As the war enters its 812th day, these are the key developments.
This is the situation on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
Fighting
- Intense fighting took place in Vovchansk, northeast of Kharkiv, about 5 km from the border with Russia. Oleksiy Kharkivskyi, the city’s police chief, said the situation was “extremely difficult”, while Ukraine’s General Staff said Ukrainian troops had managed to “partially” repel some Russian infantry groups, but “defensive actions” were underway. on the northern and northwestern outskirts of the city.
- The Russian Defense Ministry said Russian forces had taken control of the settlements of Hlyboke and Lukyantsi in the northeast region of Kharkiv and Robotyne in the southern region of Zaporizhia.
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Regional governor Serhiy Lysak said a Russian airstrike on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro killed two people and injured several others.
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At least 25 people were injured, three of them seriously, after Russian missiles and guided bombs hit the cities of Kherson and Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine. The attack also damaged apartment blocks, houses, schools and medical facilities, local officials said.
- At least two people were injured in Russian shelling of a central district of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said the injured were being treated in hospital.
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The Russian Defense Ministry said its air force destroyed 10 Ukrainian long-range missiles launched at Sevastopol, Crimea, which Moscow invaded and annexed from Ukraine in 2014. It did not say whether there was any damage.
- Sri Lanka said at least 16 of its citizens were killed fighting as mercenaries in the war in Ukraine, most on the Russian side.
Politics and diplomacy
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy canceled visits to Spain and Portugal that were scheduled for this week.
- Swiss President Viola Amherd said that delegations from more than 50 countries, including South America, Africa and the Middle East, have already signed up for the peace summit in Ukraine next month. Switzerland is trying to persuade more countries to join, including China.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in China on Thursday for a two-day visit, where he will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In an interview with Chinese state news agency Xinhua before the visit, he supported China’s peace proposals for Ukraine.
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European Union ambassadors agreed to expand sanctions on Russian media outlets to four more media outlets, accusing them of publishing propaganda. European Commissioner for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova said that Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestija and Rossiyskaya Gazeta would be added to the list, which already includes Sputnik and RT. Jourova said Russian funding of EU media outlets, non-governmental organizations and political parties would also be banned.
- Nadezhda Buyanova, a 68-year-old Moscow pediatrician, was tried for spreading “false” information about the army after the ex-wife of a soldier killed in Ukraine filed a complaint about an alleged comment made by Buyanova during a consultation.
Weapons
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $2 billion in additional military aid to Ukraine and said Washington was sending munitions, armored vehicles, missiles and air defenses to the country to ensure their rapid delivery to the line of defense. front.
- Putin said Russia’s total spending on defense and security could reach just over 8.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
