live blog
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy will personally attend the G7 summit. Air alert has been declared again in many cities of Ukraine. Explosions are said to have occurred in some areas. All developments in the live blog.
Russia has hit multiple targets in new airstrikes on Ukraine. Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses failed to intercept all drones and missiles. According to a message from the Ukrainian Air Force, three cruise missiles and six drones hit the target at Telegram. In total, the Russian military used 22 drones and six cruise missiles in this attack. The Ukrainian military did not provide information on the impact sites. Explosions had previously been reported in the southeastern Ukrainian industrial city of Kryvyi Rih and the western Ukrainian metropolis of Lviv. At least two were injured.
According to an insider, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is on his way to the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia. As a person familiar with the meeting explained to the Reuters news agency, Zelenskyy will travel on from the conference venue Jeddah to the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in a French government aircraft.
The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has described the capture of the embattled city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine as unlikely in the next two days. “Bakhmut has still not been captured,” Prigozhin said in an audio message published on Telegram. “It is unlikely that Bachmut will be taken tomorrow or the day after.” Heavy fighting continues, especially in a part of the city known as “Plane,” where Ukrainian soldiers have holed up in multi-story buildings.
G7 leaders insist on Russia’s “complete and unconditional withdrawal” from Ukraine. In a summit declaration at the meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, the heads of state and government of the seven leading Western industrialized countries emphasize that they will continue to support Ukraine financially in the coming year. “A just peace is not possible without the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops and military equipment. This must be included in every call for peace,” it said. In doing so, the G7 also make a preliminary determination for the various peace initiatives that are currently being put forward by Brazil, the Arab League and China.
According to British secret services, the alleged attack on an important railway line on the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea also has consequences for the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The Ministry of Defense in London announced on Friday that it was the only train connection to the port of Sevastopol, where the fleet is stationed. “Russia will try to quickly repair the route, but the incident will disrupt supplies and potentially weapons, such as Kalibr cruise missiles, to the fleet.”
The incident on Thursday, in which a freight train derailed, will also increase Russian concerns about protecting important infrastructure in Crimea. “The peninsula continues to play an important psychological and logistical role in enabling Russia’s war in Ukraine,” it said in London.
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has clearly rejected doubts about the continued arms deliveries to Ukraine. “Whoever calls for a stop to arms deliveries to Ukraine today is leaving Ukraine to its fate,” he told the “Augsburger Allgemeine” and the “Main-Post”. “The end of arms deliveries today would be the end of Ukraine tomorrow.” Pistorius reiterated that it was about “supporting Ukraine with everything that is possible, that we can do”. In this context, he reiterated the German government’s refusal to supply fighter jets: “I have said repeatedly that we have no fighter jets that will help Ukraine immediately.”
According to their own statements, the Ukrainian air defense repelled another Russian air attack in the morning. A spokesman for the Air Force said on Ukrainian television that 19 of 28 drones and missiles were intercepted. These are three cruise missiles of the “Kalibr” type and 16 drones. There were no reports that critical infrastructure or military facilities were hit.
Ukraine has confirmed that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will personally attend the summit of heads of state and government of the seven leading western industrialized countries (G7) in Hiroshima, Japan. Zelenskyy will travel to the meeting, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov told state television. “Very important things will be decided there and therefore the presence of our President is absolutely necessary to defend our interests,” he added.
In the Ukraine, the capital Kiev and other cities have again become the target of Russian attacks during the night. “The tenth airstrike in 19 days in May,” the Kiev military administration said on Telegram. There were several waves of drone attacks during the night. All targets discovered in the air that were flying in the direction of Kiev were destroyed, it said. According to military officials and media reports, there were also explosions in the cities of Lviv and Rivne in the west of the country, and in Kherson and Kryvyi Rih in the south.
Shaded: territories occupied by Russia
According to EU Council President Charles Michel, the possible delivery of “F-16” fighter jets to Ukraine will be an issue at the G7 summit of the leading Western industrial nations in Japan. They are closely coordinated to pursue a common approach to military support, the Belgian said.
This Friday there will be an opportunity to discuss the issue with US President Joe Biden and the other summit participants and to jointly examine what additional support is needed. “It is very clear that Ukraine needs more military equipment,” he said.
According to media reports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will personally attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan. The “Financial Times” cites insiders who are familiar with the preparations for the trip. Accordingly, Zelenskyj should also be present at discussions at the summit meeting on Sunday.
In the early hours of the morning, air raid warnings were issued across Ukraine. Explosions are said to have occurred in some areas. According to official information from Kiev, it is said that anti-aircraft systems are deployed in several regions.
According to the Ukrainian military via the Telegram news service, Russian planes are apparently in the air and there is a risk that all regions of Ukraine could be shelled with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. The military went on to say that drone strikes could also occur in the central regions of the country.
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.
The EU wants to “limit” trade in Russian diamonds as part of sanctions over Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. This was announced by EU Council President Charles Michel at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan. Britain had previously announced a ban on trading in Russian diamonds. The USA also announced a new package of sanctions. The Russian diamond trade is estimated to be worth $4-5 billion a year and generates important tax revenue for the Kremlin.
After reports of success from Bakhmut, President Selenskyj praised his soldiers in particular. Norway, in cooperation with Great Britain, supplies Ukraine with further weapon systems.