Ukraine: Mariupol commanders return home with Zelenskyy

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken marked 500 days since Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine by vowing his country would remain steadfast in its support Kyiv.

"Ukrainians have fought bravely to defend their country, freedom and right to determine their own future. The US will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes to achieve a just and durable peace," Blinken said.

The US and its allies would continue to provide support so that Ukraine can defend itself and "be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table when the time comes," he added.

"The Russian government remains the sole obstacle to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine," said Blinken, who accused the Kremlin of attempting "to subjugate Ukraine, seize its land, topple its democratically elected government."

Poland began moving over 1,000 troops to the east of the country, the defense minister said, amid rising concern that the presence of Wagner Group fighters in Belarus could lead to increased tension on its border.

"Over 1,000 soldiers and almost 200 units of equipment from the 12th and 17th Mechanized Brigades are starting to move to the east of the country," Mariusz Blaszczak wrote on Twitter. "This is a demonstration of our readiness to respond to attempts at destabilization near the border of our country."

Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to offer mercenary fighters of Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner group the choice of relocating to Belarus has led to fears among eastern NATO members that their presence will cause greater instability in the region.

A senior Wagner commander was quoted as saying on Saturday that mercenaries from the group were preparing to move to Belarus.

Russia denounced the release of five former commanders of Ukraine's garrison in Mariupol.

As DW reported earlier, the men were meant to remain in Turkey until the end of a war but flew home to Ukraine with Zelenskyy after he visited Turkey.

"No one informed us about this. According to the agreements, these ringleaders were to remain on the territory of Turkey until the end of the conflict," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Zelenskyy posted a one-minute video showing himself and other officials shaking hands and hugging the smiling commanders before they boarded a Czech airplane together. He later posted a picture of them together simply saying "home."

The five leaders were freed in a prisoner swap last September and taken to Turkey.

Many Ukrainians hailed their return on social media.

Canada is opposed to the US plan to send cluster munitions to Ukraine,  the country's government said in a statement.

"We do not support the use of cluster munitions and are committed to putting an end to the effects cluster munitions have on civilians — particularly children," Ottawa added.

The US decision to deliver the weapons, banned across a large part of the world, has also drawn resistance from Germany, Spain and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Britain is part of a convention that "discourages" the use of cluster munitions. 

The United States said on Friday it would supply Kyiv with cluster munitions as part of a new $800 million (€730 million) security package.

Ukraine has welcomed the US decision, saying it would help liberate Ukrainian territory, but promised the munitions would not be used in Russia.

Five Ukrainian military leaders, including Azov Regiment commanders Denys Prokopenko and Svyatoslav Palamar, returned home on a flight with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

During a long Russian siege, the Ukrainian fighters who defended a steel plant in Mariupol were forced to surrender and later exchanged in prisoner swop arranged by Turkey.

Under the deal with Moscow, they were supposed to stay in Turkey until the war's end, but Zelenskyy on Saturday posted a video of them getting on a plane with him, "we are returning home from Türkiye and bringing our heroes home."

Besides Prokopenko and Palamar, three others were also on the flight: Serhiy Volynsky, Oleh Khomenko and Denys Shleha.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said his country "discourages" the use of cluster munitions.

His statement came a day after the US announcement that it intends to supply Ukraine with the controversial weapons.

Speaking to reporters, Sunak reminded that Britain is signatory to a convention which prohibits the production or use of cluster bombs.

Neither the US nor Ukraine are signatories to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions.

"We will continue to do our part to support Ukraine against Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion," Sunak said.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attended on Saturday the training of new combat units, as the full-scale invasion of Ukraine reached its 500th day.

The Defense Ministry said in a statement on Telegram that Shoigu inspected T-89 tank crews at a training ground in southern Russia. The new limited-contract troops are on an intensive course for 38 days to prepare them for active duty.

Moscow announced last September a partial mobilization, but has in many cases relied on mercenary Wagner fighters on the front lines.

But last month's short-lived mutiny by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has further complicated already tense relations between the group and the military.

The UK Ministry of Defense has said that Ukrainian forces made "steady gains to both the north and south" of the Russian-held Bakhmut over the last week.

In its daily war update, the ministry said Bakhmut has been "the site of some of the most intense fighting along the front," following a lull in June.

"Russian defenders are highly likely struggling with poor morale, a mix of disparate units and a limited ability to find and strike Ukrainian artillery," it said.

The UK Ministry of Defense, however, noted that Moscow would see losing Bakhmut as "politically unacceptable" as it was one of its few gains in the past 12 months of fighting.

Russian troops celebrated in May capturing Bakhmut, after what proved to be one of the longest and bloodiest battles in the war with Ukraine.

The British ministry thus said control over the town has "symbolic weight," yet argued that "there are highly likely few additional reserves to commit to the sector."

Moscow has requested a new United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss the blasts which hit the Nord Stream gas pipelines last September, a senior Russian diplomat said.

Dmitry Polyansky, Russia's deputy UN ambassador, requested the meeting for July 11.

Polyansky said in a Telegram statement that the meeting would "deal another blow" to the West's narrative that the investigation into the blasts was given "sufficient attention." 

He added that Moscow would ask the UK, the council's chair for July, to request a report on the findings of the investigation. The investigation into the blast is being carried out by Denmark, Germany and Sweden.

Polyansky also said he would invite "a couple of interesting unbiased speakers" to the session, without disclosing their identities, citing security reasons.

The September blasts damaged both Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which carried natural gas from Russia to Germany. 

Earlier this year, media reports suggested a "pro-Ukraine" group was behind the attack. Kyiv vehemently denied any involvement.

At least eight people have been killed and 13 others injured by Russian shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lyman, according to authorities. 

"Around 10 o'clock in the morning, the Russians shelled the town with rocket launchers," the head of the Ukrainian military administration of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said on the Telegram messaging app. 

Initial reports said six were killed and five injured.

"A house and a shop were damaged. Police are working on the site," he added.

In a daily military update, the Ukrainian military said that it had forced Russian troops to give up on their assault attempts near Lyman.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video of his visit to the symbolically significant Snake Island, located in the Black Sea, on Saturday, marking the 500th day of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"Today we are on Snake Island, which will never be conquered by the occupiers, like the whole of Ukraine, because we are the country of the brave," Zelenskyy said in a video clip released on Twitter according to a translation by AFP.

"I am grateful to everyone who fought here against the occupiers. The memory of the heroes who gave their lives in this battle — one of the most important during the full-scale war — was honored," Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter.

The island is of significant symbolic value as its defenders famously stood up against a Russian warship during the initial stages of the invasion.

In an exchange with the warship, the Ukrainian soldiers refused to surrender, using explicit language to dismiss the demands of the Russian crew.

Although the Ukrainian soldiers were initially taken as prisoners, they were later exchanged for Russian captives.

The audio recordings quickly went viral and became a symbol of Ukraine's resistance.

The Ukrainian military said on Saturday that more than 233,000 Russian troops have been killed since Russia first launched its full-scale invasion last February.

The message posted on social media by the official account of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also said 4,074 Russian tanks and 4,346 artillery systems have been destroyed, as of Saturday.

According to the Ukrainian general staff, 315 Russian aircraft, 309 helicopters and 3,666 drones have also been destroyed.

DW was unable to immediately verify the numbers provided by the Ukrainian forces and any figures provided by Russia have naturally painted a different picture. 

The majority of Germans were in favor of Ukraine joining NATO sooner or later. In a survey conducted by the research institute YouGov, 42% were in favor of Ukraine joining NATO once the Russian invasion of the country had ended.

A 13% share of respondents were in favor of immediate accession amid Russia's war in Ukraine, while 29% were fundamentally opposed to Ukraine joining the alliance, with the main reason being mutual military assistance in the event of a war. 

A clear majority of respondents, 58%, were in favor of Ukraine and Russia starting talks on ending the war immediately, while 26% of respondents were against peace negotiations. 

The heads of state of the 31 NATO member countries are set to meet for a two-day summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius next Tuesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to attend the summit. NATO member states such as Lithuania and Poland were in favor of guaranteeing Ukraine admission directly after a possible end to the war.

Other countries like Germany suggested that the country's accession had to be attached to fulfilling prior requirements. 

Several humanitarian organizations have criticized the United States for its decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions.

"The USA's plan to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine is a retrograde step, which undermines the considerable advances made by the international community in its attempts to protect civilians from such dangers," Amnesty International researcher Patrick Wilcken said in a statement late on Friday.

Cluster munitions break into smaller bombs before hitting the ground. Some of these fragments only detonate years later, posing a serious safety risk.

"This is a death sentence to civilians over the long term. There are people who have not yet been born who will fall victim," said Baptiste Chapuis, co-founder of Humanity and Inclusion, which strives to help people with disabilities deal with poverty and conflicts.

"People are still clearing American cluster munitions in Laos," almost 50 years after the war in neighboring Vietnam ended, Chapuis added.

Other NGOs argued that a weapon that detonates indiscriminately across a desired area is fundamentally dangerous to human life.

"Cluster munitions will not differentiate a Ukrainian soldier from a Russian one," said Daryl Kimball, director of the US-based Arms Control Association.

"The effectiveness of cluster munitions is significantly oversold and the impact on non-combatants is widely acknowledged, but too often overlooked."