Volodymyr Zelensky asked Nato states to shoot down Russian missiles to compensate for Kyiv’s defence deficit as he pushed Ukraine’s allies for more direct involvement in the war.
Reminding the military alliance that Ukraine still awaits the delivery of American F-16 fighter jets to counter Russian forces, he said: “You can’t provide that right now? OK … returning to the planes that you have on the territory of neighbouring Nato countries: raise them up … shoot down targets, protect civilians.”
The call to accelerate aid and push so-called “red lines” of engagement in the conflict reflects the growing pressure that Ukrainian forces are under along more than 1,000km of front lines in the northeast, east and south of the country.
Meanwhile, Ukraine claimed that Russia has lost more than 1,500 soldiers in the past week in the grinding war in Kharkiv even as Vladimir Putin said Moscow has “no plans” to take Ukraine’s second city.
Russia has lost 1,572 soldiers in just the last seven days and 263 pieces of military equipment, including 75 drones, 66 army vehicles and eight tanks, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed. These numbers cannot be independently verified.
Key Points
Zelensky asks Nato states to shoot down Russian missiles
Russia loses over 1,500 soldiers trying to capture Kharkiv
Russian missile attack on Kharkiv resort kill at least 11
Volodymyr Zelensky calls for more Patriots, western aid in Kharkiv
Putin has lost 493,690 troops in Ukraine since full-scale invasion
Ukraine says it downs 28 out of 29 drones launched by Russia overnight
07:35 , Matt Mathers
Ukrainian forces shot down 28 out of 29 drones used by Russian forces in an overnight attack on seven regions, Ukraine’s air force said in a statement on Tuesday.
The drone attack damaged four private residences, 25 trucks and buses in Kharkiv, injuring five people, according to the region’s governor Oleh Syniehubov and Ukrainian Internal Affairs Ministry’s statements on the Telegram messaging app.
A missile attack later in the morning targeted transport infrastructure and injured two more people in the city, the governor added.
Two drones shot down in Dnipropetrovsk region damaged outbuildings, with no casualties reported by the region’s governor.
Three Shahed-type drones were shot down over the Kherson region, with 14 more shot down over the Odesa region, according to the Ukrainian military.
The rest of the drones targeted the Mykolaiv, Cherkasy and Kirovohrad regions.
Reuters could not independently verify the information on damages.
One person killed in Ukrainian drone attack on Russia
07:20 , Namita Singh
One person was killed and three wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on the village of Oktyabrsky in Russia’s Belgorod region, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said this morning on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine aims to corner Russia during international peace talks in Switzerland
07:10 , Namita Singh
Ukraine is gearing up for international talks in Switzerland next month that will exclude Russia and are aimed at trying to unify and harden opinion against Moscow.Volodymyr Zelensky said it was crucial to get as many countries around the table as possible. “And then Russia will have to answer to the majority of the world, not Ukraine. …
No one says that tomorrow Russia will agree, but it is important that we have the initiative.”
Beijing has yet to say whether it will participate, although Chinese president Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin met last week in China and pledged a “new era” of partnership between the two most powerful rivals of the United States.
“It is very important that they (China) are there,” said Mr Zelensky. “Because in principle, after this summit, it becomes clear who wants to end the war, and who wants to remain in strong relations with the Russian Federation.”
On US politics, he sought to dampen concerns that any win for Republican candidate Donald Trump in November elections could spell trouble for Ukraine. Trump is a Ukraine aid sceptic who has stressed “America First” policies.
“I don’t believe that Republicans are against support for Ukraine, but some messages that are coming from their side raise concerns.”
It’s horrifying what’s happened to Ukrainians with disabilities during Russia’s war – we cannot abandon them
07:00 , Alexander Butler
Comment: Reporting on the kidnapping and abuse of the most vulnerable in Ukrainian society makes one thing clear, writes Bel Trew: in war people with disabilities are the last to be remembered and the first to be left behind:
Used as human shields, starved or deprived of medicines, tortured, abducted, disappeared. These are the potential crimes that have been committed against people with disabilities since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, according to a new 18-month investigation by The Independent.
We cannot abandon Ukrainians with disabilities suffering during war
Tory MP claims it is ‘extremely unlikely’ Ukraine will win against Russia
06:30 , Namita Singh
A Conservative former minister has claimed it is “extremely unlikely” that Ukraine will succeed against Russia, as he urged MPs to be realistic.
During a debate on Ukraine, Sir Edward Leigh argued that “America could’ve won this war by now” if it had armed Ukraine sufficiently.
Sir Edward said current resources are not enough for Ukraine to win, before revealing he is prepared to send UK troops to fight and put the UK’s economy on a war footing.
The Gainsborough MP said: “It is extremely unlikely, sadly, that Ukraine can win this war.”
Report:
Tory MP claims it is ‘extremely unlikely’ Ukraine will win against Russia
Putin appoints another economist as deputy defence minister
06:15 , Namita Singh
President Vladimir Putin yesterday appointed former deputy economy minister Oleg Savelyev as a deputy defence minister, according to a published decree, in a further sign of his intention to improve the efficiency of Russia’s war economy.
Mr Putin sprang a surprise last week by removing defence minister Sergei Shoigu and replacing him with Andrei Belousov, an economist and former deputy prime minister.
The move was widely seen as aimed at getting more value from defence spending and cleaning up the defence ministry, which has been hit by a major bribery scandal.
Mr Savelyev worked in the economy ministry from 2008 to 2014 and briefly served as a deputy to Belousov, who headed the ministry at the time.
After Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Mr Savelyev served as Minister for Crimean Affairs in 2014-2015. For the past five years, he has been an auditor for the Russian Accounts Chamber, overseeing state defence and security spending.
Zelensky asks Nato states to shoot down Russian missiles
06:14 , Namita Singh
Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted his partners to be more directly involved in the war, but understood they were wary of antagonising Russia. He, however, added if countries could not supply the planes straight away, they could still fly them from neighbouring Nato states and shoot down Russian missiles.
“It’s a question of will,” he said. “But everyone says a word that sounds the same in every language: everyone is scared of escalation. Everyone has gotten used to the fact that Ukrainians are dying – that’s not escalation for people.”
He proposed that the armed forces of neighbouring Nato countries could intercept incoming Russian missiles over Ukrainian territory to help Kyiv protect itself.
Russia has fired thousands of missiles and drones at Ukraine since the start of the wider conflict, and air defences are a priority for Kyiv.
“Russians are using 300 planes on the territory of Ukraine. We need at least 120, 130 planes to resist in the sky,” he said. Ukraine is waiting for the delivery of US-designed F-16s fighters to counter Russian forces, he said, as he asked the North Atlantic Alliance to compensate for the delay by hitting the targets.
“You can’t provide that right now? OK … returning to the planes that you have on the territory of neighbouring Nato countries: raise them up … shoot down targets, protect civilians.”
Pentagon vows to keep weapons moving to Ukraine as Kyiv faces a renewed assault by Russia
06:00 , Namita Singh
Defence secretary Lloyd Austin committed to keeping US weapons moving to Ukraine as Kyiv faces one of its toughest moments against a renewed assault by Russia.
Mr Austin and as many as 50 defence leaders from Europe and around the world met yesterday to coordinate more military aid to Ukraine as it tries to hold off a Russian offensive in the northeast while launching its own massive assault on the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula.
“We’re meeting in a moment of challenge,” Mr Austin said, noting that Russia’s new onslaught on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, showed why the commitment was vital. Mr Austin vowed to keep US weapons moving “week after week”.
He told reporters the group spent a lot of time talking about Ukraine’s critical need for air defense systems, which he said are helping stave off the Russian attacks.“We’ll continue to push to ensure that Ukraine owns its skies and can defend its citizens and its civilian infrastructure far from the front lines,” he said after the meeting ended.
Zelensky pushes allies to step up aid
05:45 , Namita Singh
Western allies are taking too long to make key decisions on military support for Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky told Reuters.
He also said he was pushing partners to get more directly involved in the war by helping to intercept Russian missiles over Ukraine and allowing Kyiv to use Western weapons against enemy military equipment amassing near the border.
The call to accelerate aid and push so-called “red lines” of engagement in the conflict reflect the growing pressure Ukrainian forces are under along more than 1,000km of front lines in the northeast, east and south of the country.
He said the situation on the battlefield was “one of the most difficult” he had known since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
In recent weeks Moscow’s troops have made incursions into northeastern Ukraine, further testing Kyiv’s already stretched defences. At the same time, Russia has taken territory in the eastern Donbas region in sometimes fierce battles.
“A very powerful wave (of fighting) is going on in Donbas … No-one even notices that there are actually more battles in the east of the country, specifically in the Donbas direction: Kurakhove, Pokrovsk, Chasiv Yar.”
He added, however, that the situation north of Kharkiv was now “under control”, as he called again for faster military aid from the United States and other partners.
Russia claims control of Bilohorivka
05:30 , Namita Singh
The Russian military said yesterday that it had taken full control of the settlement of Bilohorivka in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, while Kyiv said fighting was going on in the area.
The Russian defence ministry said in a statement its forces had taken up better positions in the area.
Ukraine’s General Staff, in its late evening report on Facebook, did not directly deny the Russian report but said fighting was still going on around Bilohorivka, and added that Ukrainian forces had repelled three attacks in the nearby Siversk sector.
Earlier, the General Staff said Kyiv’s troops “have been holding back” Russian attacks near the village.
The Russian defence ministry added it had also been involved in fierce clashes in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region near Vovchansk, Starytsia and Hlyboke where it said troops had repelled two counter-attacks.
Russian forces earlier this month thrust into the Kharkiv region in what president Vladimir Putin said was an operation to create a buffer zone to protect Russian border regions.
President Volodymyr Zelensky told Reuters that the situation north of Kharkiv was now “under control”.
Ukraine war ‘needs to come to a stop’- Grant Shapps
05:00 , Alexander Butler
Defence secretary Grant Shapps, speaking at defence questions, told the Commons: “We are very mindful of the situation in Ukraine and particularly in Kharkiv, where Russia are making, or trying to make, inroads.
“This is an existential battle for all civilised countries that believe in democracy and freedom and it is the case that we must ensure the world continues to keep up the efforts.
“It is not right for there to be pauses in our support and when there are, the sort of losses we’ve seen, I hope on a very temporary, and believe on a very temporary, basis, in Kharkiv around the villages to the north are an inevitable consequence of inaction.”
Mr Shapps later told MPs: “This bloody war is now killing up to 1,000 Russians a day, or causing casualties, and it needs to come to a stop.”
Russian theatre director and playwright put on trial over play
04:26 , Namita Singh
A Russian court yesterday opened the trial of a theatre director and a playwright accused of advocating terrorism in a play, the latest step in an unrelenting crackdown on dissent in Russia that has reached new heights since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
Zhenya Berkovich, a prominent independent theatre director, and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have been jailed for over a year. Authorities claim their play Finist, the Brave Falcon justifies terrorism, which is a criminal offence in Russia punishable by up to seven years in prison. Berkovich and Petriychuk have both repeatedly rejected the accusations against them.
Berkovich told the court that she staged the play in order to prevent terrorism, and Petriychuk echoed her sentiment, saying that she wrote it in order to prevent events like those depicted in the play.
The women’s lawyers have pointed out at court hearings before the trial that the play was supported by the Russian Culture Ministry and won the Golden Mask award, Russia’s most prestigious national theatre award. In 2019, the play was read to inmates of a women’s prison in Siberia, and Russia’s state penitentiary service praised it on its website, Petriychuk’s lawyer has said.
The case against Berkovich and Petriychuk elicited outrage in Russia. An open letter in support of the two artists, started by the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper, has been signed by more than 16,000 people since their arrest. The play, the letter argued, “carries an absolutely clear anti-terrorist sentiment”.
Dozens of Russian actors, directors and journalists also signed affidavits urging the court to release the two from custody pending investigation and trial.
Watch: Tyson Fury clarifies claims judges sided with Oleksandr Usyk because of war in Ukraine
04:00 , Alexander Butler
US has no plan to send military trainers into Ukraine, top general says
03:00 , Alexander Butler
The US is not planning to send military trainers into Ukraine and would likely do so only when the war there with Russia is over, Washington said.
More than two years into the war, Russian are slowly advancing in eastern Ukraine, exploiting Ukrainian shortages of manpower and months of delays in arms supplies from the West.
That has raised questions about what more the United States and its allies can do, beyond funneling billions of dollars in weaponry and providing intelligence and training to Ukrainian military forces from outside of the country.
“Right now, there are no plans to bring US trainers into Ukraine,” General Charles Q. Brown, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.
Head of Russia-annexed Luhansk says Ukrainian shelling damages fuel depot
02:00 , Alexander Butler
The head of Ukraine’s Russia-annexed Luhansk region said on Monday that Ukrainian shelling had damaged a fuel depot and triggered a fire in the town of Dovzhansk. It was the third such Ukrainian attack on depots in the region this month.
Leonid Pasechnik, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said Ukrainian forces had used cluster bombs in the attack on the town, called Sverdlovsk, its Soviet-era name, by the Russia-installed local administration.
Pasechnik said emergency services were at the scene to keep nearby buildings safe from the fire in the town, which lies south of the region’s main town, Luhansk.
Russia is using more Iranian drones to bomb Ukrainian civilians, says US defense secretary
01:00 , Alexander Butler
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said that the Russian army is intensifying its use of Iranian drones to target civilian areas.
“The Kremlin continues to intensify its bombardment of Ukraine, using Russian missiles and Iranian drones to strike more civilian targets across Ukraine’s territory and to put more innocent civilians — Ukrainians in the crosshairs,” Mr Austin said at the Pentagon during his opening remarks at the 22nd meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
This comes after the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a helicopter crash in a rural part of the country as they returned from a meeting on the border with Azerbaijan.
Russia bombing Ukrainian civilians with Iranian drones, says US
Zelensky says Western allies making decisions over Ukraine military aid ‘a year late’
Tuesday 21 May 2024 00:01 , Alexander Butler
Zelensky says allies making decisions over Ukraine military aid for ‘a year late’
As Russia’s forces edge ever closer, Kharkiv’s mayor has a defiant message for Putin
Monday 20 May 2024 23:00 , Alexander Butler
The three Russian glide bombs pound into the residential tower block, ripping apart several floors. At least 10 are injured in a strike that is part of what has become a near-daily aerial assault on Ukraine’s second-largest city.
In his office a few streets away is Kharkiv’s mayor Igor Terekhov, who is quickly rushed into a meeting as our interview is put on hold. Images then start to flood social media showing the destruction wrought upon the civilian-populated area near the Peremoha metro station in the city centre.
When the interview resumes, Terekhov is forced to take three calls while emergency services rushed to the scene nearby to help the wounded. Aides intermittently grab the mayor to update him on the developing situation.
As Russia’s forces edge ever closer, Kharkiv’s mayor has a defiant message for Putin
Ukraine and Russia exchange drone attacks while Russia continues its push in the east
Monday 20 May 2024 22:00 , Alexander Butler
Ukraine and Russia exchange drone attacks while Russia continues its push in the east
Tyson Fury accuses judges of helping Oleksandr Usyk win because Ukraine is ‘at war’
Monday 20 May 2024 21:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Tyson Fury accused the judges of helping Oleksandr Usyk because the Ukrainian’s nation is “at war”, after Usyk outpointed the Briton to win the undisputed heavyweight titles.
Usyk was a split-decision winner against Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday (18 May). The scorecards read 115-112 to Usyk, 114-113 to Usyk, and 114-113 to Fury.
“His country is at war, so people are siding with the country at war,” Fury said in the ring after his loss – the first defeat of his professional career, while Usyk stayed unbeaten.
Tyson Fury accuses judges of helping Oleksandr Usyk win because Ukraine is ‘at war’
Ukraine controls 60% of Kharkiv border town after Russian raids, Kyiv says
Monday 20 May 2024 20:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Ukrainian troops still control about 60% of Vovchansk and are fighting house-to-house to defend the border town in northeastern Kharkiv region from Russian attacks, officials said in the most detailed public assessment of the battle to date.
Capturing Vovchansk would be Moscow’s most significant gain since it opened a new front in the northern part of Kharkiv region earlier this month, stretching Kyiv’s forces in the third year of the full-scale invasion.
“The enemy continues to try, especially inside Vovchansk, to push the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of the town,” Kharkiv region’s deputy governor Roman Semenukha said on national television on Monday.
“About 60% of the town is controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, meaning that the assaults do not stop,” he added.
The region’s governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said the front line now runs along the Vovcha river which cuts through the town.
“Our soldiers are trying to defend the town house by house, street by street,” Syniehubov said. “The enemy’s plan to quickly capture the north of the region failed,” he added on national television.
Vovchansk’s police chief said last week that Russian forces had taken positions in the town and called the situation “extremely difficult”.
Ukraine and Russia exchange drone attacks while Russia continues its push in the east
Monday 20 May 2024 19:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Russia reported some 60 drones and several missiles shot down over its territory overnight into Sunday, with Ukraine in turn saying it destroyed over 30 Russian drones. Russia’s renewed offensive continues to play out in Ukraine’s war-ravaged northeast.
Russian air defenses shot down 57 Ukrainian drones over its southern Krasnodar region overnight Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday morning.
Local military officials said drone debris hit an oil refinery in the town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban, but there was no fire or damage. Local news outlet Astra published videos appearing to show an explosion at the refinery as it was hit by a drone. The videos could not be independently verified.
Read more here:
Ukraine and Russia exchange drone attacks while Russia continues its push in the east
How Ukraine’s war changed Oleksandr Usyk – and how it didn’t
Monday 20 May 2024 18:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
As Usyk bids to beat Tyson Fury and become the undisputed heavyweight champion, Alex Pattle speaks to the Ukrainian’s promoter and compatriots about his role in the war and importance back home:
How Ukraine’s war changed Oleksandr Usyk – and how it didn’t
Putin appoints another economist as deputy Russian defence minister
Monday 20 May 2024 17:01 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
President Vladimir Putin on Monday appointed former deputy economy minister Oleg Savelyev as a deputy defence minister, according to a published decree, in a further sign of his intention to improve the efficiency of Russia‘s war economy.
Putin sprang a surprise last week by removing defence minister Sergei Shoigu and replacing him with Andrei Belousov, an economist and former deputy prime minister. The move was widely seen as aimed at getting more value from defence spending and cleaning up the defence ministry, which has been hit by a major bribery scandal.
Savelyev worked in the economy ministry from 2008 to 2014 and briefly served as a deputy to Belousov, who headed the ministry at the time.
After Russia‘s annexation of Crimea, Savelyev served as Minister for Crimean Affairs in 2014-2015. For the past five years, he has been an auditor for the Russian Accounts Chamber, overseeing state defence and security spending.
Ukraine’s Zelensky congratulates Croatia’s new PM
Monday 20 May 2024 16:35 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky today said he congratulated Andrej Plenković on his appointment as prime minister of Croatia.
He added that the two discussed Croatia’s support for the beginning of Ukraine’s EU accession talks, as well as “the possibility of Croatia joining the G7 Vilnius Declaration in support of Ukraine”.
I spoke with @AndrejPlenkovic to congratulate him on his appointment as Prime Minister of Croatia and to express gratitude for Croatia’s consistent support for Ukraine.
I also thank Prime Minister Plenkovic for confirming his attendance at the Peace Summit in Switzerland.
We…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 20, 2024
Ukraine war ‘needs to come to a stop’- Grant Shapps
Monday 20 May 2024 16:12 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, speaking at defence questions, told the Commons: “We are very mindful of the situation in Ukraine and particularly in Kharkiv, where Russia are making, or trying to make, inroads.
“This is an existential battle for all civilised countries that believe in democracy and freedom and it is the case that we must ensure the world continues to keep up the efforts.
“It is not right for there to be pauses in our support and when there are, the sort of losses we’ve seen, I hope on a very temporary, and believe on a very temporary, basis, in Kharkiv around the villages to the north are an inevitable consequence of inaction.”
Mr Shapps later told MPs: “This bloody war is now killing up to 1,000 Russians a day, or causing casualties, and it needs to come to a stop.”
Ukrainian military says it’s ‘holding back’ Russian forces near Bilohorivka
Monday 20 May 2024 15:54 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Ukraine said on Monday its troops were holding back Russian forces near Bilohorivka in the east, a village Moscow has claimed to be under its control.
“The defence forces for quite a long time today have been holding back the onslaught of the enemy, which is trying to somehow move forward in the area of Bilohorivka,” Kyiv’s general staff said on Facebook.
Monday 20 May 2024 15:32 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Watch: Cameron addresses MPs as UK signs new agreement in support of Ukraine
It’s horrifying what’s happened to Ukrainians with disabilities during Russia’s war – we cannot abandon them
Monday 20 May 2024 15:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Comment: Reporting on the kidnapping and abuse of the most vulnerable in Ukrainian society makes one thing clear, writes Bel Trew: in war people with disabilities are the last to be remembered and the first to be left behind:
Used as human shields, starved or deprived of medicines, tortured, abducted, disappeared. These are the potential crimes that have been committed against people with disabilities since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, according to a new 18-month investigation by The Independent.
Read more here:
We cannot abandon Ukrainians with disabilities suffering during war
Pentagon vows to keep weapons moving to Ukraine as Kyiv faces a renewed assault by Russia
Monday 20 May 2024 15:05 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin committed Monday to keeping U.S. weapons moving to Ukraine as Kyiv faces one of its toughest moments against a renewed assault by Russia.
Austin and as many as 50 defense leaders from Europe and around the world were meeting Monday to coordinate more military aid to Ukraine, as Kyiv tries to hold off a Russian offensive in the northeast while launching its own massive assault on the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula.
“We’re meeting in a moment of challenge,” Austin said, noting that Russia’s new onslaught of Kharkiv showed why the continued commitment by the countries was vital to keep coming. Austin vowed to keep U.S. weapons moving “week after week.”
Pentagon vows to keep weapons moving to Ukraine as Kyiv faces a renewed assault by Russia
Russian theater director and playwright go on trial over a play authorities say justifies terrorism
Monday 20 May 2024 14:44 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
A Russian court on Monday opened the trial of a theater director and a playwright accused of advocating terrorism in a play, the latest step in an unrelenting crackdown on dissent in Russia that has reached new heights since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
Zhenya Berkovich, a prominent independent theater director, and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have been jailed for over a year. Authorities claim their play “Finist, the Brave Falcon” justifies terrorism, which is a criminal offense in Russia punishable by up to seven years in prison. Berkovich and Petriychuk have both repeatedly rejected the accusations against them.
Russian theater director and playwright go on trial over a play authorities say justifies terrorism
Russia says it took full control of Bilohorivka in eastern Ukraine
Monday 20 May 2024 14:26 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
The Russian military said on Monday it had taken full control of the settlement of Bilohorivka in Ukraine‘s Luhansk region and had taken up better positions in the area.
The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement its forces had also been involved in fierce clashes in Ukraine‘s Kharkiv region near Vovchansk, Starytsia and Hlyboke where it said they had repelled two counter-attacks.
Russian forces earlier this month thrust into the Kharkiv region in what President Vladimir Putin said was an operation to create a buffer zone to protect Russian border regions.
Russia stresses strong ties with Iran as Putin calls interim president
Monday 20 May 2024 14:01 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Vladimir Putin phoned Iran’s new interim president on Monday as Moscow made clear its desire to preserve and build on its deepening relationship with Tehran despite the sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi.
The Kremlin said Putin expressed his condolences to interim president Mohammad Mokhber and to the whole Iranian people over Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash, describing Raisi as a “reliable partner who made an invaluable personal contribution” to bilateral relations.
“Both sides emphasised their mutual desire to further consistently strengthen comprehensive Russian-Iranian interaction for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries,” the Kremlin said in its readout of the Putin-Mokhber call.
State news agency RIA quoted Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia‘s Security Council, as saying Moscow could assist Iran in its investigation of the crash.
Since the state of the war in Ukraine, Russia has moved to strengthen its political, trade and military ties with Iran in a deepening relationship that the United States and Israel view with concern.
In January, Russia‘s Foreign Ministry said a new interstate treaty reflecting the “unprecedented upswing” in Russia-Iran ties was in the final stages of being agreed, and Putin and Raisi were expected to sign it soon.
Putin held five hours of talks with Raisi in the Kremlin in December and had spoken to him by phone in March and April, according to the Kremlin website.
As Russia’s forces edge ever closer, Kharkiv’s mayor has a defiant message for Putin
Monday 20 May 2024 13:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Exclusive: Mayor of Kharkiv Igor Terekhov tells The Independent that Russian forces are trying to ‘destroy’ his city, home to some 1.4 million civilians
The three Russian glide bombs pound into the residential tower block, ripping apart several floors. At least 10 are injured in a strike that is part of what has become a near-daily aerial assault on Ukraine’s second-largest city.
In his office a few streets away is Kharkiv’s mayor Igor Terekhov, who is quickly rushed into a meeting as our interview is put on hold. Images then start to flood social media showing the destruction wrought upon the civilian-populated area near the Peremoha metro station in the city centre.
Read more from Tom Watling here:
As Russia’s forces edge ever closer, Kharkiv’s mayor has a defiant message for Putin
Ukraine controls 60% of Kharkiv border town after Russian raids, Kyiv says
Monday 20 May 2024 13:22 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Ukrainian troops still control about 60% of Vovchansk and are fighting house-to-house to defend the border town in northeastern Kharkiv region from Russian attacks, officials said in the most detailed public assessment of the battle to date.
Capturing Vovchansk would be Moscow’s most significant gain since it opened a new front in the northern part of Kharkiv region earlier this month, stretching Kyiv’s forces in the third year of the full-scale invasion.
“The enemy continues to try, especially inside Vovchansk, to push the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of the town,” Kharkiv region’s deputy governor Roman Semenukha said on national television on Monday.
“About 60% of the town is controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, meaning that the assaults do not stop,” he added.
The region’s governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said the front line now runs along the Vovcha river which cuts through the town.
“Our soldiers are trying to defend the town house by house, street by street,” Syniehubov said. “The enemy’s plan to quickly capture the north of the region failed,” he added on national television.
Vovchansk’s police chief said last week that Russian forces had taken positions in the town and called the situation “extremely difficult”.
We have some more photos of the Azovstal steel plant
Monday 20 May 2024 13:00 , Tom Watling
We have some more photos of the Azovstal steel plant two years to the day that Russia declared victory over the Ukrainian forces previously holed beneath the structure.
For months, Ukraine’s troops had been holed up in the huge complex, preventing Russia from establishing complete control over the city. It had been the city’s last defence.
The Russian defence ministry said on 20 May, 2022, that the city and its steel plant had been “completely liberated” after 531 Ukrainian troops left the site. Footage had for months shown the plant being bombarded by Russian shelling.
“The underground facilities of the enterprise, where the militants were hiding, came under the full control of the Russian armed forces,” it added in a statement at the time.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the site’s last remaining defenders had been given permission to leave.
“Today the boys received a clear signal from the military command that they can get out and save their lives.”
Many of the thousands who surrendered in that battle remain in Russian detention, where it is believed they are being subjected to torture. All those that took part in the Azovstal steel plant defence have been lauded as heroes in Ukraine.
Mapped: Russian forces push towards Lyptsi
Monday 20 May 2024 12:40 , Tom Watling
Russian forces have continued to push towards the Ukrainian village of Lypsti in the Kharkiv region, northeast Ukraine.
Russia’s forces are just two and a half miles from the village, according to the Ukrainian war tracker.
Should they capture the village – a feat that would require Vladimir Putin’s forces overcoming progressively more fortified defences the closer they got to Lypsti – they would be within tube artillery range of the region’s namesake capital, home to 1.3 million civilians.
To the east, Russian forces are still contesting the north and northwest suburbs of Vovchansk.
Photo shows the Azovstal steel plant in occupied Ukraine
Monday 20 May 2024 12:15 , Tom Watling
An image published on the wires has shown what remains of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, occupied Ukraine.
Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians hid beneath the steel plant until May 2022 as Russian forces relentless bombed it.
Mariupol has now been under Russian occupation for two years.
Ukraine holds about 60% of border town of Vovchansk, deputy governor says
Monday 20 May 2024 11:34 , Tom Watling
Ukraine still controls around 60 per cent of the border town of Vovchansk in its northeastern Kharkiv region in the face of a relentless Russian offensive, deputy governor Roman Semenukha told national television on Monday.
“The enemy continues to try, especially inside Vovchansk, to push the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of the town,” he said. “About 60% of the city is controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, meaning that the assaults do not stop.”
Russian sentenced to 25 years for military office arson plot
Monday 20 May 2024 11:00 , Tom Watling
A court in Siberia sentenced a local man to 25 years in prison on Monday for a slew of crimes including treason and attempted arson of a military recruitment office, a Russian lawyers’ association said.
Prosecutors at a military court in Novosibirsk accused Ilya Baburin of trying to burn down the enlistment office with a Molotov cocktail at the behest of an unidentified person from Ukraine.
The court also found him guilty of setting fire to a local music school, which it categorised as a terrorist act.
Baburin, identified in Russian independent media as an IT specialist, is 24 years old.
The Pervy Otdel (First Department) legal association cited his lawyer as saying there was no evidence of Baburin’s involvement in the incidents, in which no casualties were reported.
❗К 25 годам колонии приговорили новосибирского айтишника, обвиняемого в поджоге военкомата, в результате которого никто не пострадал
Восточный окружной военный суд Новосибирска признал новосибирца Илью Бабурина выиновным в терроризме, в покушении на организацию содействию… pic.twitter.com/aJvUagtyA8
— SOTA (@Sota_Vision) May 20, 2024
North Korea denies supplying weapons for Russia’s Ukraine war as US imposes new sanctions
Monday 20 May 2024 10:40 , Tom Watling
North Korea denies supplying weapons for Russia’s Ukraine war as US imposes sanctions
Footage shows evacuation of Kharkiv residents in Vovchansk
Monday 20 May 2024 10:15 , Tom Watling
Footage shared by Ukraine’s State Emergency Service has shown their evacuation of several civilians from the Kharkiv region.
More than 10,500 people have been evacuated from areas near the fighting since Russia launched its surprise attack across the border 11 days ago.
In the below video, emergency workers from Vovchansk, a town a few miles from the Russian border and one that is partially occupied by Vladimir Putin’s forces, rescue several of only a few hundred civilians remaining in the area.
Надзвичайники з Вовчанська показали, як вони евакуюють людей на Харківщині.
Рятувальники ДСНС щодня працюють у зоні бойових дій, аби вивезти з-під обстрілів якомога більше цивільних.
Наразі вже понад 10,5 тис. осіб вдалося евакуювати з прикордоння. pic.twitter.com/KIPDP0WWPo— DSNS.GOV.UA (@SESU_UA) May 20, 2024
Tyson Fury clarifies claims judges sided with Oleksandr Usyk because of Ukraine war
Monday 20 May 2024 09:50 , Tom Watling
Tyson Fury clarifies claims judges sided with Oleksandr Usyk because of Ukraine war
Here are the latest photos from Ukraine.
Monday 20 May 2024 09:20 , Tom Watling
Below are some of the latest photos coming from Ukraine.
As Russia’s forces edge ever closer, Kharkiv’s mayor has a defiant message for Putin
Monday 20 May 2024 08:59 , Tom Watling
As Russia’s forces edge ever closer, Kharkiv’s mayor has a defiant message for Putin
Ukrainian launches drone attack on Russia’s Slavyansk oil refinery
Monday 20 May 2024 07:51 , Arpan Rai
Russia’s Slavyansk oil refinery, located in the Krasnodar region, was damaged in the drone attack, the state news agency TASS reported today.
It did not mention how many drones hit the facility or the extent of damage.
Slavyansk refinery is a private plant with a capacity of four million metric tons of oil per year, or about 80,000 barrels per day.
Putin has lost 493,690 troops in Ukraine since full-scale invasion
Monday 20 May 2024 07:15 , Arpan Rai
Russia has lost 493,690 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its invasion on 24 February 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces claimed today.
Russia has also lost 7,590 tanks, 14,665 armoured fighting vehicles, 17,311 non-fighting vehicles and fuel tanks, 12,737 artillery systems, 1,076 multiple launch rocket systems, 807 air defence systems, 354 airplanes, 326 helicopters, 10,236 drones, 27 ships and boats, and a submarine, the General Staff added.
The statement comes as Russian forces continue to push forward in the northern areas of Kharkiv region. The Russian military has said they have captured at least 12 villages in the area so far.
Russia’s foreign ministry has previously rejected the numbers provided by Ukraine but not shared its own estimates of manpower and material losses. Moscow treats the information as a state secret.
Ukraine downs all 29 drones launched by Russia overnight
Monday 20 May 2024 06:43 , Arpan Rai
Ukrainian forces shot down all 29 drones used by Russian forces in an overnight attack, Ukraine’s air force said today.
Sixteen of the drones were shot down over the southern region of Mykolaiv where debris damaged a private residence and caused a fire, the region’s governor said.
Three of the drones were shot down over the western region of Lviv, with no damage reported by local officials.
The attack also targeted the Odesa and Poltava regions with drones, in addition to attacking the Kharkiv region with an Iskander-M ballistic missile.
Russia has stepped up its offensive on several Ukrainian territories as Kyiv’s forces shot down all 90 Shahed-type drones launched by Russia in the past week, military spokesperson Dmytro Lykhoviy said today.
Ukraine’s divisive mobilisation law comes into force
Monday 20 May 2024 06:22 , Arpan Rai
A divisive mobilisation law in Ukraine has come into force as Kyiv struggles with a severe shortage of soldiers to fight the Russians who have launched a new offensive seemingly to take the country’s second city Kharkiv.
The law makes it easier to identify every conscript in the country and harshly punish draft dodgers. It also promises incentives such as cash bonuses or money for buying a house or car to conscripts that some analysts say Ukraine cannot afford.
Ukranian lawmakers passed the mobilisation law in mid-April, a week after lowering the age for men who can be drafted from 27 to 25. The measures reflect the growing strain that more than two years of war with Russia has had on Ukraine’s forces, who are trying to hold the frontlines in fighting that has sapped the country’s ranks and stores of weapons and ammunition.
Ukraine’s divisive mobilization law comes into force as a new Russian push strains front-line troops
Ukraine and Russia exchange drone attacks while Russia continues its push in the east
Monday 20 May 2024 05:50 , Arpan Rai
Russia has said its forces shot down nearly 60 drones and several missiles over its territory overnight into Sunday while Ukraine claimed to have destroyed over 30 Russian drones. The attacks came as the Russian military continued its renewed offensive in Ukraine’s northeast.
Russian air defences shot down 57 Ukrainian drones over the southern Krasnodar region overnight Saturday, the Russian Ministry of Defence said Sunday morning.
Local military officials said drone debris hit an oil refinery in the town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban, but there was no damage. A local news outlet, Astra, published videos appearing to show an explosion at the refinery as it was hit by a drone. The videos could not be independently verified.
Nine long-range ballistic missiles and a drone were also destroyed over Crimea following Friday morning’s Ukrainian drone attack that cut off power in the city of Sevastopol on the peninsula.
Ukraine and Russia exchange drone attacks while Russia continues its push in the east
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
