Russia has switched to defensive positions in all its areas of combat apart from Bakhmut, according to the Ukrainian head of intelligence Kyrylo Budanov. In an interview with RBC Ukraine, he said: “They have completely switched to positional defence everywhere. The only places on the frontline where they are making attempts are in the city of Bakhmut, an attempt to cover the city of Avdiivka from the north, and localised fighting in the city of Marinka. Both in Avdiivka and Marinka the tactics are identical to those in Bakhmut – just an attempt to wipe the settlement off the face of the earth.”
Denis Pushilin, the acting head of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, has said the situation in Bakhmut continues to be “tense”, but that Wagner group forces have made some advances. Russian state-owned news agency Tass reported he said “over the past 24 hours, the guys from the Wagner PMC have advanced in the western and northwestern parts of Bakhmut. Now they have approached a rather difficult area – a block of high-rise buildings, where the enemy has organised defence. Work is also being actively carried out to finally and irrevocably cut off the enemy’s last supply route”.
Ukraine’s military appears to have set up positions on the eastern side of the Dnipro River near Kherson city, the Institute for the Study of War cites Russian military bloggers as saying. Infiltrating the area could be a first step towards trying to dislodge Russians from positions they are using to shell and shoot at Kherson.
Ukrainian authorities say Russian troops are “forcibly evacuating” civilians in the area of Kherson region that they still occupy, a day after it was claimed that Ukrainian forces had established the bridgehead on the east bank of the Dnipro River. “I have information that the evacuation starts today [Sunday] with an excuse of protecting civilians from the consequences of heavy fighting in the area,” said Oleksandr Samoylenko, the Ukrainian head of Kherson’s regional council. Russian troops were “trying to steal as much as they can” as they withdrew, he added.
Vladimir Rogov, the chair of the pro-Russian “We are together with Russia” organisation in occupied Zaporizhzhia, has posted to his Telegram channel to say that Ukrainian armed forces are massing in the area. Russian state-owned news agency Tass cites Rogov claiming that 12,000 Ukrainian service personnel are now in the area of the city of Huliaipole, located directly on the line of contact in the region. The battle situation in eastern Ukraine has made it impossible for journalists to independently verify battlefield reports or claims.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet repelled a drone attack on the Crimean port of Sevastopol in the early hours of Monday, the Moscow-installed governor of the city has said on the Telegram messaging app.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries and upholds the purposes and principles of the United Nations charter. The comments come after the Chinese ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, made comments on Friday that cast doubt on the sovereignty of former Soviet states including Ukraine. France’s foreign ministry says it will discuss the issue with the ambassador on Monday.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed confidence on Monday that the bloc would finalise a plan within days to buy ammunition for Ukraine after Kyiv expressed frustration at wrangling among EU member states. “Yes, still there is some disagreement. But I am sure everybody will understand that we are in a situation of extreme urgency,” Borrell told reporters as he arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has spoken after his son confirmed he had fought for Russia in the war in Ukraine. In an interview in Komsomolskaya Pravda on Sunday, Nikolai Peskov said he had served as an artilleryman in the Wagner mercenary group. “I considered it my duty,” he said, adding he had served under an assumed identity. On Monday, his father told reporters: “He took this decision. He’s a grown man. Yes, he did indeed take part in the special military operation.”
The head of the Russian grain union said on Monday the Black Sea grain initiative to facilitate Ukrainian agricultural exports had not yielded anything positive for Russia or helped facilitate supplies to the global market. Russia has said it will walk away from the agreement on 18 May if restrictions that it claims are blocking Russia’s own agricultural and fertiliser exports are not addressed.
More than 300 foreign correspondents who have worked in Moscow have written to the Russian government to call for the immediate release of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter being held on espionage charges, saying his arrest sends a “disturbing and dangerous signal” about the country’s attitude to independent media.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said Moscow “will not forgive” Washington for denying US visas to Russian journalists who were meant to accompany him on a visit to UN headquarters. “We won’t forget, we will not forgive this,” he said. Russia took up the presidency of the 15-member security council in April.
Russia is using passports as a tool in the “Russification” of parts of occupied Ukraine, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update. Authorities in occupied areas were “almost certainly” coercing the population to accept Russian passports, it said.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, Moscow would respond by terminating the Black Sea grain deal that enables vital exports of grain from Ukraine. Russia has strongly signalled that it will not allow the deal to continue beyond 18 May.
Europe’s military spending grew at a record pace in 2022, reaching a level unseen since the cold war following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global security researchers said. The rise in Europe helped global military expenditures reach an eighth straight record at $2.24tn, or 2.2% of the world’s gross domestic product, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Russia is advising its citizens to avoid travel to Canada. Moscow cited what it called numerous cases of discrimination against its citizens, including physical violence, its foreign ministry said.
Anti-Kremlin protesters staged a rally in Paris on Sunday, urging the EU to impose sanctions on the socialite wife of the Russian deputy defence minister, whom they accuse of bypassing sanctions. The protesters said deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov had divorced his wife, Svetlana Maniovich, last year in order to enable her to live a luxury lifestyle in France and evade sanctions.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
