And the Russian soldiers retreated north of Bakhmut

Two civilians were killed and a third seriously injured in an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Russian region of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine. Belgorod’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, denounced this via Telegram saying that “these civilians were killed by the Ukrainian armed forces while they were in their garden planting potatoes”.

The repeated Russian attacks on major Ukrainian cities are a sign of Moscow’s desperation. This was stated by the Secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, in a tweet. “Kiev remains the obsessive and unattainable goal of the Kremlin’s leader, Vladimir Putin – and – he adds – in Russia, a sense of despondency and frustration with the authorities is growing with the failures of the offensive and defeats on the front.”

The long-range Storm Shadow missiles that the UK provided to Ukraine have already been used in combat. This was stated by British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace during a press conference. “All I can say is that it has been in use since we announced its deployment to Ukraine, but I won’t go into further detail,” Wallace said.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said while speaking to reporters in Hiroshima that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will not attend the G7 summit in person but will attend Sunday’s G7 session via videoconference. The Guardian reported that.

“Defense will continue to be a convincing participant in the initiatives on the eastern side that NATO is implementing: here the commitment is significant and is expected for a maximum of 2023 in terms of personnel of about 3,400 units, which in terms of assets translates into about 600 land vehicles and materials, five naval units and about thirty air assets.” This is how the Minister of Defense, Guido Croceto, spoke before the Foreign and Defense Committees, in the context of examining decisions on missions. For 2023 – he explained – “it is also expected that a naval unit with air and missile defense capabilities will be deployed in the Baltic Sea, as a contribution to strengthening Polish airspace and the Euro-Atlantic region.”

“Defense will continue to be a convincing participant in the initiatives on the eastern side that NATO is implementing: here the commitment is significant and is expected for a maximum of 2023 in terms of personnel of about 3,400 units, which in terms of assets translates into about 600 land vehicles and materials, five naval units and about thirty air assets.” This is how the Minister of Defense, Guido Croceto, spoke before the Foreign and Defense Committees, in the context of examining decisions on missions. For 2023 – he explained – “it is also expected that a naval unit with air and missile defense capabilities will be deployed in the Baltic Sea, as a contribution to strengthening Polish airspace and the Euro-Atlantic region.”

Yevgeny Prigozhin, commander of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, accused regular Russian army units of withdrawing 570 meters north of the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, leaving the flanks of their fighters exposed. The Guardian reported that. “Unfortunately, units of the Russian Ministry of Defense withdrew up to 570 meters north of Bakhmut, exposing our flanks,” Prigozhin said in an audio message. “I appeal to the top leadership of the Ministry of Defense publicly that my letters have not been read,” Prigozhin said.

A train carrying grain derailed in Simferopol, Crimea. This was stated by the head of the administration of the peninsula annexed by Russia, according to what was reported by the Interfax agency, adding that there are no dead or injured. It will be off track It was caused by “interference from outside”: the Crimean Railway announced in a statement, the Guardian reported. Earlier, the Telegram channel Baza, which has links with the Russian security services, reported an explosion on a railway line. “An explosion occurred on the railway line in the Simferopol region of Crimea at 8:20 am (7:20 in Italy). As a result of the accident, five railway cars carrying grain were derailed. The movement of trains has been suspended on the Simferopol-Sevastopol section, ”wrote the independent Russian media Baza on his Telegram channel, as reported by Ukrinform. The attack took place near the village of Chistinki, and the explosion, which created a large crater, damaged about 50 meters of the track. A total of eight carriages derailed, five of which overturned.

Washington is so reluctant to approve any transfer of F-16s to Kiev that “Ukrainian pilots are not currently allowed to train on F-16s owned by European countries.” This was claimed by a senior Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity to The New York Times. The Biden administration, which must approve any transfer of US-made aircraft, is not convinced that Ukraine needs the expensive planes. U.S. reluctance to allow the training severely limits a proposed new European alliance to help Ukraine acquire and fly the F-16s.

Despite the limited nature of the defenders’ counterattacks, the Russian forces are losing the initiative in the Bakhmut region. This is supported by the latest report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) on the conflict in Ukraine. Analysts at the American think tank say that Ukrainian and Russian officials took notice of Ukrainian counterattacks yesterday near Pakhmut.

In particular, the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Hanna Malyar, said that Kiev forces are advancing around Bakhmut. In turn, the spokesman for the Eastern Group, Serhiy Sharifati, said that the defenders advanced 500 meters in the direction of Bakhmut on the last day and continued to advance, besieging the Russian army. In addition, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the Russian Airborne Forces made little progress, but acknowledged the continuation of Ukrainian counter-attacks around Bakhmut, in the area of ​​Bohdanivka (5 km northwest of Bakhmut) and Ivanevsky (6 km west of Bakhmut). .

Ukrainian air defense repelled several waves of Russian attacks during the night, destroying 29 out of 30 cruise missiles and 4 drones. It is the balance sheet of the Air Force Press Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

China’s special envoy for Eurasian affairs Li Hui visited Kiev on Tuesday and Wednesday, exchanging views with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and other leaders on ways to end the Ukraine-Russia conflict through settlement policy. A statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said that although there was no “magic bullet” for war, Li urged all parties to create conditions for peace talks, stating that “China is ready to urge the international community to form the greatest common denominator to solve this problem.” Ukrainian crisis.

The goal is to make every effort to “stop the fighting, establish a cease-fire and restore peace as soon as possible,” the note from Beijing’s diplomacy reads. China has also “always played a constructive role in alleviating the humanitarian situation in Ukraine in its own way and will continue to provide assistance to Ukraine within its capabilities.” His ministry said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba told me yesterday that Kiev would not accept any proposal to end the war involving loss of territory or freezing the conflict. Lee, who has been ambassador to Russia for ten years, will also visit other countries such as Poland, France, Germany and Russia, and could add other stops during his mission to try to find a “political solution” to the conflict. On the other hand, Li is the highest ranking Chinese official to visit Ukraine so far since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. During the visit, Li also discussed bilateral relations and the two sides agreed to work to maintain “mutual respect and continuity.” To carry forward mutually beneficial cooperation.

One person was killed in Russian missile attacks on Odessa. This was stated by the spokesman for the regional military administration, Serhiy Brachuk, on Telegram. Two people were injured. “Most of the enemy’s missiles were shot down by the air defense forces over the sea. Unfortunately, an industrial target was bombed: one person died and two were injured,” Prachuk specified.

“The series of air strikes on Kiev continues, unprecedented in strength, intensity and diversity. The ninth air strike on the capital since the beginning of May! This time the attack was carried out by Tu-95MS and Tu-160 strategic bombers from the Caspian region, possibly with X-101/555 cruise missiles. After firing the missiles, the enemy launched reconnaissance drones over the capital. According to preliminary information, all enemy targets in Kiev airspace were detected and destroyed. This was reported on Telegram by the head of the military administration of the Ukrainian capital, Serhiy Popko. “The Air Force will soon announce final data on the number and type of missiles and drones. Falling debris was recorded in the Desna and Darnytsia regions. The greatest damage was recorded in the latter – there was a fire on the territory of the garage cooperative. The fire has been put out. In the rest of the areas, debris may have fallen on parked cars, residential areas, or forest park areas. No information has yet been received about the victims.”

Falling debris from tonight’s air strike on Kiev has sparked fires in the Ukrainian capital. This was reported by the local authorities, explaining that the debris fell in the regions of Darnitsa, Desna and Dnipro on the left bank of the river. Meanwhile, the air raid alert has returned to the city. “Because of the falling debris, a non-residential building in the Desna district caught fire,” said Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kiev military department. “Fire in a garage cooperative due to falling debris in the Darnitsa region. The rubble fell in several places in the same area, ”wrote Mayor Vitali Klitschko, stressing that“ at the present time there are no victims in the places where the debris fell.

Explosions sounded in Kyiv. The authorities reported that air defense is operating in the Ukrainian capital. The air raid alert went off last night in the city and in all regions of the country.