Zelensky: Ukraine only has 25% of needed air defense capabilities
Ukraine only has 25% of the air defense capabilities it needs to adequately repel Russian attacks, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with AFP on May 17.
Team
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in international journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Ukraine only has 25% of the air defense capabilities it needs to adequately repel Russian attacks, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with AFP on May 17.
Russia's offensive in Kharkiv Oblast this month could be the first of several waves, and Russian forces may try for the regional capital of Kharkiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with AFP on May 17.
Russian forces attacked two energy facilities in Ukraine with drones overnight on May 18, Ukraine's state-owned energy operator Ukrenergo reported.
The death toll of a Russian attack on the city of Kharkiv on May 17 has risen to four as an injured 33-year-old man died in the hospital, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on May 18.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 17 signed into law a bill permitting citizens convicted under certain charges to serve in the military.
Ukrainian drones attacked several military facilities in Russia and in occupied Crimea overnight of May 17, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing unnamed sources in special services. The operation was reportedly carried out by Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
The government allocated more than Hr 1.5 billion ($38 million) to restore the Zmiiv thermal power plant (TPP) in Kharkiv Oblast and the Trypillia TPP in Kyiv Oblast destroyed by Russian attacks, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on May 17.
Ukrainian businessman Vitaliy Kropachov is the owner of the Ukrdoninvest Group of companies with assets in the coal industry, machine-building, construction, transportation, and media.
Russian troops were able to advance as far as 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep in some areas during their offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, but the front in the region has been stabilized, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists on May 16.
Washington has not changed its position on potential Ukrainian strikes with U.S.-supplied weapons on Russian territory, even after Russia had launched its offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said at a press briefing on May 16.
Russian Shahed-type drones were intercepted over Kharkiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Odesa and Mykolaiv oblasts, Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said.
A fire broke out at an oil refinery in the town of Tuapse in Russia's Krasnodar Krai overnight on May 17 after a drone attack, the regional operational headquarters claimed.
When asked if the U.S. is to blame for what is happening in Kharkiv Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, "It is the world's fault."
Tamaz Gambarashvili, the head of Vovchansk City Military Administration, two medics and two drivers are among the injured, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on May 16.
Power supply restrictions in Ukraine may last until August, Yurii Boiko, an advisor to the prime minister, said at a press conference in Kyiv on May 16.
Russian troops attacked the village of Mykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast and the Beryslav district in Kherson Oblast on May 16, killing one person and injuring nine, according to the prosecutors.
Drones operated by Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) hit production facilities of the state-owned Russian weapons manufacturing company "Basalt" in the city of Tula overnight on May 16, a military intelligence source told the Kyiv Independent.
"The enemy's plans to advance deeper into the city of Vovchansk and gain a foothold there were thwarted," Ukraine's General Staff said on May 16.
Ukrainian troops have not lost ground near the village of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Dmytro Lykhovii, General Staff's spokesperson told on the national television on May 16.
Russia targeted a total of 10 Ukrainian oblasts — Sumy, Luhansk, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Kherson. Casualties were reported in the latter five regions.
The partisans claim that the damaged depot stored "most of the missiles" for Russian Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets as well as MiG-31 aircraft, a carrier of Kinzhal ballistic missiles that Russia uses to attack Ukraine.
The Estonian government has held no specific discussions on sending the country's troops to Ukraine, Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said on May 14, according to public broadcaster ERR.
The Ukrainian government has appointed on May 14 Taras Vysotskyi and Vasyl Shkurakov as the acting agriculture and infrastructure ministers, respectively, Taras Melnychuk, the government's representative in parliament, said.
Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov's statement came after he reportedly told the New York Times a day before that the situation in the region "was on the edge" and "moved toward critical every hour."
The Ukrainian troops "changed positions" near the village of Lukiantsi in Kharkiv Oblast "to save the lives" of their soldiers, Ukraine's General Staff reported on May 14.
Save Ukraine, a Ukrainian humanitarian NGO, rescued six more children from Russian-occupied territory, Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on May 14.
Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov expects that after Ukrainian forces stabilize the front in Kharkiv Oblast, Russia will launch a new attack in Sumy Oblast, the New York Times (NYT) reported on May 14.
Russia targeted a total of 10 Ukrainian oblasts — Sumy, Mykolaiv, Luhansk, Odesa, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson. Casualties were reported in the latter four regions.
More than 30,000 Russian troops are carrying out renewed offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Lytvynenko told in an interview with AFP published on May 13.
A Russian ammunition depot exploded in the occupied town of Sorokyne (Krasnodon) in Luhansk Oblast, on May 13, Governor Artem Lysohor said.
Russian troops attacked the border town of Snovsk in Chernihiv Oblast on May 13 with cluster munitions, injuring three people, Ukraine's National Police reported.
The High Anti-Corruption Court arrested Oleh Hladkovsky in absentia on May 13, Ukraine's Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) reported. Hladkovsky was the first deputy secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council during Petro Poroshenko's presidency.