Dhe Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk considers China’s role as a mediator in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine to be conceivable. “It’s not unrealistic,” the former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany told the Funke media group (Sunday).
“Of course, the Chinese are pursuing their own interests. But I do believe that a just, peaceful solution and the end of hostilities are more in Beijing’s interests than this massive, never-ending earthquake for the entire world order,” said Melnyk.
Regarding the recent phone call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Chinese leader Xi Jinping – the first since the war began more than 14 months ago – the diplomat said: “It was a big step forward to strengthen our relations with China and those with Russia to end aggression.”
Of course, China’s position could be different from that of Ukraine, said Melnyk. “For Kiev, the withdrawal of all Russian troops from the occupied territories is a sine qua non,” he stressed. After all, the devil is “in the details,” Melnyk said.
All developments in the live ticker:
09:08 – Tougher penalties in the Russian army
According to British intelligence services, Russian commanders in the war against Ukraine have significantly tightened the penalties for violations of troop discipline. The Ministry of Defense in London said on Sunday, citing “numerous” reports from Russian fighters, that soldiers would be put in improvised cells just for trying to end the service contract or for minor offenses such as drunkenness. These are holes in the ground covered with a metal grid.
“In the early months of the war, many Russian commanders took a relatively lax approach to enforcing discipline, allowing those who refused to serve to return home quietly,” the London statement said. “Since the fall of 2022, there have been several increasingly draconian initiatives to improve discipline in the force, particularly since Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov took command in January 2023.”
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.
12:45 am – Two dead after shelling on Russian border region near Ukraine
According to official information, two people were killed by shelling from Ukraine in the western Russian border region of Bryansk. The governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomas, wrote this in his Telegram channel on Sunday night. In addition, Ukrainian forces destroyed a house in the village of Susemka and damaged two other houses. Russia, which launched a war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine more than 14 months ago, has repeatedly complained about shelling on its own territory.
9:48 p.m. – Zelenskyj: “You are all terrorists and murderers”
A day after a deadly rocket attack on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed not only the Russian leadership but also soldiers for war crimes. “Not just the commanders, but all of you, you are all terrorists and murderers and you all have to be punished,” said the 45-year-old on Saturday evening in his daily video address. Anyone who steers and fires rockets, who maintains planes and ships for terror, is complicit in the deaths of the war, he said. The background is the rocket attack on the city of Uman in which 23 people died on Friday.
21:05 – Czech President Pavel visits Ukrainian city of Dnipro
On the second day of his trip to Ukraine, the new Czech President Petr Pavel visited the central city of Dnipro. There he spoke to local representatives about the reconstruction plans for the region, as journalists traveling with him reported on Saturday. “We should see this as an opportunity to work together, not as one-sided help,” emphasized the 61-year-old. One thing they have in common is that both the Dnipropetrovsk region and the Czech Republic have a strong industrial character. Dnipro is located almost 400 kilometers south-east of the capital Kiev.
Petr Pavel (front right) during his visit to Dnipro
Source: dpa/Èapek Karel
In the city, Pavel visited the place where a Russian missile hit a block of flats in January. He condemned the “barbaric killing of civilians” by Russia. At least 45 people were killed in the attack.
4:58 p.m. – Crimean fuel depot – Ukraine speaks of “God’s punishment”
According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian military suffered considerable damage in the explosion and fire in a fuel depot in the port city of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia. Ten tanks with a capacity of around 40,000 tons were destroyed, an employee of the Ukrainian military intelligence service told the RBC Ukraine news agency on Saturday. It was fuel for the Russian Black Sea Fleet stationed there.
The Russian administration spoke of a drone attack. According to Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Rasvozhayev, only a drone could reach the oil depot. Another drone was shot down and its wreckage was found near the terminal. According to him, no one was injured. He did not comment on the damage.
The Ukrainian intelligence official did not claim that Ukraine was responsible for the blast, but called it “God’s punishment” for a Russian rocket attack on a block of flats in the Ukrainian city of Uman on Friday.
4:01 p.m. – Wagner boss threatens to withdraw from Bachmut
The head of the Russian Wagner mercenary unit, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has threatened to withdraw his troops from the embattled city of Bakhmut in Ukraine because of the high losses caused by a lack of supplies. “Every day we have stacks of thousands of bodies that we put in the coffin and send home,” Prigozhin said in an interview with Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov published on Saturday. Losses were five times higher than necessary because of the lack of artillery ammunition, he complained.
He wrote a letter to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to get supplies as soon as possible. “If the ammunition deficit is not replenished, we are forced – in order not to run like cowardly rats afterwards – either to withdraw in an organized manner or to die,” said the 61-year-old. He would probably be forced to withdraw some of his troops, but that would mean that the front would collapse elsewhere, he warned.
The Ukrainian army is ready for a counteroffensive. She’s just waiting for better weather so that the soft ground doesn’t stop her from making progress. Prigozhin predicts the offensive will begin by May 15. At the same time he renewed his sharp criticism of the leadership of the Russian military. It lacks discipline and organization.
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