On Tuesday, May 27, 2018, this is the situation as it stands:
Fighting:
- Ukraine claims that Russia reportedly launched a record number of drone strikes on Monday, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy describing the incidents as evidence that Moscow is “acting with impunity.”
- According to authorities, the majority of the 355 drones were downed by Ukrainian air defenses, but several of them actually broke through defenses and killed people. The regional governor of Ukraine reported that two elderly women had died in the region of Kharkiv in the northeast.
- Meanwhile, Russia accuses Ukraine of attacking its “social infrastructure” with aerial strikes. After shooting down 96 overnight, the Ministry of Defense announced on Monday that it had shot down at least 48 Ukrainian drones.
- According to the Defense Ministry, Russian forces have taken control of the villages of Volodymyrivka and Belovody in Sumy’s northeastern region, according to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.
- In an effort to establish a “buffer zone” on Ukrainian territory, the governor of Sumy claimed that Russian forces had taken control of four additional villages. He named them Novenke, Basivka, Veselivka, and Zhuravka, and said that the area’s residents had been evacuated for a while.
- Since the start of the war, 630 Ukrainian children have been killed and 1,960 have been wounded in Russian attacks, according to the prosecutor general’s office in Ukraine.
- Rodion Miroshnik, a special envoy to the Russian government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claims that the Ukrainian military used “inhumane methods of warfare” to cause more than 400 civilian casualties in April.
military assistance
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that key Western allies in Ukraine are no longer limiting the supply of weapons, a move the Kremlin described as “dangerous.”
- Ukraine claims to have received confirmation from China’s supply of a variety of significant goods to Russian military installations, including tooling machines, special chemical products, gunpowder, and components made specifically for the defense manufacturing industries.
diplomacy and politics
- Donald Trump, the president of the United States, made the comment that Putin has gone “absolutely crazy” over the scope of Russian airstrikes, suggesting that the US leader may be experiencing “emotional overload.”
- Additionally, it stated that a draft draft of Russia’s proposal for a potential peace deal with the Ukraine had not yet been submitted, and that serious work was being done. According to spokesman Dmitry Peskov, “This is a serious draft, a draft of a serious document that requires careful checks and preparation.”
- Zelenskyy demanded more intense pressure on Moscow after it reported that Russia had launched more than 900 drones and missiles at Ukraine over the course of three nights. The Ukrainian leader said in his weekly video address, “There is no military sense in this, but it is an obvious political choice: Putin, Russia, or to continue the war and end lives.”
- Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, said he thinks Trump is beginning to realize that Putin “lied” about the Ukrainian conflict. He also demanded that Moscow submit a ceasefire order, which would be supported by the threat of “massive sanctions.” /li>,
- Mette Fredericton, the prime minister of Denmark, added that Moscow’s support for peace was demonstrated by the weekend’s Russian attacks on Ukraine.
- Finland contacted Russia’s ambassador in Helsinki to request an explanation for a alleged airspace violation that occurred last week. The NATO member reported on Friday that it believed two Russian military aircraft had entered its southernmost Porvoo airspace.
