Ukraine Update…852 Days of the Russian Conflict…Ukraine EU dance…..

• A Russian has been charged with conspiring to hack and destroy computer systems and data in Ukraine and allied countries including the US, the US justice department said on Wednesday, and announced a $10m reward for information. Before the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Amin Timovich Stigal, 22, who remains at large, targeted Kyiv’s government systems and data with no military-related role, the department alleged. Computer systems in the US and other countries that provided support to Ukraine were targeted later, it alleged.

• Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich went on trial behind closed doors in Ekaterinburg on Wednesday, 15 months after his arrest in the Russian city on espionage charges that he, his employer and the US government vehemently deny. The 32-year-old was arrested in March 2023, while on a reporting trip to Ekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains, with authorities claiming without offering any evidence that he was gathering secret information for the US.

• The EU is expected to sign a security agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday, pledging to keep delivering weapons, military training and other aid to Kyiv for years to come. The agreement will lay out the EU’s commitment to help Ukraine in nine areas of security and defence policy – including arms deliveries, military training, defence industry cooperation and demining, according to a draft seen by Reuters.

• European Union countries agreed a sanctions package against Belarus on Wednesday, EU diplomats and Belgium said, to try to close off a route to avoiding restrictions on Russia. “This package will strengthen our measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including combating circumvention of sanctions,” Belgium, which holds the EU presidency until the end of June, said on X.

• President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made an unannounced visit to the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine to bolster morale among troops, amid continuing advances by Russian forces. The Ukrainian president recorded a video address against the backdrop of Pokrovsk, a city with a prewar population of about 61,000 that has experienced some of the most intense fighting during the 28-month-long full-scale invasion. Zelenskiy made the trip alongside Brig Gen Andriy Hnatov, the newly appointed commander of the joint forces.

• During the visit, Zelenskiy signalled that he was getting tough on officials he suspects are shirking their duties. He said that back in Kyiv he would speak to “officials who must be here and in other areas near the frontline – in difficult communities where people need immediate solutions.” He continued: “I was surprised to learn that some relevant officials have not been here for six months or more. There will be a serious conversation, and I will draw appropriate conclusions regarding them.”

• Five Lithuanians were wounded when they came under fire in eastern Ukraine as they delivered aid to troops, officials and team members said Wednesday. The volunteer workers were in a car that was shelled on Monday in Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, a colleague Valdas Bartkevicius told AFP. The region’s governor reported that five people were killed and dozens wounded in Russian strikes on Pokrovsk on Monday.

• Representatives of Russia’s and Ukraine’s human rights offices held a meeting for the first time during an exchange of prisoners of war on Tuesday, Kyiv said. The two countries each released 90 captured soldiers in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates, the latest in more than 50 prisoner exchanges that have taken place throughout the war. But it was the first time Russia had agreed to hold a direct meeting between human rights representatives during the exchange, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets told AFP.

• Nato’s 32 nations on Wednesday appointed outgoing Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte as the alliance’s next head. Rutte will take over from secretary general Jens Stoltenberg on 1 October after major powers – spearheaded by the US – wrapped up his nomination ahead of a summit of Nato leaders in Washington next month…..

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