live blog
The Ukrainian capital Kiev has again become the target of Russian attacks. There were also air alerts in other parts of the country. The Ukrainian Defense Minister hopes for “Eurofighter” from Germany. The developments in the live blog.
The Ukrainian government has denied allegations that it is directly responsible for the recent drone strikes on Moscow. Of course he was happy about the attacks, says Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak in a YouTube broadcast. “But of course we have nothing to do with it directly.” Russia’s defense ministry has blamed Kyiv for the attacks.
The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, has ruled out any territorial concessions from his country to Russia. “Russia has to leave all the occupied territories,” Makeiev told RTL. Peace talks must also deal with Russian reparations payments to Ukraine. On the Russian-occupied and annexed Crimea, Makeiev said: “Crimea is part of Ukraine, as are Luhansk and Donetsk and the newly occupied areas of Russia. We must liberate our people from this occupation.” The ambassador also made it clear: “We are not giving a single piece of land to the Russians.”
According to British intelligence experts, Russian government finances are under pressure from military spending. This emerges from the daily intelligence report from the Ministry of Defense in London. According to the Stockholm peace research institute Sipri, Russia’s defense spending in 2022 amounted to 4.1 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. How much Moscow actually spends on its armed forces is highly uncertain due to a lack of transparency. “It is almost certain that military spending will continue to increase and this is putting pressure on Russian government finances,” the statement said. The Ministry of Defense in London has been publishing daily information on the course of the war since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, citing intelligence information. Moscow accuses London of a disinformation campaign.
According to an agency report, the Russian government blames Ukraine for a drone attack on Moscow. According to the RIA news agency, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that eight drones were used. According to the Interfax agency, the ministry went on to say that all drones had been destroyed. The Russian media portal RBK reported more than ten downed drones, citing insiders. The Russian investigative committee said the air defense shot down some drones on their approach to Moscow. On Russian television, a commentator who is expressly fond of the government in Moscow mentions the number of around 25 unmanned aerial vehicles. He leaves the origin of his information open.
According to a newspaper report, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is asking South Korea for air defense and early warning systems. “I know there are many limitations in supporting arms, but these principles should not be applied to defense systems and equipment to protect our assets,” Zelenskyy told the South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo. Anti-aircraft systems are not a weapon, but are used exclusively for defense. “We need a shield to rebuild Ukraine and I really hope that South Korea will support us in this area.”
South Korea is a major arms exporter. So far, the country has ruled out the delivery of deadly weapons to Ukraine, citing relations with Russia and Moscow’s influence on North Korea. However, the Seoul government said in April that it might change its stance if a situation arises that “the international community cannot accept.”
According to Russian sources, the Russian capital Moscow has become the target of a drone attack. “Early today, at dawn, a drone attack caused minor damage to several buildings,” Mayor Sergey Sobyanin told Telegram. “So far no one has been seriously injured.”
BBC reporter Steve Rosenberg also reported impacts on Twitter.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
At least one person died in a high-rise fire in Kiev caused by falling debris from a destroyed Russian missile. Another person is in the hospital and two others are injured, the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said. The Kiev military administration stated that the two upper floors of the apartment building were destroyed and that people could still be buried under the rubble. A photo published by the military administration on Telegram showed flames erupting from the top floor of a multi-storey apartment building.
Falling debris from a destroyed Russian missile sparked a fire in a high-rise building in Kiev, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. The residents would be evacuated, one person was injured, Klitschko said on his Telegram channel. A photo officials from the Kiev military administration published on Telegram shows flames erupting from the top floor of a multi-story apartment building.
The Ukrainian capital Kiev has repeatedly been the target of nightly Russian bombardments. “A massive attack,” said Mayor Vitali Klitschko via the Telegram news channel. “Don’t leave the shelters.” The Kiev military administration said the anti-aircraft systems destroyed the missiles. Falling debris hit several districts of the capital, including the historic districts of Podil and Pecherskyi. In the southwestern district of Holossiivskyj, a 27-year-old woman suffered injuries and was taken to the hospital, Klitschko said. There was also an air alert in central and northern Ukraine.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
According to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, there is a possibility of the delivery of “Eurofighters” from Germany. “If Great Britain and Germany were to combine their capacities for the ‘Eurofighter’, that would be an important step,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group and the French newspaper “Ouest France”. There is already an international coalition of main battle tanks with the core model of the German “Leopard 2” as well as American “Abrams” and British “Challengers”. In the same way, one could form a fighter jet coalition with the core model “F-16” as well as “Eurofighters” and Swedish “Gripen” jets, explained Resnikov.
In the middle of the month, Germany and Great Britain had ruled out supplying fighter jets to Ukraine in the foreseeable future. British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said at a press conference with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in Berlin on May 17 that “Eurofighters” in the British fleet are not suitable. In the short term, it is more important to equip Ukraine with capabilities comparable to those that fighter jets can provide, he said.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed a judge to lead an investigation into alleged covert arms sales to Russia. The US Ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, had alleged that such deliveries had been made with the help of the Russian-flagged cargo ship “Lady R”. This secretly docked at a naval base near Cape Town in December. The ship is under US sanctions over ties to a company that supplies Moscow with weapons, allegedly aiding Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
South Africa has denied that there could have been a government-sanctioned deal to sell arms to Russia, but has not categorically ruled out that a transaction could have happened through other means.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov criticized the implementation of the grain agreement with Ukraine as insufficient. Russia reports further shelling of its Belgorod region.