Tag: ukraine

As the war enters its 816th day, these are the main developments.

Here is the situation on Monday, May 20, 2024.

Fighting

• At least 11 people were killed and dozens injured after Russia bombed a busy lakeside resort on the edge of Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv and attacked villages in the surrounding area.
• At least 13 people were injured after the Ukrainian military shelled areas of Russia’s southern Belgorod region, according to Belgorod’s regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
• The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russian attacks in the Kharkiv area “slowed down a bit” but that forces “continue their attempts to break through our defences near Vovchansk, Starytsya and Lyptsi”. Russia’s Ministry of Defence, which claimed earlier to have seized Starytsya, said its units “continued to advance into the depth of the enemy’s defences”.
• Officials said Russia shot down at least 103 Ukrainian drones, including 62 over Russian regions, as well as missiles that targeted Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed from Ukraine in 2014. An oil refinery in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region was forced to halt operations after six drones crashed into the site.
• Ukraine’s military said its forces sank the Russian minesweeper Kovrovets in the attack on Crimea.
• Ukraine’s Air Force chief said air defences brought down all 37 Shahed attack drones launched by Russia. The weapons were shot down in the Kyiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy and Kherson regions. There were no reports of damage or casualties.

Politics and diplomacy

• A court in Saint Petersburg ordered the seizure of assets of Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank in Russia in response to a lawsuit over a planned liquefied natural gas terminal in the Baltic Sea, which was cancelled when sanctions were imposed over Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
• Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury to win the world’s first undisputed heavyweight championship in 25 years. The Ukrainian won the 12-round fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by a split decision.

Weapons

• Following the latest Russian attack on Kharkiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of using its weapons to “terrorise our cities and communities, to kill ordinary people”. He said Ukraine needed “two Patriots for Kharkiv, [which] will fundamentally change the situation”, referring to the sophisticated US-made air defence system.

As the war enters its 813th day, these are the main developments.

Here is the situation on Friday, May 17, 2024.

Fighting

• Visiting Kharkiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation in the northeast was “extremely difficult” but “under control” after the military partially halted a Russian advance, most notably thwarting an invasion of Vovchansk, 5km (3 miles) from the border with Russia.
• Sergiy Bolvinov, the head of police investigations in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, accused Russia of taking “30 to 40” civilians captive in Vovchansk to use as “human shields” near their command centre.
• General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe, said he did not believe Russia’s military had the troop numbers to make a strategic breakthrough in the Kharkiv region and he was confident Ukrainian forces would hold their lines there.
• Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia was directing its most intense assaults on the front line near the cities of Pokrovsk and Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia’s offensive has been unrelenting for months.
• An air raid alert in the northeastern Kharkiv region remained in place for more than 16 and a half hours amid Russian drone and missile attacks. Officials said five drones hit parts of the city of Kharkiv, starting a fire. There were no reports of casualties. The alert was lifted in the early hours of Friday.
• Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, said a woman and her four-year-old son were killed when their car was hit by a Ukrainian drone. Two other people in the vehicle were injured.

Politics and diplomacy

• Russian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The two held talks, walked in a park and drank tea. Xi said the two countries’ deepening relationship was a “stabilising force” in the world and that he hoped the war in Ukraine could be resolved peacefully. China has not condemned Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Putin said he was grateful for China’s efforts to resolve the crisis.
• Russia expelled Adrian Coghill, the United Kingdom’s defence attache, from Moscow a week after Britain ordered Russia’s defence attache to leave London for being an “undeclared military intelligence officer”. UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said Moscow’s move was because Coghill “personified the UK’s unwavering support for Ukraine“.
• Sri Lanka said it would send a high-level delegation to Russia to investigate the fate of hundreds of nationals reportedly fighting in the war in Ukraine. The Defence Ministry said social media campaigns via WhatsApp have targeted ex-military personnel with promises of lucrative salaries and citizenship in Russia, warning its nationals not to be duped.

Weapons

• The United States announced sanctions on two Russian nationals and three Russian companies for facilitating arms transfers between Russia and North Korea, including ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Russia had already used at least 40 North Korean-produced ballistic missiles against Ukraine.
• Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, denied Pyongyang was selling weapons to Russia, saying it was a “most absurd theory”, according to state media. UN monitors have found debris from North Korean missiles in Ukraine.
• Denmark said it would send Ukraine a new military aid package, mostly of air defence and artillery, worth about 5.6 billion Danish crowns ($815.47m).

As the war enters its 812th day, these are the main developments.

Here is the situation on Thursday, May 16, 2024.

Fighting

• Intense fighting raged in Vovchansk in the northeastern Kharkiv region about 5km (3 miles) from the border with Russia. Oleksiy Kharkivskyi, the town’s police chief, said the situation was “extremely difficult”, while Ukraine’s General Staff said Ukrainian troops managed to “partially” push back some Russian infantry groups but “defensive actions” were ongoing on the town’s northern and northwestern fringes.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed Russian forces had taken control of the settlements of Hlyboke and Lukyantsi in the northeastern Kharkiv region, and Robotyne in the southern Zaporizhia region.

• Regional Governor Serhiy Lysak said a Russian air attack on Ukraine’s city of Dnipro killed two people and injured several more.

• At least 25 people were injured, three of them seriously, after Russian missiles and guided bombs struck Ukraine’s southern cities of Kherson and Mykolaiv. The attack also damaged apartment blocks, homes, schools and a medical facility, local officials said.

• At least two people were injured in Russian shelling of a central district of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said the injured were being treated in hospital.

• The Russian Defence Ministry said its air force destroyed 10 long-range Ukrainian missiles launched at Sevastopol in Crimea, which Moscow invaded and annexed from Ukraine in 2014. It did not say whether there was any damage.

• Sri Lanka said at least 16 of its citizens had been killed fighting as mercenaries in the war in Ukraine, mostly on the Russian side.

Politics and diplomacy

• Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cancelled visits to Spain and Portugal that were scheduled to take place this week.
• Swiss President Viola Amherd said delegations from more than 50 countries, including in South America, Africa and the Middle East, had so far signed up for next month’s Ukraine peace summit. Switzerland is trying to persuade more countries to join, including China.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in China on Thursday for a two-day visit where he will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In an interview with Chinese state news agency Xinhua ahead of the visit, he backed China’s peace proposals for Ukraine.

• European Union ambassadors agreed to expand sanctions on Russian media to four more outlets, accusing them of publishing propaganda. EU Commissioner for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova said Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestija and Rossiyskaya Gazeta would be added to the list, which already includes Sputnik and RT. Jourova said Russian funding of EU media, nongovernmental organisations and political parties would also be banned.

• Nadezhda Buyanova, a 68-year-old Moscow paediatrician, went on trial for spreading “fake” information on the army after the ex-wife of a soldier killed in Ukraine lodged a complaint about an alleged comment Buyanova made during a consultation.

Weapons

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $2bn in additional military aid for Ukraine and said Washington was rushing ammunition, armoured vehicles, missiles and air defences to the country to ensure their speedy delivery to the front line.
• Putin said Russia’s total defence and security spending may reach a little more than 8.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024

As the war enters its 811th day, these are the main developments.

Here is the situation on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.

Fighting

• At least 20 people were injured in northeastern Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, after Russia struck residential areas, including a high-rise apartment block, with guided bombs and artillery shells.

• The United Nations said at least eight civilians had been killed and 35 injured since Russia began a new offensive in the northeastern region on Friday. It called on Russia to “immediately cease its armed attack against Ukraine – in line with the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly” – and withdraw to the internationally recognised borders.
• Ukraine’s military said its forces pulled back to new positions in two areas of the Kharkiv region and warned of a Russian force buildup to the north near its Sumy region. Russia said it had made further inroads and taken a 10th border village, Buhruvatka.
• Ukraine’s Air Force said defence systems destroyed all 18 attack drones that Russia launched over several regions, including the Kyiv region and the front line.
• Russian officials said one person was injured and several buildings damaged in a Ukrainian air attack on the border city of Belgorod, with Russia’s air defence destroying 25 missiles over the broader Belgorod region.
• Russian media said a Ukrainian drone attack derailed a cargo train and led to a fire in a diesel tank in the southern Russian region of Volgograd, mangling several hundred metres of track. Russian Railways said the incident was the result of “interference by unauthorised persons”.

Politics and diplomacy

• United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a surprise visit to Kyiv, promised Ukraine that military assistance that would make “a real difference” on the battlefield was on its way.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China from May 16-17 for talks with President Xi Jinping. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying said the two will discuss “bilateral ties, cooperation in various fields, and international and regional issues of common interest”.
• South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol confirmed Seoul’s participation in a Ukraine peace summit that will be held in Switzerland in June, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X.
• Russia’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Vladimir Kara-Murza, a dual Russia-United Kingdom national and prominent Kremlin and war critic, against a 25-year jail sentence on treason and other charges. UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the decision was an “outrage” and that Kara-Murza was a political prisoner.
• International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan said he would not be intimidated by threats as his office investigates possible war crimes in Ukraine. Russia put Khan on its wanted list after the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin and Russia’s children’s commissioner for their role in the alleged deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied territories to Russia.
• Ireland said it would slash a weekly payment for all Ukrainian refugees in state accommodation from 220 euros ($238) to just 38.80 euros ($41.96) from August. Just more than 100,000 Ukrainians have fled to Ireland since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Nearly half are living in state-provided accommodation.

Weapons

• Minister of Defence Sebastien Lecornu said France would send more Aster surface-to-air missiles for the Franco-Italian SAMP/T-MAMBA air defence system defending Kyiv.
• Russia said its submarine-launched Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile had been put into service, a key element in the modernisation of its nuclear arsenal.

As the war enters its 810th day, these are the main developments.

Here is the situation on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.

Fighting

• Russia has widened its ground assault on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, attacking new areas to try and expand the front and “stretch” Ukraine’s forces, according to regional governor Oleh Syniehubov. He said about 5,700 people had been evacuated from in and around Vovchansk and urged the town’s remaining residents, about 300 people, to leave. The DeepState Telegram channel, which is close to the Ukrainian army, said Russia had taken territory of about 100sq km (39sq miles).
• Ukraine’s Security Council chief Oleksandr Lytvynenko told the AFP news agency that there was no imminent risk of a ground assault on Kharkiv, the country’s second-biggest city, despite the latest Russian offensive. Lytvynenko said there were “a lot” of Russians at the border and “more than 30,000” involved in the current attack, which began on Friday.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its army had improved its tactical position near four settlements in the Kharkiv region – Vesele, Neskuchne, Vovchansk and Lyptsi.
• Russia said its air defence systems destroyed 16 missiles and 31 drones that Ukraine launched at Russian territory, including 12 missiles over the border region of Belgorod. Five houses were damaged in Belgorod, but there were no injuries, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Politics and diplomacy

• Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic expressed support for Ukraine in its war against Russia after meeting visiting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, but stopped short of committing to sanctions against Moscow.
• Ukraine said it thwarted a Russian plan to carry out bomb attacks on May 9 in the capital Kyiv and in the western city of Lviv. It said two Russian military agents had been detained on suspicion of involvement in the alleged plot, and 19 explosive devices had been seized.
• A Russian-installed court on Ukraine’s annexed Crimean peninsula jailed five Ukrainian citizens for between 11 and 16 years after they were found guilty of sharing military intelligence with Kyiv. The men were charged with treason and espionage.

Weapons

• US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States was doing “everything” possible to rush weapons to Ukraine, and that some weapons were already on the battlefield. A new arms package would be announced “in the coming days”, he added.
• Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskii and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov had discussions with Sullivan, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Charles Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “We spoke about the situation at the front, as well the assistance that Ukraine needs on the battlefield,” Syrskii wrote on Telegram.