In half a year, Russia claims the conquest of 47 locations, with May breaking records in the number of civilian casualties (834 days of war)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow’s forces had conquered 47 locations in Ukraine since the beginning of the year, at a time when Kiev’s troops are facing a lack of weapons, ammunition and men. “Since the beginning of the year, it seems to me that 47 localities, or 880 square kilometers, have been liberated,” declared the Russian President during the plenary session of the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, referring to advanced data §ed by Defense Minister Andrei Belousov.
In recent months, the Russian army has recorded avanços no Donbassin the east of Ukraine, and in the north, in região de Kharkivwhere he launched an attack on May 10, without, however, achieving any progress at this stage.
Furthermore, the United Nations (UN) reported, this Friday, that at least 174 civilians were killed and 690 were injured last month in Ukraine, the highest monthly number since June 2023.
The data was presented by the UN Deputy Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya, in a briefing to the Security Council convened by France to address the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. According to Msuya, more than half of the civilian casualties recorded in May “can be attributed to the fighting in Kharkiv”.
On the 834th day of war, the US announced a new help worth 225 million dollars (around 207 million euros) to Ukraine. The announcement was made by Joe Biden during a meeting in Paris with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky. “The United States will always be with you”he said, adding a public apology for the months-long delay in military support, which allowed Russia to make gains on the ground
Other news that marked the day:
⇒ Russia considered this Friday that the statements by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, on the increase in military support for Ukraine show that the France is “ready to participate directly in the conflict”. “Let’s say that Macron demonstrates absolute support for the Ukrainian regime and declares that the French Republic is ready to participate directly in the military conflict,” Kremlin spokesman (presidency), Dmitri Peskov, told Russian agencies.
⇒ Ukraine asked this Friday, through presidential advisor Mikhail Podoliak, for greater room for maneuver to hit military and strategic targets across Russian territory with weapons sent by Western partners. Podoliak argued that the possibility of destroying military and strategic infrastructure throughout Russia, and not just in areas close to the border, as Kiev’s partners demanded, would radically change the situation. This change in the rules for using Western weapons would give Ukraine an opportunity to regain the initiative, which has been on Russia’s side since the failure of last summer’s Kiev counteroffensive.
⇒ Close to 30 countries have committed to increasing their support for the recovery of Ukraine’s cultural heritage, under the coordination of UNESCO, which will develop a joint action plan Hate and long term. The decision was taken this Friday, at the initiative of Lithuania, at a meeting held in Vilnius, and the plan drawn up by the United Nations Organization for Science and Education Culture (UNESCO) consults more than 40 international and Ukrainian institutions, the international organization announced.
⇒ Spain joined 12 other countries of the European Union (of which Portugal is a part) to ask the Belgian Presidency of the Council to adopt this month the negotiating frameworks for the accession of the Ukraine and Moldova at 27.
