The Ukrainian President was received early in the morning, this Sunday, May 14, by the German Head of State Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, to seal the promise of delivery of 2.7 billion euros of armaments announced by Germany. After Rome and the Vatican the day before, this is the Ukrainian president’s first trip to Germany since the start of the conflict. He hailed the support of Germany, which he called a “true friend” and a “reliable ally”.
Volodymyr Zelensky is currently trying to rally support in Europe as his army prepares a counter-offensive in the east of the country against Russian forces, while Kiev and Moscow both claim successes in and around Bakhmut in the region. of Donbass. It is for kyiv to try to regain ground in the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk (east) as well as Kherson and Zaporijia (south) whose annexation Moscow has claimed.
“Germany will provide all the help it can, for as long as necessary”, assured the Minister of Defense, Boris Pistorius, on May 13. Planned deliveries include dozens of tanks, armored vehicles, surveillance drones and four new Iris-T air defense systems. “It is also disappointing to see that the German government continues to refuse the delivery of combat aircraft, this taboo must be urgently broken”, nevertheless regretted the former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany. The United Kingdom, for its part, announced the supply of Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine, becoming the first country to deliver this type of long-range weapon, which can strike at 250 kilometers.
Volodymyr Zelensky receives the Charlemagne Prize
The Ukrainian head of state should also, according to the German daily Picture, to go to Aix-la-Chapelle in the afternoon to be awarded the Charlemagne Prize, a distinction rewarding a commitment to European unification. “For the first time in its long history, the Charlemagne Prize recognizes with this award that freedom and the fundamental principles of Europe must, if necessary, be defended by force”, underlined this week the director of the committee organizing the price, in the German daily Tagesspiegel.
Ukrainian army continues to advance in Bakhmout
The Ukrainian army again claimed on Saturday to “advance” around Bakhmout, the epicenter of fighting with Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, while Moscow assured the day before to continue its progress in the city already mainly under its control and largely devastated today.
“The defensive operation in the direction of Bakhmout continues. Our soldiers are advancing in some areas of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and troops,” the commander of Ukrainian ground troops said on Telegram. Ukraine had claimed the day before to have advanced two kilometers around the city. “The situation in the city itself is more complicated,” acknowledged Ms. Maliar on Telegram, while asserting that “the enemy is unable to take control” of Bakhmout.
Observers doubt the strategic scope of the conquest of this city for Russia but it would allow Moscow to post a victory after several humiliating setbacks. For its part, Kiev assumes that it wants to tire the Russian army as much as possible by fixing it in this area of Donbass before launching an offensive aimed at reconquering the occupied territories in the east and south of the country, the preparations for which “are reaching their end” according to Ukrainian officials.
Eurovision: the city of the Ukrainian duo bombed
The Ukrainian duo Tvorchi defended the colors of Kiev at the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday evening in Liverpool, just as their city of Ternopil (west) was targeted by Russian strikes, according to local authorities. The electronic duo performed their track “Heart of Steel”, a song inspired by the resistance during a month-long siege at the Azovstal factory in Mariupol and which finished sixth after being given a standing ovation by the audience.
Ternopil “was bombarded by Russia as we sang on the Eurovision stage about our strong hearts, our indomitableness and our will,” they wrote. “Europe, united against evil for peace”, they added. During the evening, an official of the military administration of Ternopil, Volodymyr Trouch, announced on his Telegram account strikes on warehouses in the city, injuring two. Due to the Russian invasion, the 67th edition of the competition, which should have been organized in Ukraine, was held in the city of the Beatles, in the north of England.