Tuesday, May 30

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Women embrace each other outside a residential building damaged during Russian drone attacks on May 30, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. The capital Kyiv got under a third Russian air attack in 24 hours. At least one person was killed in an early Tuesday strike, the Kyiv mayor said. (Photo by Roman Pilipey/Getty Images)

Zaluzhnyi: Ukraine’s air defense shoots down 11 ballistic and cruise missiles targeting Kyiv Oblast. Ukraine’s air defense shot down 11 ballistic and cruise missiles launched by Russia at Kyiv Oblast, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi reported on May 29.

Governor reports Russia’s Belgorod Oblast under fire. Ukrainian responded to Russian attacks by shelling Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, according to the region’s Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Exiled local authorities: Ukraine strikes Russian positions in occupied Berdiansk. Ukraine launched an attack on Russian positions in Russian-occupied Berdiansk in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the exiled local authorities reported on May 29. At least five strikes were allegedly conducted on the evening of May 28, the authorities said, while local Telegram channels reported explosions near the airport.

Anti-Kremlin militia claims to have reentered Russia’s territory. “Yesterday, Russian border guards celebrated their professional holiday. The fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps congratulated them by successfully crossing the ‘holey’ state border once again,” one of the Russian militia groups fighting on Ukraine’s side said on May 29.

Russia lost over 10,000 units of military equipment since Feb 24, 2022. The Russian military has lost at least 10,469 units of military equipment since the start of the full-scale invasion, according to the Oryx analytical project.

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Borrell: Russia won’t negotiate without first trying to win war against Ukraine. The European Union’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said he is “not optimistic” about how Russia’s war against Ukraine could unfold this summer, adding that he believes Moscow won’t enter negotiations without trying to win the war.

Putin signs ‘law’ allowing elections, forced deportations in Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill on May 29 allowing regional “elections” in occupied territories of Ukraine, which are planned for September this year, as well as forced deportations of the local population.

Putin signs law denouncing arms control treaty. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law on May 29 denouncing the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, according to a Russian government website.

Ukraine’s parliament passes additional sanctions against Iran. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, voted in favor of the proposal to impose additional sanctions against Iran for a period of 50 years, lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak reported on May 29.

Ukrainian parliament allows nationalizing banks owned by sanctioned figures. The draft law will enable the National Bank to nationalize Sense Bank (formerly Alfa-Bank), owned by Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman, wrote Ukrainska Pravda news outlet. It is yet to be signed into law by the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russian state media: $36 billion lost from exiting foreign investors in past year, claims impact ‘minimal’ Foreign investors have withdrawn approximately $36 billion from the Russian market over the past year, Russian state-affiliated media RIA Novosti reported on May 29.

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Russia launches 3rd mass aerial assault against Kyiv over past 24 hours, killing at least 1, injuring 3.

Russia launched yet another drone attack against Kyiv overnight on May 30, targeting Ukraine for the 17th time this month, the Kyiv City Military Administration said at around 5 a.m. local time.

Photo: Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images

Ukraine war latest: Russia launches 2 large-scale attacks on Kyiv in less than 24 hours

Eleven ballistic and cruise missiles targeting Kyiv Oblast were shot down by Ukraine’s air defense in the late morning on May 29, marking the second Russian attack on the capital in less than 24 hours. 

Photo: Paula Bronstein via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Update: 2 people killed, 8 injured in Donetsk Oblast following Russian guided bomb attack. Two people were killed and eight others were injured after Russian forces shelled the city of Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on May 29.

Russian forces attack Kharkiv Oblast, injuring 7. Russia shelled two villages in the Kupiansk district of Kharkiv Oblast on May 29, injuring at least seven people, including the elderly, children, and a pregnant woman, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.

Missile strikes reported in Kyiv, 1 injured. Missile strikes were reported in the capital at 11 a.m. local time by the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, leaving one person injured so far.

Russian shelling of Kozatske, Kherson Oblast, kills civilian. Russian troops hit the villages of Kozatske and Zolota Balka in Ukraine’s southern Kherson Oblast on May 29, the regional administration reported. A 61-year-old man was killed in his house as a result of the Kozatske shelling, according to the report.

Russian forces attack Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, killing at least 1, injuring 10 others. Russian forces launched another attack against Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on May 29, killing at least one person and injuring nine others, Governor Serhii Lysak reported.

Officials: Russian strikes injure 3, damage property in multiple oblasts over the past day. Russian forces launched massive strikes using artillery, drones, and aircraft on multiple oblasts over the past day, leaving three injured civilians and causing property damage, officials reported on May 29.

Prosecutor’s Office: 483 children dead, 986 injured **due to Russian invasion of Ukraine.**As a result of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, at least 483 children were killed and 986 were injured, the General Prosecutor’s Office reported on May 29. These numbers are not final as investigations continue, specifically in the areas where hostilities are taking place.

Official: 100 soldiers killed in strike on temporary Russian base near Mariupol. About 100 Russian soldiers were killed, and over 400 were injured in a strike on a former healthcare facility in the village of Yurivka near Mariupol, exiled Advisor to the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andriushchenko reported on May 29.

General Staff: Russia has lost 207,030 troops **in Ukraine.**According to the report, Russia has also lost 3,801 tanks, 7,467 armored fighting vehicles, 6,207 vehicles and fuel tanks, 3,435 artillery systems, 575 multiple launch rocket systems, 331 air defense systems, 313 airplanes, 298 helicopters, 3,054 drones, and 18 boats.

10 popular misconceptions about Ukrainian history, debunked

International response

Denmark to provide Ukraine with another $2.6 billion in military aid. Denmark will increase its spending on defense assistance to Ukraine by 17.9 billion Danish kroner (about $2.6 billion) in 2023-2024, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in an interview with DR.

Poland to close border for Russian, Belarusian trucks. Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski signed an order on May 29 suspending freight traffic for Russian and Belarusian vehicles across the border with Belarus, as reported by Polish news agency PAP.

Moldova’s president proposes new agency to tackle Russian disinformation, propaganda. Moldova’s President Maia Sandu warned against the dangers of Russian propaganda and disinformation in the country and proposed the creation of a new governmental body to counter this threat. The envisioned “Patriot Center” would coordinate and implement the state’s strategy on combatting disinformation, Sandu said during a press conference on May 29.

Georgian parliament speaker says diplomatic relations with Russia ‘strategic policy of patience.’ Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said that the prospect of restoring diplomatic relations with Russia was not a “policy of concessions” but rather a “strategic policy of patience.”

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