At least seven people were killed Thursday in Russian strikes on the city of Kharkiv, where bombings have increased in recent days.
“Russian terrorists are taking advantage of the fact that Ukraine does not have sufficient anti-aircraft defense protection,” underlines Volodymyr Zelensky, denouncing the “weakness” of the international community.
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More than two years of war in Ukraine
AN ASSESSMENT REASSESSED UPWARDS IN KHARKIV
The toll was reassessed upwards following a series of Russian strikes on Kharkiv this Thursday, while a Russian ground offensive is underway in the region. The mayor of Kharkiv, Igor Terekhov, initially reported at least one dead, six injured and three missing. Finally, the regional governor said that at least seven people had been killed and 16 injured.
THE TAKEOVER OF A UKRAINIAN VILLAGE
In the midst of a land offensive in the Kharkiv region, the Russian army claims the capture of the Ukrainian village of Andriïvka, about ten kilometers south of Bakhmout. “The units of the Southern group (…) liberated the locality of Andriïivka”, indicated the Russian Ministry of Defense, which had already announced the day before the capture of a neighboring village, Klichtchiïvka.
FROZEN RUSSIAN ASSETS
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called on G7 countries to be “more ambitious” in using Russian assets frozen by Western countries to help Ukraine. “We support the EU’s decision to use the windfall profits generated by these assets, but we must also continue our collective efforts towards more ambitious options, taking into account all associated risks and acting together,” she declared during the G7 Finances in Stresa, Italy.
“AN EXTREMELY BRUTAL ATTACK”
On the social network “I am grateful to everyone who is helping us. But we need more determination, especially from world leaders,” he insisted.
RUSSIAN STRIKES ON KHARKIV
The mayor of Kharkiv, Igor Terekhov, said that Russian strikes on the 2nd Ukrainian city left at least one dead and six injured, in the midst of a Russian offensive in the region. “A strike hit a private company. According to initial information, there is one dead, six injured” and three missing, he announced on social networks, reporting “a major fire”.
TWO DEAD FOLLOWING UKRAINIAN STRIKES
Two people died in Ukrainian strikes, local authorities reported. In the Belgorod region, a woman was killed in the village of Krassnyi Vostok when a Ukrainian drone, after being shot down by Russian anti-aircraft defense, crashed into a house, destroying the upper floor, indicated on Telegram the regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
In the Ukrainian region of Donetsk, partially controlled by Russia, a man was killed when his car was hit by a Ukrainian strike on the town of Gorlivka, the mayor installed by the Russian authorities, Ivan Prikhodko, said on Telegram.
11,000 EVACUATES NEAR KHARKIV
Under Russian pressure, evacuations took place in large numbers around Kharkiv. This Thursday, the governor of the region announced that nearly 11,000 people have been forced to leave their homes since the Russian ground offensive launched on May 10 in this area. “A total of 10,980 people were evacuated,” Oleg Synegubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, said on Telegram messaging. “Our defenders are putting up a good response,” the statement added.
ARREST OF A SENIOR RUSSIAN STAFF OFFICIAL
A senior Russian General Staff official has been placed in pre-trial detention for corruption, Russian media reported, as arrests of generals increase in Russia following the change of Defense Minister.
Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of communications, General Vadim Chamarine was placed in pre-trial detention for two months by a military court on Wednesday, Russian media reported. He is accused of having “accepted a particularly large bribe” in this defense sector undermined by corruption scandals.
A NEW BORDER CLOSED TO RUSSIAN TOURISTS
Norway has announced the upcoming closure of its border to Russian tourists, depriving them of the last direct access point into the Schengen area. The Scandinavian country, which shares a 198 km land border with Russia in the Arctic, is following in the footsteps of the European Union – of which it is not a member – which had taken a similar measure in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“The decision to tighten entry rules is in line with Norway’s approach of standing with its allies and partners in response to Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine,” the minister said. of Justice, Émilie Enger Mehl, in a press release.
POINT POSITION
Find below a summary of the major information related to the conflict of the last 24 hours:
- Returning Ukrainian children: Russian authorities have handed over to their relatives six Ukrainian children held in Russia following mediation by Qatar. The boys, aged 6 to 17, were returned to their families at the Qatari embassy compound in Moscow. Ukraine is demanding the return of nearly 20,000 minors “deported or forcibly displaced” in Russia since the start of its assault on February 24, 2022.
- Russia advances on the front: the Russian army claimed to have captured Klichtchiïvka, a village in the Donetsk region (East) that Ukraine had reconquered in September 2023, during its summer offensive which ultimately failed. The Russian army has the initiative and has been leading a push on the Eastern Front for several months, where it has multiplied tactical successes and conquered a series of localities, notably the fortress town of Avdiïvka, in February.
- Russian drone attack in Kharkiv region: A Russian strike killed a Ukrainian police officer and injured another in Vovchansk, a town at the heart of the fighting in the Kharkiv region (north-east), where Moscow has been leading an offensive since May 10.
- Ukrainian strikes in Russia: three people were killed and more than fifteen injured in Ukrainian strikes in Russia and the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine, local authorities said.
- Mobilization of Ukrainian detainees: A Ukrainian court has ordered the release of the first detainees who volunteered to fight in the army, under a new law aimed at mobilizing more soldiers to fight the Russian invasion. According to the Ukrainian authorities, more than 3,000 detainees have expressed a desire to join the army in exchange for release.
- New case of corruption: Ukraine’s anti-corruption services have accused the former deputy head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s cabinet of illegal enrichment worth almost $400,000. Since the start of the Russian assault on Ukraine in February 2022, several cases of large-scale corruption have come to light in this country, including within the armed forces and government structures.
- A Russian space weapon: The Pentagon has accused Moscow of launching a space weapon and deploying it in the same orbit as a US government satellite, it announced. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on reports that Moscow had launched a space weapon.
GOOD MORNING
Hello and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the war in Ukraine. Find here all the information related to the conflict initiated by Russia more than two years ago.
Provide support on the front lines. Even if it means finding it in prisons. A Ukrainian court on Wednesday ordered the release of the first detainees who volunteered to fight in the army, under a new law aimed at mobilizing more soldiers to fight the Russian invasion.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, more than 3,000 detainees have expressed a desire to join the army in exchange for release. A court in the western town of Khmelnytsky said it approved on Tuesday the release of two of them, a man born in 2000 and another in 1981, both convicted of theft, to join the Ukrainian National Guard.
At the beginning of May, Ukrainian deputies adopted a law, signed immediately by President Volodymyr Zelensky, allowing certain categories of prisoners to fight on the front in exchange for conditional release. It does not concern prisoners convicted of certain serious crimes, in particular intentional homicide of more than two people, sexual violence, attacks on national security or convictions for corruption.
In Russia, as of 2022, the paramilitary company Wagner had recruited tens of thousands of inmates in Russian prisons who were then decimated during extremely deadly attacks, notably during the Battle of Bakhmout.