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MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that while Russia does not see Finland and Sweden's decision to join NATO as a threat, deployment of military infrastructure there may trigger a response from Moscow.

The expansion of NATO to Sweden and Finland poses "no direct threat for us... but the expansion of military infrastructure to these territories will certainly provoke our response," Putin said during a televised summit meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

The Moscow-led military alliance includes six countries of the former Soviet Union: Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

"This is a problem that is created completely artificially, because it is done in the foreign policy interests of the United States," Putin said, adding that NATO has become a "foreign policy instrument of one country".

"All this exacerbates an already difficult international security environment," Putin said.

Finland and Sweden are poised to jettison decades of military non-alignment to join NATO as a defence against feared aggression from Russia after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on February 24.

Finland announced its intention to join NATO on Sunday as Sweden's ruling party said it backed membership, paving the way for a joint application.

One of Russia's justifications for the military campaign in Ukraine was the encroachment of NATO towards its western borders. However, Moscow will now see Finland, with which Russia shares a 1,300 kilometre border, join the alliance.

Speaking at the CSTO meeting hosted in Moscow, Belarusian President and close Putin ally Alexander Lukashenko was the only other leader from the six-nation bloc to address the NATO expansion and back military action in Ukraine.

"NATO is aggressively building up its muscles, yesterday drawing in the neutral Finland and Sweden," said Lukashenko, who in February allowed Russian troops to enter Ukraine from Belarusian territory.

He also accused Washington of a "desire to prolong as much as possible" the conflict in Ukraine.

"Without the speedy rallying of our countries... there may not be a tomorrow," Lukashenko said.

Earlier on Monday, the Kremlin said Finland and Sweden's NATO membership would not improve security in Europe, while Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called it a "grave mistake with far-reaching consequences".

KYIV, Ukraine — NATO on Sunday pledged open-ended military support for Ukraine, as Finland hailed its "historic" bid to join the alliance and with Western claims that Russia had suffered heavy losses in its push east.

The promise came after Finland jettisoned decades of military non-alignment for a bulwark against Russia, redrawing the balance of power in Europe and angering the Kremlin.

On the ground in Ukraine, Russia announced air strikes in the east, as well as in Lviv, near the Polish border in the west which has largely been spared the destruction of elsewhere.

At a meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Berlin, Germany's Annalena Baerbock said it would provide military assistance "for as long as Ukraine needs this support for the self-defence of its country".

"Ukraine can win this war. Ukrainians are bravely defending their homeland," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg added.

Finland's move to join NATO is expected to be followed by neighbouring Sweden as soon as Monday, despite concerns from member state Turkey which has accused both countries of harbouring Kurdish extremists. 

Stoltenberg said the alliance would look to provide both with interim security guarantees while the applications are processed, including possibly by increasing troops in the region.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Berlin for talks between NATO foreign ministers, said he heard "almost across-the-board, very strong support" for the bids.

The Kremlin insists the Nordic nations have nothing to fear, in apparent retaliation, has pulled the plug on electricity supplies to Finland, with which it shares a 1,300-kilometre border.

Earlier, Western intelligence claimed that Russia has suffered huge military losses in Ukraine and that it will get bogged down in the strategic east because of stiff local resistance. 

Away from the conflict, Ukraine was basking in the morale-boosting glory of the landside win of its entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, the world’s biggest live music event. 

‘Lost momentum’ 

On the battlefield, Russia’s defence ministry claimed it had carried out “high-precision” missile strikes on four artillery munitions depots in the Donetsk area in the east of Ukraine.

Air strikes had also destroyed two missile-launching systems and radar, while 15 Ukrainian drones were taken out around Donetsk and Lugansk, it added.

In Lviv, the regional governor, Maksym Kozytsky, said four Russian missiles hit military infrastructure near the border with Poland.

No casualties were reported and Ukrainian armed forces said they destroyed two cruise missiles over the region. 

Lviv was last hit by Russian missiles on May 3. 

UK defence chiefs said Russia’s offensive in the eastern Donbas region had “lost momentum”.

Demoralised Russian troops had failed to make substantial gains and Moscow’s battle plan was “significantly behind schedule”, UK Defence Intelligence said.

“Russia has now likely suffered losses of one third of the ground combat force it committed in February. 

“Under the current conditions, Russia is unlikely to dramatically accelerate its rate of advance over the next 30 days.”

Exact, reliable casualty figures have been hard to come by, with Ukraine and Russia regularly publishing claims of enemy dead.

Kyiv says its troops have killed nearly 20,000 Russian troops. Moscow on March 25 said its forces had killed at least 14,000 Ukrainian military personnel.

But both figures are widely suspected to be inflated, and have not been verified by AFP or independent conflict monitors.

The Kremlin said in late March that some 1,351 of its troops had been killed.

A senior NATO military official estimated at the same time that between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers could have been killed in the fighting up to that point.

Eastern push

Russia has increasingly turned its attentions to eastern Ukraine after failing to capture Kyiv. 

Western leaders have predicted a drawn-out war of attrition stretching into next year.

But Ukrainian commanders have been more upbeat and expect a turning point by August. 

Russia has been trying to cross a river and encircle the city of Severodonetsk but have been repelled, with heavy losses of equipment, according to the governor of the Lugansk.

Local officials in Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv in the north have said Russian troops were withdrawing from the surrounding region, and Ukrainian forces were counterattacking. 

Ukrainian troops have been fighting a rear-guard battle from a network of underground tunnels and bunkers in the bowels of a steelworks in the devastated southern port city of Mariupol. 

Families of the estimated 600 troops still holed up at the vast Azovstal plant have appealed to China to intervene to secure the release of the dead and wounded. 

The United Nations and Red Cross helped to evacuate women, children and the elderly from the plant where they were sheltering earlier this month. 

Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of the city, said on Telegram that a “huge convoy” of 500 to 1,000 cars had arrived in the city of Zaporizhzhia. 

Eurovision win 

In war-weary Kyiv, news of Ukraine’s runaway Eurovision success was met with outpourings of joy and relief, bringing some respite from a daily barrage of grim reports of the conflict.

“It’s a small ray of happiness. It’s very important now for us,” said Iryna Vorobey, a 35-year-old businesswoman, adding that the show of support from across Europe was “incredible”.

“I’m very glad,” said Andriy Nemkovych, a 28-year-old project manager. “This win is so very good for our mood.”

The Kalush Orchestra’s “Stefania”, a rap lullaby combining folk and modern hip-hop rhythms, won the popular vote of viewers, pushing the UK into second place. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the group, whose lyrics about home took on extra poignancy with six million Ukrainians currently displaced outside the country.

But some were lukewarm. 

“Now, it’s not the most important thing,” said Vadym Zaplatnikov, 61, who insisted that “having Crimea back” would be a much more welcome announcement.

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine on Saturday claimed it was holding back a Russian assault in the eastern Donbas region and vowed to extract its last remaining fighters from a besieged steel plant.

The G-7 group of the world's top industrialised nations meanwhile reiterated it would "never recognise" the borders Russia has attempted to redraw through aggression and pledged more sanctions to tighten the screw on Moscow.

Ukraine's head of military intelligence, however, predicted a turning point in the months ahead, and claimed that one of Europe's biggest conflicts since World War II could even be over by the end of the year.

Russia, which sent in troops to Ukraine on February 24, has increasingly turned its attention to eastern Ukraine since the end of March.

Western analysts believe President Vladimir Putin has his sights on annexing southern and eastern Ukraine in the months ahead but his troops have appeared to be encountering stiff resistance.

The governor of the eastern Lugansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, said Ukrainian forces had prevented Russian attempts to cross a river and encircle the city of Severodonetsk.

“There’s heavy fighting on the border with Donetsk region,” Gaidai said, reporting big Russian losses of equipment and personnel.

“From interceptions [phone calls], we understand that a whole [Russian] battalion has refused to attack, because they see what’s happening.”

Aerial images showed dozens of destroyed armoured vehicles on the river bank and wrecked pontoon bridges.

 ‘Counter-attack’ 

UK military intelligence also said Russian forces had sustained heavy losses as they attempted the river crossing.

The highly risky manoeuvre reflected “the pressure the Russian commanders are under to make progress in their operations in eastern Ukraine”, it added.

Russian forces had “failed to make any significant advances despite concentrating forces in this area”, it said.

In Washington, a senior US defence official said most of the activity was now in the Donbas area.

Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Synegubov meanwhile said in a video on Telegram that Ukrainian forces were counterattacking in the direction of the northeastern city of Izium.

The Ukrainian General Staff said troops had managed to push Russian troops out of the Kharkiv, a priority target for Moscow.

“The enemy’s main efforts are focused on ensuring the withdrawal of its units from the city of Kharkiv,” a spokesman said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday said his troops would fight to recapture all occupied territory, and those under siege.

That included those in the southern port city of Mariupol, where the last defenders are holed up in the vast Azovstal steelworks.

“Currently, very difficult negotiations are underway on the next stage of the evacuation mission, the rescue of the seriously wounded, medics. It is a large number of people,” he said.

Women, children and the elderly who had taken refuge in the tunnels and bunkers in the Azovstal plant were evacuated at the end of April with the help of the United Nations and Red Cross.

The Ukrainian general staff said in an update Saturday that Russian forces continued “to blockade our units near the Azovstal plant” and carried out “massive artillery and air strikes”.

From inside, Sviatoslav Palamar, one of the leaders of the Ukrainian Azov regiment, told the online Kyiv Security Forum there were 600 wounded there and pleaded for help to evacuate them.

“We continue to defend ourselves, and we shall not surrender,” he said.

KYIV, Ukraine — Finland on Thursday took a step towards fast-track membership of NATO, triggering a blunt warning from the Kremlin, as the war in Ukraine throttled supplies of Russian gas to Europe.

In Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council decided to probe alleged Russian atrocities in Ukraine, in a vote overwhelmingly approved by its members but snubbed by Russia.

Announcing a seismic change in policy since Russia invaded its neighbour in February, Finland's leaders declared their nation must apply to join NATO "without delay".

"NATO membership would strengthen Finland's security," President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a joint statement in Helsinki. 

"As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defence alliance."

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned Russia would "definitely" see Finnish membership as a threat.

The Russian foreign ministry said Moscow would be "forced to take reciprocal steps, military-technical and other, to address the resulting threats to its national security".

In launching the invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin cited in part what he called the threat from NATO, which expanded eastwards after the Cold War.

The foreign ministry accused NATO of seeking to create "another flank for the military threat to our country".

"Helsinki should be aware of its responsibility and the consequences of such a move," it said. 

Finland has been a declared neutral in East-West crises for decades, and as recently as January its leaders ruled out NATO membership of the alliance.

But the February 24 invasion shocked the Nordic nation.

It shares a 1,300-kilometre border with Russia and its past is studded with conflict with its giant neighbour.

NATO has already declared it will warmly embrace the two countries with deep pockets and well-equipped armies. 

Finland's entry will be "smooth and swift", NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg promised on Thursday.

Germany, France and the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee also strongly voiced their support, and Britain has already pledged its assistance.

A special committee will announce Finland's formal decision on a membership bid on Sunday. Sweden, another neutral state, is widely expected to follow its neighbour. 

Russia’s flow of gas to Europe fell meanwhile, spurring fears for Germany and other heavily-dependent economies.

Russian energy giant Gazprom announced it would stop supplying gas via the Polish part of the Yamal-Europe pipeline following retaliatory sanctions that Russia slapped on Western companies on Wednesday.

Gazprom also said gas transiting to Europe via Ukraine had dropped by a third — a fall it blamed on Ukraine’s pipeline operator, which the company denies, pointing the finger at Russia.

Ukraine and Poland are major supply routes for Russian gas to Europe and the two sides have kept flows going despite the conflict.

The European Union’s heavy reliance on Russian energy has made it reluctant to add oil and gas imports to sanctions that are inflicting a toll on Russia’s economy.

Germany accused Russia of using “energy as a weapon”.

“The situation is coming to a head,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said.

The EU is struggling to overcome Hungarian resistance for plans to ban Russian oil.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, drew a parallel with the 1930s as he urged the bloc to impose an immediate embargo.

“If the leaders had acted decisively in 1938, Europe could have avoided WWII,” he wrote on Twitter. “History won’t forgive us if we make the same mistake again.”

Shelling 

Fighting in Ukraine has been concentrated on the south and east since Russia abandoned attempts to seize Kyiv in the opening weeks of the war.

Ukraine’s presidency said shelling continued throughout Lugansk — part of the Donbas region where Ukrainian forces are fiercely opposing Russian armour and Kremlin-backed separatists.

Russian troops are trying to take complete control of Rubizhne, block a key highway between Lysychansk and Bakhmut and seize Severodonetsk, the office said.

In the northeastern region of Chernihiv three people were killed and 12 others wounded early Thursday in a strike on a school in Novgorod-Siversky, the emergency services said. 

In the southern port city of Mariupol, besieged troops in the vast Azovstal steelworks have been holding out against weeks-long bombardment, refusing demands to surrender.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said “difficult talks” were underway over the evacuation of 38 seriously wounded troops.

War crimes probe 

In Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council voted 33-2, with 12 abstentions, to investigate alleged atrocities BY Russian troops.

The resolution, brought by Ukraine, will focus on alleged crimes in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy regions in late February and in March, “with a view to holding those responsible to account”.

“These have been 10 weeks of sheer horror to the people of my country,” Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova told the UN meeting from Kyiv.

“Only the world standing strong in solidarity with the Ukrainian people can defeat this pure evil.”

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has already begun its own inquiry, sending investigators to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.

The invasion has sparked an exodus of nearly six million civilians, many of whom describe torture, sexual violence and indiscriminate destruction.

Ukrainian prosecutors say they have received reports of more than 10,000 alleged crimes, with 622 suspects identified.

On Wednesday, the office said it would launch the first trial for war crimes.

Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old Russian soldier, is accused of killing an unarmed 62-year-old civilian as he fled with four other soldiers in a stolen car.

Dilemmas 

Across Ukraine, lives have been turned upside down, forcing millions to make anguished choices of how to respond.

Zhanna Protsenko, a social worker in the frontline town of Orikhiv, spoke to AFP as she was about to head off on her bicycle to visit people who refused or were unable to evacuate.

“How can I leave them here?” the 56-year-old asked, standing near a hospital that was hit by a strike in the past week. 

“We work. We have no time to hide,” she said as contractors repaired rows of blown-out windows and an oil drum-sized hole blasted in the hospital’s brick facade.

SEOUL — North Korea confirmed its first-ever COVID-19 cases on Thursday and declared a “serious emergency”, with leader Kim Jong-un appearing in a mask on television for the first time to order nationwide lockdowns.

Hours after the shock announcement — the first time the nuclear-armed country has admitted to having COVID cases — Seoul’s military said it had detected three short-range ballistic missiles fired from near Pyongyang.

The launch, one of more than a dozen sanctions-busting weapons tests so far this year, comes shortly after Washington warned that Kim’s regime could test a nuke any day, with satellite images indicating fresh activity at nuclear sites.

Earlier Thursday, North Korea said it had moved into a “maximum emergency epidemic prevention system” after patients with fevers in Pyongyang tested positive for the “Omicron BA.2 variant” of COVID.

Kim, wearing a mask on state television for the first time, oversaw an emergency politburo meeting to discuss the outbreak and “called on all the cities and counties of the whole country to thoroughly lock down their areas”.

Kim told the meeting that the goal was to “quickly cure the infections in order to eradicate the source of the virus spread”, official news agency KCNA said, without specifying how many cases had been detected.

With its 25 million people not vaccinated against COVID, North Korea’s crumbling health infrastructure would struggle to deal with a major outbreak, experts say.

‘Continuing provocations’ 

South Korea’s military said the short-range ballistic missiles Pyongyang tested Thursday flew 360km at an altitude of 90km.

New President Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration slammed North Korea’s “continuing provocations with a ballistic missile launch despite the outbreak of coronavirus”, his security office said after a meeting.

By following its reporting of COVID cases with a missile test, North Korea is signalling that “coronavirus control and its pursuit of national defence are two separate things”, Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies said.

“It is now reasonable to assume it could also conduct a nuclear test with Kim Jong-un’s greenlight at any moment,” he added.

No vaccines 

“For Pyongyang to publicly admit Omicron cases, the public health situation must be serious,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul said.

“Pyongyang will likely double down on lockdowns, even though the failure of China’s zero-COVID strategy suggests that approach won’t work against the Omicron variant.”

North Korea has turned down offers of COVID vaccines from the World Health Organisation(WHO), China and Russia.

Accepting vaccines through the WHO’s Covax scheme “requires transparency over how vaccines are distributed”, Go Myong-hyun, a researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told AFP.

“That’s why North Korea rejected it,” Go said.

North Korea is surrounded by countries that have battled — or are still fighting to control — significant Omicron-fuelled outbreaks.

South Korea, which has high rates of vaccination, has recently eased almost all COVID restrictions, with cases sharply down after a spike in March.

China, the world’s only major economy to still maintain a zero-COVID policy, is battling multiple Omicron outbreaks — with some major cities, including financial hub Shanghai, under strict stay-at-home orders.

It appears North Korea will try to avoid China’s strict measures, which have seen millions of people locked into their apartments for several weeks, including in Beijing, said Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute.

But even less harsh measures would create a “severe food shortage and the same chaos China is now facing”, he said.

Seoul-based specialist site NK News reported that areas of Pyongyang had already been locked down for two days, with reports of panic buying.

Nuke test? 

South Korea’s president, who was sworn in Tuesday, has vowed to get tough with Pyongyang after five years of failed diplomacy.

After high-profile talks collapsed in 2019, North Korea has doubled down on weapons testing, conducting a blitz of launches so far this year, including intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Satellite imagery indicates North Korea is preparing to conduct a nuclear test, and the United States has warned this could come as soon as this month.

The COVID outbreak could potentially disrupt their military programme, analysts said — or accelerate it.

“There is a possibility of delaying the nuclear test in order to focus on overcoming the coronavirus,” Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, told AFP.

But he said if public fears over an outbreak were to spread, Kim might go ahead with a test “to divert this fear to another place”.

The Sejong Institute’s Cheong agreed that more weapons tests were likely for the regime to “boost the morale of North Korean citizens” in light of the COVID situation.