Today
SHELL
South Korea has denied press reports of upcoming deliveries of shells to Ukraine, saying its decision not to deliver lethal weapons to kyiv remained unchanged.
THE wall street journal said Wednesday that hundreds of thousands of artillery shells made in South Korea were to be delivered to Ukraine via the United States, under a “confidential agreement” between Seoul and Washington.
DIPLOMAT EXPELLED
Russian diplomacy has announced that it will close the Swedish Consulate General in Saint Petersburg and that of Russia in Gothenburg, Sweden from September 1, in response to the “policy of confrontation” led by Stockholm.
Russian diplomacy also announced the expulsion of five Swedish diplomats in response to a similar measure taken in April against Russian diplomats. Sweden is a candidate for NATO, a decision taken in the wake of the Russian assault on Ukraine.
DIPLOMACY
Chinese diplomat Li Hui, sent by Beijing to Europe to discuss a political settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, will visit Moscow on Friday for “consultations” on this subject, Russian diplomacy announced.
During this trip, Li Hui will be received by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and one of his deputy ministers, Mikhail Galouzin, according to a statement released Thursday.
BAKHMOUT
The boss of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigojine, said Thursday that his men began to transfer their positions in Bakhmout, a city he claimed to have captured, to regular troops of the Russian army.
“We are in the process of withdrawing the units from Bakhmout today. By June 1, most of them will be relocating to bases in the rear. We are handing over the positions to the soldiers, the ammunition and everything that they need. is there,” he said in a video released by his press service.
UKRAINE “TERRORISED”
Russia “continues to terrorize Ukraine” with its night attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Thursday, announcing the destruction of 36 Russian drones during the night.
Moscow “continues to terrorize Ukraine” and has launched 36 drones at its neighbor, he said on Telegram. “None of them achieved their objective,” he said, thanking the country’s anti-aircraft defense.
“SABOTEURS”
Ukrainian “saboteurs” who planned attacks aimed at disrupting the operation of Russian nuclear power plants have been arrested in Russia, the Russian Security Service (FSB) announced on Thursday.
“A sabotage group from the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service (…) attempted to blow up around 30 electrical transmission lines at the Leningrad and Kalinin nuclear power plants” in early May, to cause “the shutdown of the nuclear reactors” , the FSB said in a statement, quoted by Russian news agencies, stating that it had arrested two Ukrainians in connection with these attacks.
CRIMEA
Six drones were shot down overnight from Wednesday to Thursday in Crimea, a peninsula annexed by Russia, said local governor installed by Moscow, Sergei Aksionov.
“During the past night, six drones were shot down or blocked (…) in different districts of Crimea,” he wrote on Telegram. The incident “did not result in any casualties or injuries,” he said.
REMINDER
Moscow will respond “extremely firmly” to new armed incursions, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday, the day after a spectacular attack by groups from Ukraine on Russian territory. “We will continue to respond quickly and extremely firmly to such actions,” he said.
Two groups fighting on the Ukrainian side and who have claimed responsibility for an incursion in the past two days in a Russian border region, have praised the “success” of their operation which, according to them, showed the weakness of Russian defenses.
DRONE ATTACK
The military administration of Kiev assured this Thursday that the air defense of the capital had completely repelled a new “massive” attack by Russian drones on the city, “the twelfth” in May.
Russia “again attacked Kiev from the air”, wrote on Telegram the head of the civil and military administration of Kiev, Serhiï Popko, adding that the air alert on the city had lasted more than three hours. “According to preliminary information, Shahed-type drones were at work in this “massive” attack, he said.
“The guardian angels of Ukraine did not give the aggressor a chance. All air targets flying towards kyiv were destroyed by our air defense,” he said.
MISSILES
The United States announced on Wednesday the sale of advanced NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems to Ukraine for some $285 million to strengthen the country’s air defense against Russia.
“Ukraine urgently needs to strengthen its defense capabilities against missile strikes and Russian aircraft,” the US Defense Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement.
The State Department has approved the sale, which has been notified to the US Congress, which has yet to give its green light.
LIVE
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