Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? Do not panic, 20 minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Who did what ? Who said what? Where are we ? The answer below.
The fact of the day
This time it’s the right one. The Ukrainian army announced Friday morning that it had recaptured the village of Andriïvka, some ten kilometers south of the devastated town of Bakhmut, after an announcement to this effect from the Deputy Minister of Defense yesterday which was then denied. “The defense forces had partial success in the Klichchiivka area during offensive operations. During their assault, they liberated Andriïvka, in the Donetsk region,” the Ukrainian general staff communicated in its daily report posted on Facebook.
They also “inflicted significant losses on the enemy in terms of manpower and equipment,” he added. “Following a lightning operation, the Russian garrison of Andriïvka was surrounded, cut off from the main forces and destroyed,” assured the third brigade on Telegram, claiming to have “liquidated almost all the infantry of the 72nd brigade” Russian as well as several members of his command. “Andriïvka no longer exists. Let’s say it, it is completely destroyed,” said Oleksandr Borodin, spokesperson for the brigade, adding that the village is “in such a state” that it is even impossible to plant the Ukrainian flag there.
The number of the day
13. This is the number of years that a Russian soldier will spend in a “harsh regime” penal colony, accused of having left his unit so as not to fight in Ukraine. According to the military court of the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, located on the island of Sakhalin in the Far East, Maxim Kotchetkov did not report to his unit on May 10 “in order not to comply with his military obligations,” “avoid being sent to the special military operation zone” in Ukraine and “indulge in idleness.”
Sentence of the day
No agreement was signed, and this was not planned”
The Kremlin assured Friday that “no agreement” had been signed during the visit of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to Russia, a source of fear on the part of the West, who suspect Moscow of wanting to buy weapons from Pyongyang for the conflict in Ukraine. Beyond the weapons it could potentially provide to Russia, North Korea is also suspected of wanting to acquire technologies for its nuclear and missile programs.
The two men displayed their closeness, Kim Jong-un ensuring that rapprochement with Moscow was an “absolute priority” of foreign policy, while Vladimir Putin praised the “strengthening” of their cooperation. The Russian head of state notably mentioned “prospects” of military cooperation despite international sanctions targeting Pyongyang because of its nuclear and missile development programs. Washington had expressed “concern” about the possible purchase of North Korean munitions, and Seoul had “firmly warned” against any transaction of this type.
Today’s trend
Ukrainian authorities on Thursday ordered compulsory evacuations of civilians in the Kherson region, in the south of the country, partly controlled by Russian forces and regularly targeted by bombings. “The Kherson Regional Defense Council has decided to compulsorily evacuate families with children from localities subject to constant enemy fire,” Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram.
Internationally, the European Commission announced this Friday evening that it was putting an end to the ban imposed by five EU states (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania) on the import of Ukrainian cereals to protect their farmers. In exchange, kyiv must commit to taking measures to control the influx of grain into neighboring countries. “Market distortions” in these countries “have disappeared,” said the Commission in a press release.