Russian ambassador interrupts minute’s silence for Ukraine and says ‘all lives are priceless’
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations has interrupted a minute’s silence for Ukraine as members of the Security Council stood up to honour the “victims of aggression” in the war.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba addressed those gathered in New York before calling for the silence to be observed as a mark of respect for Ukrainians who had died.
But as representatives got to their feet, Russia’s ambassador Vasily Nebenzya repeatedly tapped his microphone.
After being given the floor to make a statement, Mr Nebenzya said: “We are getting up on our feet to remember all victims of what has happened in Ukraine, starting in 2014.
“All of those who perished, all lives are priceless.”
Zelenskyy describes his toughest moment during conflict – follow live war updates
Mr Nebenzya was likely referring to the Russian lives which have been lost while fighting in Ukraine since Moscow’s forces invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
The tense moment came before Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy spoke in a news conference to mark the one year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in what would be a huge moment, Mr Zelenskyy has said he plans to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
He did not say when such a meeting could take place.
“I plan to meet Xi Jinping and believe this will be beneficial for our countries and for security in the world,” he said.
China has close ties with Russia, but has aimed to present itself as a potential peace broker in recent days – and today set out a 12-point “peace plan”.
Mr Zelenskyy told the news conference in Kyiv that China has “started talking about Ukraine” and that “this is not bad”.
He added that a statement from China suggested the country respected Ukraine’s “territorial integrity”.
The president’s comments come as Western powers fear China will begin supplying Russia with weapons.
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UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he supports Mr Zelenskyy’s calls for “China to engage with Ukraine” over the Russian war.
In Kyiv, Sky’s security and defence editor Deborah Haynes asked Mr Zelenskyy if Ukraine can achieve victory on the battlefield or whether they will have to negotiate and possibly compromise with Russia to bring about an end to the war.
The Ukrainian president replied: “Everybody has seen that they kill people, they torture people, and they are not even trying to hide their attacks.
“They are talking about nuclear matters. They decided to take Iranian drones and kill civilians, and those civilians did not have guns in their hands, they had their children in their hands.”
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, second from left, led the minute’s silence before it was interrupted. Pic: AP
He added: “Do you think we Ukrainians can sit and negotiate with all of this? We call this phenomenon Russianism.
“We need to start from scratch, we need to go back to what was violated. Our right to live on our land needs to be respected.
“Leave our territory, withdraw, stop shelling us, stop killing civilians, stop destroying our infrastructure, our energy sector, portable water.
“Stop airstrikes on the city, stop killing dogs, cats, animals. Stop burning the forest.”
He added that only when Russia “stops doing all of that” can it be considered how the war might end diplomatically.
Mr Zelenskyy also told those gathered that victory over Russia was “inevitable” if all of Ukraine’s partners did their “homework”.
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The Ukrainian president also said he wants Latin America, Africa, China and India to participate in helping to bring about peace in Ukraine.
“These countries are also very important,” he said, adding he would like to organise a summit with the Latin American countries and Ukraine.
Mr Zelenskyy was earlier asked about Russian war crimes and whether those accused could be tried in Ukraine.
He said a special tribunal and mechanism is needed for Russia to get real “accountability” for its actions during the conflict.
“It’s huge work, and we are working on it,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
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Journalist asks Zelenskyy for a selfie
The Ukrainian leader was also asked about the moment of the war he found most difficult.
The room went silent as he replied.
“I think Bucha,” he said. “The moment we de-occupied Bucha. It was horrible. What we’ve seen… the devil is not somewhere below us – he’s among us.”
The town of Bucha, in the Kyiv region, was the site of a massacre of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war.
Ukrainian authorities say the bodies of 458 people were found in a mass grave after Russian troops departed.
Mr Zelenskyy was also asked what he thought his biggest mistake was and if anyone from his country had disappointed him.
“I’d like to start with the ones who disappointed me,” he said.
“All those who left on 24 February… all those who left Kyiv, all those who were leaving cities and towns… all those who were supposed to fight for this country, who were supposed to take care of the security of this country.”
Read more:
What happened in Bucha and did Russian soldiers commit war crimes?
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On the question of his own mistake, Mr Zelenskyy said he did not know.
“I’m working from early morning to late night, I’m a living person and no matter how some might think of that, I make choices, I am convinced I’m making mistakes from time to time.”
Meanwhile, a journalist from Azerbaijan took a selfie with Mr Zelenskyy in the middle of a news conference.
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The reporter asked Mr Zelenskyy a question before saying his son had asked him to get a photo with him.
Mr Zelenskyy appeared happy to do so and smiled for the snap.
The Ukrainian president then said: “We’ll start with what your son has asked, then get to the question you asked.”
The man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher has been charged with sexual assault against an ex-girlfriend.
Rudy Guede, 38, was the only person who was definitively convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Ms Kercher in Perugia, Italy, back in 2007.
He will be standing trial again in November after an ex-girlfriend filed a police report in the summer of 2023 accusing Guede of mistreatment, personal injury and sexual violence.
Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was released from prison for the murder of Leeds University student Ms Kercher in 2021, after having served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence.
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Since last year – when this investigation was still ongoing – Guede has been under a “special surveillance” regime, Sky News understands, meaning he was banned from having any contact with the woman behind the sexual assault allegations, including via social media, and had to inform police any time he left his city of residence, Viterbo, as ruled by a Rome court.
Guede has been serving a restraining order and fitted with an electronic ankle tag.
The Kercher murder case, in the university city of Perugia, was the subject of international attention.
Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found murdered in the flat she shared with her American roommate, Amanda Knox.
The Briton’s throat had been cut and she had been stabbed 47 times.
(L-R) Raffaele Sollecito, Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox. File pic: AP
Ms Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were placed under suspicion.
Both were initially convicted of murder, but Italy’s highest court overturned their convictions, acquitting them in 2015.
World
IDF blames ‘technical error’ after Gaza officials say children collecting water killed in strike
The Israeli military says it missed its intended target after Gaza officials said 10 Palestinians – including six children – were killed in a strike at a water collection point.
Another 17 people were wounded in the strike on a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al Awda Hospital.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant but a “technical error with the munition” had caused the missile to fall “dozens of metres from the target”.
The IDF said the incident is under review, adding that it “works to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians as much as possible” and “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”.
A wounded child is treated after the strike on the water collection point. Pic: Reuters
Officials at Al Awda Hospital said it received 10 bodies after the Israeli strike on the water collection point and six children were among the dead.
Ramadan Nassar, who lives in the area, said around 20 children and 14 adults were lined up Sunday morning to fill up water.
When the strike occurred, everyone ran and some, including those who were severely injured, fell to the ground, he said.
Blood stains are seen on containers at the water collection point. Pic: Reuters
In total, 19 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health officials said.
Two women and three children were among nine killed after an Israeli strike on a home in the central town of Zawaida, officials at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.
Israel has claimed it hit more than 150 targets in the besieged enclave in the past day.
The latest strikes come after the Israel military opened fire near an aid centre in Rafah on Saturday. The Red Cross said 31 people were killed.
The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.
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Palestinians shot while seeking aid, says paramedic
The war in Gaza started in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage.
More than 58,000 Palestinians have since been killed, with more than half being women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
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US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.
But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough, as a new sticking point emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce.
Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
World
‘At least 59 killed’ in Gaza after Israeli military opens fire near aid centre and carries out strikes
At least 59 Palestinians have reportedly been killed after the Israeli military opened fire near an aid centre in Gaza and carried out strikes across the territory.
The Red Cross, which operates a field hospital in Rafah, said 25 people were “declared dead upon arrival” and “six more died after admittance” following gunfire near an aid distribution centre in the southern Gazan city.
The humanitarian organisation added that it also received 132 patients “suffering from weapon-related injuries” after the incident.
The Red Cross said: “The overwhelming majority of these patients sustained gunshot wounds, and all responsive individuals reported they were attempting to access food distribution sites.”
The organisation said the number of deaths marks the hospital’s “largest influx of fatalities” since it began operations in May last year.
The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.
It said in a statement: “Earlier today, several suspects were identified approaching IDF troops operating in the Rafah area, posing a threat to the troops, hundreds of metres from the aid distribution site.
“IDF troops operated in order to prevent the suspects from approaching them and fired warning shots.”
Palestinians mourn a loved one following the incident near the aid centre. Pic: Reuters
Mother’s despair over shooting
Somia Alshaar told Sky News her 17-year-old son Nasir was shot dead while visiting the aid centre after she told him not to go.
She said: “He went to get us tahini so we could eat.
“He went to get flour. He told me ‘mama, we don’t have tahini. Today I’ll bring you flour. Even if it kills me, I will get you flour’.
“He left the house and didn’t return. They told me at the hospital: your son…’Oh God, oh Lord’.”
Asked where her son was shot, she replied: “In the chest. Yes, in the chest.”
Somia Alshaar, pictured with her daughter, says her son was shot dead. Pic: Reuters
‘A policy of mass murder’
Hassan Omran, a paramedic with Gaza’s ministry of health, told Sky News after the incident that humanitarian aid centres in Gaza are now “centres of mass death”.
Speaking in Khan Younis, he said: “Today, there were more than 150 injuries and more than 20 martyrs at the aid distribution centres… the Israeli occupation deliberately kills and commits genocide. The Israeli occupation is carrying out a policy of mass murder.
“They call people to come get their daily food, and then, when citizens arrive at these centres, they are killed in cold blood.
“All the victims have gunshot wounds to the head and chest, meaning the enemy is committing these crimes deliberately.”
Israel has rejected genocide accusations and denies targeting civilians.
Two boys mourn their brother at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters
‘Lies being peddled’
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial US and Israeli-backed group which operates the distribution centre near Rafah, said: “Hamas is claiming there was violence at our aid distribution sites today. False.
“Once again, there were no incidents at or in the immediate vicinity of our sites.
“But that’s not stopping some from spreading the lies being peddled by ‘officials’ at the Hamas-controlled Nasser Hospital.”
The Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah has recorded more than 250 fatalities and treated more than 3,400 “weapon-wounded patients” since new food distribution sites were set up in Gaza on 27 May.
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Palestinians inspect the wreckage after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah. Pic: AP
It comes after four children and two women were among at least 13 people who died in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli strikes pounded the area starting late on Friday, officials in Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the territory said.
Fifteen others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not responded to a request for comment on the reported deaths.
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Israeli has been carrying out attacks in Gaza since Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages on 7 October 2023.
Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.
But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The latest fatalities in Gaza comes as a 20-year-old Palestinian-American man was beaten to death by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health ministry said.
Sayafollah Musallet, also known as Saif, was killed during a confrontation between Palestinians and settlers in Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the ministry said.
A second man, Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, died after being shot in the chest.
Mr Musallet’s family, from Tampa Florida, has called on the US State Department to lead an “immediate investigation”.
A State Department spokesperson said it was aware of the incident but it had no further comment “out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones” of the reported victim.
The Israeli military said the confrontation broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, lightly injuring them.
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