2023-05-15 19:36:59
According to a US newspaper, the head of the Wagner group offered kyiv to reveal Russian positions in Ukraine
The head of the Russian Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeni Prigozhin, would have offered to the Ukrainian authorities to reveal the position of Russian troops participating in the invasion of the country, according to leaked US intelligence documents collected by the US newspaper The Washington Post.
Prigozhin, close to President Vladimir Putin, was at the center of a public dispute with the Russian government over the offensive around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, going so far as to threaten to withdraw his mercenaries if the authorities they did not deliver enough ammunition to maintain operations.
The documents, leaked through the Discord platform, show that Prigozhin would have made the offer at the end of January, amid heavy casualties in the ranks of the Wagner group.
Thus, he contacted the Ukrainian military intelligence services (HUR) to convey that, if kyiv withdrew its forces from Bakhmut, it would give him information on the position of Russian troops, without further details.
The United Kingdom reaffirmed its support for Ukraine and promises missiles and drones in a meeting with Zelensky
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, whom he received in London, today that the UK will provide Kiev with “hundreds” of air defense missiles and long-range attack drones.
Zelensky, held a meeting of approximately two hours this morning with the British prime minister at Checkers, the official country residence of the UK government, to discuss the crisis between Ukraine and Russia and to request more fighter jets.
The Ukrainian leader arrived in London as part of a tour of several European powers that began on Saturday in Italy and continued yesterday in Germany and France, from where he left to arrive in the United Kingdom today.
At the end of the meeting, Sunak declared that “the United Kingdom is firm in its support for Ukraine.”
US says Iran supplied more than 400 drones to Russia since August
The US government estimates that Iran has supplied more than 400 drones to Russia since last August, most of them Shahed-type, and that Moscow is using it in the invasion of Ukraine. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby spoke of “indications” that Iran and Russia are expanding their defense collaboration in a move they have called “unprecedented.”
Russian army says it intercepted two NATO planes over the Baltic Sea
Russia affirmed on Monday that it was forced to use one of its warplanes to intercept two military planes over the Baltic Sea, one French and the other German, which it accuses of having wanted to “violate the border”.
“After driving the foreign military aircraft away from the Russian state border, the Russian fighter returned safely to the airfield,” the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Telegram.
Russia to resume flights to Georgia on Wednesday after a nearly four-year hiatus
The first commercial flight from Russia to Georgia will take place on Wednesday after a pause of almost four years, after the Civil Aviation Agency of the Caucasian country gave its permission to the Russian airline Azimut on Monday.
The director of the Civil Aviation Agency, Givi Davitashvili, said on Imedi television that five airlines submitted applications to carry out direct flights between Russia and Georgia, including a Georgian one, after Russian President Vladimir Putin last week signed a decree about it.
Explosion in Lugansk injures Russian-imposed interior minister
The Minister of the Interior of the Lugansk region, annexed by Russia last September, was injured today as a result of an explosion in the center of the provincial capital, in which a civilian also died.
“Among the wounded is the Minister of the Interior, Igor Kornet,” said the Russian agency Interfax. According to TASS, citing police sources, Kornet “is seriously injured.” “It was an attack. He is in intensive care,” the agency added.
A man was also killed in the attack and three of the minister’s bodyguards were injured, according to TASS.
Romanian Army Recalls Last Soviet-Produced MiG-21 Fighters
The army of Romania, a NATO member country since 2004, withdrew from its fleet on Monday, after 60 years of service, the last Soviet-produced MiG-21 LanceR aircraft.
Between the years 1991 and 2022 there were about thirty incidents with these MiG-21s, the last in March 2022 when a pilot died when his plane crashed and another seven when a rescue helicopter crashed, according to the Romanian Ministry of Defense.
Romania, which had some 400 MiG-type aircraft during communism, now has a fleet of 17 American F-16s, recently acquired from Portugal, and has signed a contract with Norway for the purchase of another 32 such aircraft. .
Russia says fierce fighting continues on western outskirts of Bakhmut
Russia said today that fierce fighting continues on the western outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, between mercenaries from the Wagner Group and the Ukrainian Army.
“In the direction of Donetsk, the assault detachments continued to wage fierce fighting on the western outskirts of the city of Artiomovsk (Russian name for Bakhmut), as well as the units of the 4th motorized rifle brigade in the area of the town of Krasne (now Ivanivske)”, said the military spokesman, Lieutenant General Igor Konashénkov, in his war part.
The Ukrainian army said over the weekend that its troops have recaptured more than 17 square kilometers in Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province that Russia has been trying to take since last August.
Express Russian citizenship for those who serve in the ranks of the Russian Army
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday whereby foreigners who serve in the Russian Army during the military campaign in Ukraine and their direct family members will be able to obtain Russian citizenship by fast-track procedure.
The presidential provision, published on the state portal for legal information, states that in order to acquire Russian citizenship through the express procedure, foreigners will have to sign a contract for the provision of military service for one year.
Biden will ask the G7 to impose an almost total ban on exports to Russia
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, will ask the G7 leaders this week to impose an almost total veto on exports to Russia, a source familiar with the conversations within the Group of Seven told EFE.
According to that source, the war in Ukraine will be the central theme of the summit that the G7 will hold between May 19 and 21 in the city of Hiroshima (Japan).
Specifically, Biden wants to modify the way in which the West has so far restricted its exports to Russia in order to eliminate the legal loopholes that have allowed the Kremlin to continue accessing certain products through third countries.
Zelensky hopes to reach an agreement with Western countries on aircraft delivery soon
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said after a meeting with British Prime Minister Richi Sunak on Monday that he hopes to reach an agreement soon on the delivery of Western fighter planes to deal with the Russian invasion.
“We want to create a coalition for the planes and I am very optimistic about it, we have talked about it and I think it will happen very soon, they will find out about decisions that I consider very important,” said Zelenski accompanied by Sunak, who declared himself willing to play “a key role in this coalition”.
The Vatican will continue with its peace plan for Ukraine, although not as a mediator
The Vatican will continue with its peace plan to end the war that began in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, although not as a “mediator”, after Kiev’s rejection of any type of deal that also involves Moscow, sources from the Holy Headquarters to Telam.
The Vatican will maintain its public rejection of the warmongering escalation after the meeting that Pope Francis had with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski on Saturday, in which the president ruled out that third states assume the role of mediators.
“I respect the Pope, but we don’t need mediators,” Zelensky said in television statements after meeting for 40 minutes with the pontiff in the Vatican, categorically rejecting any dialogue with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Russia claims to have shot down a Storm Shadow missile delivered to Ukraine by the UK
Russia claimed on Monday to have intercepted a long-range Storm Shadow missile, just a few days after the announcement by the United Kingdom of the supply of that weapon to Ukraine.
In the past 24 hours, “air defense systems intercepted seven HARM anti-radar missiles, one Storm Shadow long-range cruise missile and 10 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Four civilians killed in a Russian missile attack on Avdiivka
Four people died today as a result of a Russian missile attack against the town of Avdiivka, located in the province of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine and which has been one of the hottest spots on the front for months, the head of the Administration reported today. Military of the area, Pavlo Kyrylenko.
“Four people have been killed as a result of a missile attack on Avdiivka,” Kyrylenko wrote on his Facebook page. “The Russians attacked the city with missiles this morning, hitting the hospital,” added the military chief.
Ukraine celebrates ‘first success’ in offensive around Bakhmut city
The Ukrainian army celebrated on Monday the “first success” of its offensive on the outskirts of the eastern city of Bakhmut, the longest and bloodiest battle of the conflict with Russia.
“The advance of our troops in the Bakhmut area is the first success of the offensive” to defend the city, which the Russians have been trying to take since the middle of last year, said the commander of the Ukrainian ground troops, Oleksandr Sirski, quoted by the Ministry of Defence.
Both Russia and Ukraine They claim progress in the Bakhmut region, the epicenter of the fighting for months.
Russia claims new British arms supply to Ukraine will only cause “more destruction”
Britain’s new arms supply to Ukraine will cause “even more destruction,” Russia warned on Monday, as Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky visited London to meet British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
“Britain aspires to position itself at the forefront of countries that continue to load Ukraine with weapons,” denounced Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, adding that these deliveries will not have a major impact on the conflict, but “will cause even more destruction.”
UK to supply “hundreds” of missiles and attack drones to Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday, who promised to deliver “hundreds” of anti-aircraft missiles and long-range attack drones to Ukraine so it can defend itself against Russian invasion.
Zelensky traveled to the UK early this morning, after visiting Italy, Germany and France over the weekend and obtaining fresh promises of military aid, as Ukraine prepares for a long-awaited counter-offensive against the troops of the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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