On the 427th day of the war in Ukraine, the weapons are piling up. On the side of the occupied territories, first. Russia has erected 800 kilometers of trenches, anti-tank ditches, barriers, and men. Moscow is preparing for kyiv to try to regain ground, when the mud that had brought the fighting to a standstill has completely dried. Volodymyr Zelensky no longer hides his desire to counter-attack. As he spoke “peace” with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, he received his last shipments from the West. According to NATO, most of the armored vehicles requested have arrived. The counter-offensive that will not be long in coming.
Russian missile kills in Mykolaiv
A Russian missile killed one person and injured more than a dozen in the early hours of Thursday in Mykolaiv, a city in southern Ukraine, authorities said. “Around 1 a.m. (2200 GMT), the residents of Mykolaiv heard four loud explosions,” the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Senkevich, said on Telegram. “We already know that one of the missiles hit a high building. Another hit a detached house.” He added that some homes in the city were without power.
“So far, we know of 15 wounded and one dead,” said Vitaliy Kim, head of the regional military administration.
98% of the promised military equipment has been delivered
NATO allies and their partners have provided Ukraine with 230 combat tanks and 1,550 armored vehicles since the start of the Russian offensive, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Thursday.
“Allies and partners of the contact group led by the United States have sent to Ukraine 230 tanks, 1,550 armored vehicles and significant quantities of ammunition, or 98% of the equipment promised, to equip nine new armored brigades”, he said during a press conference with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel.
Russian justice orders the dissolution of a research center on racism
A Moscow court on Thursday ordered the dissolution of a renowned research center specializing in the study of racism and xenophobia in Russia, in the midst of a crackdown on the last critical voices since the offensive in Ukraine.
Founded in 2002, the Sova Center said in a statement that it was dissolved by decision of a judge of the Moscow City Court who approved a request to that effect from the Ministry of Justice. Officially, the center was banned for participating in events outside of Moscow, the city where it is administratively registered, which was considered a violation.
In its statement, the Sova Center said it argued during the hearing that this did not constitute misconduct and that disbanding the organization was an excessive measure, to no avail. He said he will appeal.
Washington, Paris and Brussels welcome Xi Jinping-Zelensky exchange
A first, hailed in the West. On Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Main topic of conversation? “Peace”, defended by China. “Dialogue and negotiation” are the “only way out” of the ongoing conflict with Russia, the Chinese head of state said on television when asked about the exchange. And to promise that his country would not seek to “take advantage” of this “crisis”.
Washington, yet an enemy of China, has, like Paris, welcomed this conversation, qualifying it as a “good thing”, while saying “ignore for the moment” if this “could lead to an initiative, a proposal or a plan of serious peace”. For his part, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell welcomed a “first important step”. “It is very important that China speaks to Ukraine. I want to remind that we all want peace […] But everyone has to understand that it doesn’t have to be just any “peace,” he added.
“We are ready to welcome everything that can (allow) to bring the end of the conflict in Ukraine closer,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday, when asked about this telephone interview, while adding : “And to lead to the achievement by Russia of the objectives it has set itself.”
Russia is (still) pushing the wheat deal
Will the wheat agreement be extended, as planned? Signed in July to allow the export of Russian and Ukrainian cereals to the Black Sea and avoid rising prices and famines in the world, the text, which must be renewed on May 19, is suspended at the discretion of Russia. Moscow wants the West to release its fertilizers, subject to an embargo and other sanctions, in exchange for an extension.
“So far, we don’t see any progress,” Russian Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Gennady Gatilov, a former deputy foreign minister, told a press conference on Wednesday. “We appreciate the efforts of the UN, the UN is trying to do its best,” the ambassador stressed, “but so far we have only seen promises.”
The reconnection to the Swift international banking system of the Russian bank specializing in agriculture, Rosselkhozbank, is part of Moscow’s demands. However, AFP was able to confirm on Wednesday from a source familiar with the matter that US authorities had given JPMorgan bank permission to make payments to Rosselkhozbank to allow exports of Russian grain and food.
The remains of an “air military object” found in Poland
The remains of an ‘aerial military object’ – an air-to-surface missile according to local media – have been found in northern Poland and police and military investigators are currently examining it, announced the Polish Minister of Justice on Thursday.
Ukrainian journalist killed
A Ukrainian journalist employed as a fixer by the Italian daily La Repubblica was killed by sniper fire in southern Ukraine, while his Italian colleague was injured, the newspaper said on Wednesday. “Our correspondent Corrado Zunino and his fixer Bogdan Bitik fell into an ambush by Russian snipers today in the suburbs of Kherson, in southern Ukraine,” the daily reported.