Russia Ukraine war breaking news: Putin ally Medvedev says war could last ‘decades’

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top aides has said the war in Ukraine could drag on for decades, with long periods of fighting interspersed with ceasefires, a state news agency reported today.

“This conflict will last a very long time, probably decades,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said.

“As long as there is such a power in place, there will be, say, three years of ceasefire, two years of conflict, and everything will be repeated,” he continued, repeating Moscow’s claim that Ukraine is a Nazi state.

The comments by the vice chairman of Putin’s powerful Security Council were made during a visit to Vietnam, the RIA news agency reported. He had described the Ukrainian authorities as an “infection”.

Ukraine celebrates the return of more than 100 soldiers from captivity.

“Today we have another positive result from our team working on exchanges,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter.

“We have returned 106 more fighters from captivity – they fought in the Bakhmut sector. It is very important that there was no information about many of these 106 people at all – they were considered missing. But we found them.

“We brought them home. 8 officers, 98 soldiers and sergeants… I thank everyone who brought this result.”

Russian Wagner’s private army began handing over its positions in Bakhmut to regular Russian troops yesterday, five days after announcing the full capture of the devastated city in eastern Ukraine following the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.

“From today at five o’clock in the morning, May 25 to June 1, most of the (Wagner) units will re-base to camps in the rear,” Wagner chief Yevgeny Prighozin said in a video. The leader of the mercenary group wore combat gear and stood next to a war-torn residential block.

However, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said that Wagner has only surrendered positions on the outskirts of the city but “inside the city itself, Wagner fighters remain”.

Prigozhin has said his combat unit would be ready to return to the city if needed.

Military authorities in Kiev warned of an increased risk of Russian missile strikes in the early hours of today, adding that air defenses were working.

“Increased missile danger! Air defense is working in the region,” the regional military administration in Kyiv said in a message on Telegram.

Russia has targeted all of Ukraine and especially Kiev in recent months with combined early-morning drone, cruise missile and ballistic missile strikes in an attempt to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses.

But Kiev says it has successfully knocked out most of the Russian missiles headed for Ukrainian cities since April.

No details on possible injuries were immediately available.

In a surprise commencement speech to Johns Hopkins University graduates Thursday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told them to take advantage of the time and resources they have to pursue their passions and uphold the democratic values ​​at stake in his country’s war against Russia.

He spoke via live stream from Ukraine, where the ongoing conflict has affected the future of countless young Ukrainians, depriving them of opportunities and loved ones, Zelensky said.

He told the Hopkins graduates to make the most of every moment.

“Time is the most valuable resource on the planet,” he said. “Some people realize this earlier, and this is the lucky ones.

Others realize it too late, when they lose someone or something.”

He also thanked American leaders for their support since the Russian invasion, including significant investments in humanitarian and military aid.

The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia on Thursday both spoke of progress toward ending their decades-old conflict over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, even as they argued openly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave inside Azerbaijan, has been a source of conflict between the two neighboring countries in the Caucasus since the years until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and between ethnic Armenians and Turkic Azeris for more than a century. .

In 2020, Azerbaijan seized control of areas that had been controlled by ethnic Armenians in and around the mountainous enclave, and since then it has periodically restricted access to the only access road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, on which the enclave depends for economic and military support.

At a meeting in Moscow, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused Azerbaijan of causing a humanitarian crisis by blocking the only land route from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.

He called it a “direct violation” of a 2020 ceasefire that ended the six-week war between the two countries, and called for an international mission to be sent to assess the situation.

A US senator said Thursday he hoped Serbia would adopt Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, telling the Balkan country “there is no future” in an alliance with Moscow.

“Russia’s invasion has been an absolute disaster and my belief is that Russia will ultimately lose this conflict,” Senator Chris Murphy told reporters in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. Serbia is the only country in Europe that has not imposed any sanctions against Russia.

“The future of Serbia is with the European Union and with the United States, not with Russia,” Murphy said. “There is no future with Russia. They (Russia) will be devastated, a permanent pariah internationally after this invasion.”

Although Serbia is formally seeking EU membership and has condemned the invasion at the United Nations, Belgrade has maintained its historically friendly relations with Moscow.

Pål Jonson, Sweden’s Minister of Defence, has held talks with Ukraine’s counterparts about what support the Scandinavian country can provide.

Mr Jonson was joined by his party colleague Carl-Oskar Bohlin for the visit on Thursday.

The defense minister tweeted: “Impressed by the achievements of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the resilience of the Ukrainian people.”

Ukraine secured the release of 106 captured soldiers in a prisoner swap with Russia on Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said.

The soldiers, including eight officers, were captured fighting in the devastated eastern town of Bakhmut, which Russia says it has captured, but where Kiev’s forces say they still have a small foothold.

“Each of them is a hero of our state. Many of those we return from captivity were considered missing. The relatives of these people have gone through a difficult time,” said senior official Andriy Yermak.

Tatiana Moskalkova, Russia’s human rights ombudsman, confirmed that Russia’s private military unit Wagner took part in a combat exchange on Thursday, but gave no further details.

Wagner played a key role in Russia’s months-long assault on the town of Bakhmut in which both sides likened the fierce fighting to a “meat grinder”.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. Ukrainian military intelligence says 2,430 Ukrainians have been released in prisoner swaps, including 139 civilians.