsions as a “hostile act” but said diplomatic channels must remain open “because it's through those channels that, if possible, peace [in Ukraine] will be achieved”.
The foreign ministry in Paris said France “strongly condemns” the expulsion of its diplomats by Russia, adding that this step had “no legitimate basis”.
It said the work of French diplomats in Russia “takes place fully within the framework of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic and consular relations”, whereas Paris expelled Russian staff in April on suspicion of being spies.
Separately, municipal politicians in Moscow backed a decision to name a previously unnamed area in front of the US embassy in Moscow “Donbas Defenders Square”.
The name refers to a majority Russian-speaking region in eastern Ukraine that Russia claims it is liberating as part of its military campaign.
In February 2018, a street outside the Russian embassy in Washington was named after Boris Nemtsov, an opposition politician who was shot dead outside the Kremlin in 2015.
Earlier, Finland and Sweden formally applied to join the Nato alliance, a decision spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
However, Nato failed to immediately move forward with the accession process after Turkey blocked the formal acceptance of the applications.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signalled earlier this week that he would not allow the Nordic nations to join, alleging they support Kurdish militants his government regards as terrorists.
On Wednesday he said Sweden should not expect Turkey to approve its Nato bid without returning “terrorists”, and Swedish and Finnish delegations should not come to Turkey to try to convince it to back their membership of the alliance.
He added on Wednesday that his concerns extend beyond Sweden and Finland, to also how other Nato members handle the Kurdish groups.
“Our only expectation from our allies was that they should have approached Turkey’s efforts to protect its borders and establish its security the same way,” he told members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in parliament.
Meanwhile, a Russian soldier accused of war crimes in Ukraine pleaded guilty on Wednesday to killing an elderly unarmed civilian.
Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old Russian tank commander, entered his plea in a Kyiv district court hearing its first war crimes trial against a Russian soldier who took part in the invasion.
In a trial that has huge symbolic importance for Kyiv, Shishimarin is charged with murdering a 62-year-old civilian in the north-east Ukrainian village of Chupakhivka. If convicted, he faces up to life imprisonment.
Ukraine has accused Russia of atrocities and brutality against civilians during the invasion and said it has identified more than 10,000 possible war crimes.
Russia has denied targeting civilians or involvement in war crimes and accused Kyiv of staging them.
Russian authorities said about 1,000 Ukrainian fighters, including 80 wounded, surrendered this week from the bunkers and tunnels below the Azovstal steelworks in the besieged city of Mariupol.
Concerns grew on Wednesday for the welfare of the fighters, many of them members of the Azov Battalion, who gave themselves up after weeks of resistance.
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A pro-Russian troop stands guard before the expected departure of Ukrainian soldiers, who surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel mill in the course of conflict in Mariupol. Reuters -
A Ukrainian soldier on reconnaissance in a recently retaken village on the outskirts of Kharkiv, east Ukraine. AP Photo -
The destroyed part of the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol. AFP -
US President Joe Biden, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto walk through the White House rose garden after discussing the war, as well as potential Nato membership, in Washington. AP -
Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol are escorted by pro-Russian troops to Olenivka in the breakaway Donetsk region. Reuters -
Ukrainian National Guard soldiers train in the woods of the Transcarpathian region. Reuters -
A roof damaged during Russia's invasion of Ukraine is rebuilt in Moshchun village, near Kyiv. Reuters -
Ukrainian children play war games at a "checkpoint" they set up in Stoyanka, near Kyiv. AFP -
Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin, centre, on trial for war crimes in the Solomyansky district court in Kyiv, Ukraine. AFP -
A controlled detonation of explosive devices is conducted near Borodianka, Ukraine. Reuters -
A Russian serviceman adjusts the Soviet flag on a statue in Leninsky Komsomol Square in Mariupol, Ukraine. EPA -
A couple leave a metro station where they had been living after fleeing Russian shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Getty Images -
Ukrainian forces leave the Azovstal steel works plant in Mariupol. AFP -
Russian militrary vehicles follow buses (not in picture) carrying Ukrainian troops being evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. EPA -
Members of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic forces carry water bottles as the evacuation of Ukrainian soldiers is carried out in Mariupo. EPA -
Ukrainian separatist troops and Russian soldiers, rear right, guard the buses with Ukrainian troops, in Mariupol. EPA -
A member of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic forces escorts a Ukrainian fighter being evacuated from the steel plant. EPA -
Russian militrary vehicles escort buses carrying Ukrainian troops from the Azovstal steel plant. EPA -
A total of 265 Ukrainian militants, including 51 seriously wounded, laid down arms and surrendered to Russian forces, the Russian Ministry of Defence said on May 17. EPA -
A Ukrainian soldier sits on a bus as troops are evacuated. EPA -
Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 21 ordered his defence minister to not storm but blockade the plant where a number of Ukrainian fighters were holding out. EPA -
Those in need of medical assistance were sent for treatment to a hospital in Novoazovsk, Russia said. EPA -
Some of the Ukrainian troops evacuated from the steel plant. AP -
A pro-Russian fighter stands guard next to a combat vehicle, before the evacuation of wounded Ukrainian soldiers from the besieged Azovstal steel mill,in Mariupol. Reuters -
Pro-Russian troops wait before the evacuation of wounded Ukrainian soldiers from the Azovstal steel mill. Reuters -
A wounded Ukrainian soldier evacuated from Mariupol is carried on a stretcher out of a bus, after arriving in Novoazovsk. Reuters -
Buses carrying Ukrainian soldiers from the besieged Azovstal steel mill drive away under escort of the pro-Russian forces, in Mariupol. Reuters -
Pro-Russian troops stand guard on a road in Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters -
Left to right, clockwise: Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan's President Sadyr Japarov, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Stanislav Zas, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), and Belarus's President Alexander Lukashenko hold a meeting of CSTO leaders at the Kremlin in Moscow. AFP -
Finland's President Sauli Niinisto and US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell answer questions from the media as Republican senators John Barrasso, Susan Collins and John Cornyn and US new ambassador to Finland Douglas Hickey listen, after a meeting at the president's official residence in Helsinki. Reuters -
Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson speaks to the media before the parliamentary debate on Swedish Nato membership, in Stockholm. Reuters -
Firefighters work at a scene of a missile strike, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, in Zatoka, Odesa region. Reuters -
A closed McDonald's restaurant in Moscow. Reuters -
A Ukrainian soldier walks past a wrecked Russian armoured personnel carrier, near Kutuzivka, north of Kharkiv. AP -
A screengrab obtained from a video shows Ukrainian troops at the Ukraine-Russia border, in what was said to be the Kharkiv region. Reuters -
Water gushes from a pump station after Ukrainian troops opened a dam to flood a residential area in Demydiv, to stop the advance of Russian forces towards the capital Kyiv. Reuters -
Residental buildings damaged by shelling in Irpin, Kyiv region. EPA -
Activists line up to form a peace sign in front of the building that houses the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, in Berlin. The event was organised by Greenpeace. AFP -
Officials stand together for a photo at an informal meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Berlin, with the focus on the potential membership of Finland and Sweden. Getty Images -
Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin (L) and President Sauli Niinisto hold a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, where they announced the country's intentions to apply for Nato membership. AP -
An Ukrainian girl with the national flag painted on her face attends a cultural event in support of the besieged country in a metro station in Dnipro, Ukraine. Reuters -
Kalush Orchestra of Ukraine are named the winners of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy. Getty Images -
Members of the Ukrainian military celebrate Kalush Orchestra winning the Eurovision Song Contest, at their position in the Kyiv region. Reuters -
Refugees from Mariupol region arrive at a registration and humanitarian aid centre for internally displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Reuters -
A damaged street on the outskirts of Kharkiv. EPA -
A damaged residential building on the outskirts of Kharkiv. EPA -
Debris hangs from a regional government building in Mykolaiv, which was heavily damaged in a Russian attack. AP -
Former students play table tennis in the playground of a destroyed school in Kharkiv. Reuters
The surrender brought an end to the most devastating siege of the war in Ukraine and allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to claim a rare victory in his faltering campaign, which military analysts say has stalled.
A video released by the Russian defence ministry showed fighters leaving the plant. Some were carried on stretchers and others put their hands up to be searched by Russian troops.
Many of them boarded buses and were escorted by Russian armoured vehicles to the south-eastern Russian-held town of Novoazovsk, where Moscow said wounded fighters would be treated.
The soldiers will be questioned by a Russian committee investigating what Moscow has called “Ukrainian regime crimes”, the Tass news agency reported.
“Over the past 24 hours, 694 militants surrendered, including 29 wounded,” the ministry said. “In total, since May 16, 959 militants surrendered, including 80 wounded.”
