May 28, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Simone McCarthy, Joshua Berlinger, Laura Smith-Spark, Adrienne Vogt and Joe Ruiz, CNN

Updated 12:06 AM ET, Sun May 29, 2022

What we covered

The key city of Severodonetsk in embattled Luhansk is "not cut off" by Russian forces, Ukrainian official says, but intense Russian shelling is underway as Moscow attempts to consolidate its grip on eastern Ukraine.
France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Olaf Scholz urged Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine and withdraw Russia's troops in a phone call Saturday with the Russian president, German officials said.
A branch of Ukraine's Orthodox church has broken ties with Russia's Patriarch Kirill over the Russian spiritual leader's support for the war in Ukraine, deepening a rift between the Moscow church and other Orthodox believers.
The US Defense Department said it is "mindful and aware" of Ukraine's request for multiple-launch rocket systems, but "decisions … haven't been made yet." CNN reported Thursday the US was preparing to send the weapons as part of a larger package of assistance.
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11:44 p.m. ET, May 27, 2022

22 million tons of grain on hold as Russia blocks Ukrainian ports, Zelensky says

From CNN's Anastasia Graham-Yooll in London

A grain silo in the town of Sivers'k in the eastern Donbas region was destroyed by Russian shelling on May 25. The region has been under heavy attack. (Alex Chan/SOPA Images/Sipa USA/AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said nearly half of Ukraine’s grain export supply is currently held up as Russia continues to block the country’s main export routes through the Black Sea and Azov Sea, calling the situation a potential “catastrophe” for global food security.

Addressing an Indonesian foreign policy think tank in an online forum Friday, Zelensky said, “22 million tons of grain are kept in silos today. We cannot supply them to international markets where they are needed at this very point in time."

The Ukrainian president also said the UN estimates that famine might affect an additional 50 million people this year were a “conservative” estimate, implying that the number of those affected will be greater.

“Famine doesn’t come alone, it is always accompanied by political chaos that exacerbates the situation, ruins people’s lives, creating unsafe conditions for ordinary people," he said. "In July, when many countries will exhaust their stock of last year’s harvest, it will become obvious the catastrophe is truly coming."

The Ukrainian president also accepted an invitation to attend the G20 Summit in Indonesia in November. He urged the hosts to include “only friendly nations,” implying Russia should be excluded from the summit in Bali.

11:22 p.m. ET, May 27, 2022

"Fierce defense" of Severodonetsk underway with 90% of housing damaged, military official says

From CNN's Nathan Hodge

People prepare to be evacuated from Severodonetsk, Ukraine on May 25. (Rick Mave/SOPA Images/Sipa USA)

About 90% of residential buildings in Severodonetsk have been damaged amid a "fierce defense" of the eastern Ukrainian city, a local military official said Friday.

The city "held out through the night" under heavy Russian attack, Oleksandr Striuk, the head of the Severodonetsk military administration, said in a radio interview. But he acknowledged that Russian forces were continuing to press the offensive.

"Yesterday the fighting took place at the entrance to the city," he said. "Our military managed to stop the vanguard of the Orcs [a pejorative Ukrainian term for Russian troops] who were trying to break into the city. Severodonetsk is in fierce defense. The enemy is located on two-thirds of the city's perimeter, but the city is not surrounded."

The city had seen widespread destruction, Striuk said.

"The Azot (Nitrogen) chemical plant is being shelled," he said. "There are dead among the civilian population and among employees of the enterprise. Ninety percent of the housing stock is damaged, 60% will have to be rebuilt."

Striuk said a Russian force that entered a hotel on the north of the city was expelled by Ukrainian forces, a claim that could not be immediately verified. Ukrainian officials previously said the hotel was not under their control.