Ukraine Daily Summary - Monday, May 29

Death toll rises in Russian strike on Dnipro clinic after more body fragments identified -- Reznikov reports 100% hit rate for new British-made cruise missiles Ukraine uses -- Over 100 Russian soldiers desert in occupied Lysychansk -- Lukashenko claims Russia will give nukes to any state that joins Union State of Russia & Belarus -- and more

Monday, May 29

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A couple stands in front of a damaged multistory residential building, where a Russian strike killed 23 people, in Uman, Cherkasy Oblast.

People on the street near the damaged building due to an attack by the Iranian Shahed attack drone of the Russian army in Kyiv. (Photo by Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Zelensky thanks air defense, first responders after overnight Russian attack.

“The Air Defense Forces of Ukraine. You heard the air raid alarm differently than most people,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said following the Russian attack on Kyiv on May 28.  “You look up to destroy enemy missiles, aircraft, helicopters, and drones. Every time you shoot down enemy drones and missiles, lives are saved.”

Official: Ukraine won’t join NATO until war ends. Fedir Venislavskyi, the Ukrainian president’s representative in the Ukrainian parliament, said on May 28 that the NATO alliance is unlikely to accept Ukraine until the war with Russia ends.

Reznikov reports 100% hit rate for new British-made cruise missiles Ukraine uses. The air-launched Storm Shadow missiles, jointly developed by Great Britain and France and capable of hitting targets at a distance of more than 250 kilometers, were delivered to Ukraine on May 12 from the UK, CNN reported.

Zelensky asks parliament to sanction Iran **for 50 years.**The bill includes a complete ban on trade with Iran, investments, and transferring technologies, as well as stopping Iranian transit across the Ukrainian territory, and preventing the withdrawal of Iranian assets from Ukraine.

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General Staff: Over 100 Russian soldiers desert in occupied Lysychansk.

About 80 Russian soldiers in the occupied city of Lysychansk, Luhansk Oblast, as well as about 30 mercenaries of the Wagner Group near the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast deserted from the battlefield, the General Staff reported on May 28.

ISW: Prigozhin indicates possible delay of Russian relief operation in Bakhmut. 

Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin announced that the Russian relief operation in Bakhmut may not be completed by the initial deadline of June 1 and take until June 5.

Lukashenko claims Russia will give nukes to any state that joins ‘Union State.’

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claimed Russia will give nuclear weapons to any state that joins the Union State of Russia and Belarus, Russian state-controlled media said.

Lavrov calls move to supply Ukraine with Western fighter jets ‘unacceptable escalation.’ Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the pledged delivery of fighter jets by some Western states is an “unacceptable escalation,” criticizing the West for what he called an attempt to “weaken Russia,” according to Russian state-controlled media.

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Ukraine war latest: Russia launches largest drone attack on Kyiv; Ukraine to sanction Iran

Ukraine’s air defense shot down 58 out of 59 Iranian-made Shahed loitering munitions overnight on May 28 as Russia launched a massive drone attack across Ukraine, the General Staff of Ukraine Armed Forces reported.

Photo: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

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Russia launches 15th mass aerial assault against Ukraine this month, targeting Kyiv

Russia launched a new wave of air attacks against Ukraine in early hours on May 29 using drones and cruise missiles, with the Kyiv City Military Administration saying that defense forces shot down over 40 targets.

Photo: Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

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Human cost of war

1 wounded in Russian shelling of Kharkiv Oblast. The Russian military heavily shelled the Kupiansk district of Kharkiv Oblast on May 28, the State Emergency Service reported. As a result of the attack, a 74-year old woman suffered shrapnel wounds in the village of Kucherivka.

Russian attacks kill 1, injure 8 civilians across Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Russian attacks in Kherson, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia oblast have also damaged housing, infrastructure, and power grid, regional authorities reported on May 28.

Death toll rises in Russian strike on Dnipro clinic after more body fragments identified. Authorities identified fragments of the bodies found on the site, proving they belonged to the three people who had been recorded missing.

Russian attacks kill 2 in Kharkiv Oblast, hit infrastructure in Zhytomyr Oblast. 

Russian shelling and airstrike killed two civilians and injured three others in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast over the past day, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on May 28.

International response

Canadian sappers training Ukrainian soldiers in Poland. Canadian military sappers have been training Ukrainian soldiers on mine safety in Poland, Ukraine’s General Staff reported on May 28. According to the General Staff, the courses are part of the Canadian UNIFIER training mission.

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