According to the Pentagon Spokesperson: On May 17, Russia launched a satellite into low orbit that we believe is a weapon capable of attacking other satellites. Russia has reportedly placed a “new type of space weapon” in the same orbit as a US government satellite.
Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson, in an interview with Bloomberg: “NATO countries will need a year or two to fully arm Ukraine.” Jonson called on Western allies to double the volume of purchases, because “Russia has recovered faster than the Euro-Atlantic community.” “I expect we will catch up, but I think it will be a year or two before we see a significant effect on the ground,” he said.
Furthermore, the Minister reports that Sweden has already doubled its military spending since 2020 and plans to allocate 2.6% of GDP to defense by 2030. Jonson underlined that Sweden has joined the German initiative to provide Kiev with additional systems of Patriot air defense. However, he said, transferring one of the four batteries to Sweden would cause significant damage to its own defense.
The EU Council Resolution on frozen Russian assets states that it will not transfer the proceeds of frozen assets to Russia even after the end of sanctions against Russia. “They are not sovereign assets, therefore, the rules that protect sovereign assets do not apply to these incomes,” the document reads. It seems that Europe plans to use the profits for the defense of Ukraine, its restoration and reconstruction.
This will cause considerable economic, financial and image damage to Europe. Foreign private companies will no longer have confidence in European finance and Russia will also make its counter move. Recall that financially the global and connected market and Russian investments have been welcomed by several European countries that will pay the highest price: Balkan region, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Greece in the front row.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded to the EU Council: “Even the reduced possibility of withdrawing Russian funds in the form of income from assets in the European Union constitutes an expropriation, which will entail consequences. The Russian Federation continues to evaluate the withdrawal of funds in the EU and will provide a response.”
According to Volodomyr Zelensky, Russia has accumulated 10 thousand missiles for the S-300 air defense system, this gives it an advantage. “The daily use of bombs is their great advantage. Use of S-300 systems: They have accumulated 10 thousand S-300 missiles. Ten thousand is their advantage once again,” the president of Ukraine said in an interview with the New York Times.
Regarding the summit in Switzerland, Zelensky said: “Ukraine does not want to invite Russia to the “peace summit” in Switzerland so as not to interrupt the process” to Reuters. According to Zelensky, in the next stage it will be “attracted” through intermediaries. “They (the Russian side) are blocking everything, destroying everything, they will not calm down until they show one or the other plan to end the war, which will be an ultimatum – as we have seen many times,” Zelensky said.
According to Zelensky, the idea is to “develop a common position of the countries on the three key issues under discussion, and then inform Russia about it. These three points are: “nuclear safety, safety of navigation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, as well as the return of Ukrainian children and the exchange of “all for all””. And he commented: “If all countries support it, they will develop a technique step by step step by step and then present it to Russia… And then it will have to answer to the world majority,” Zelensky explained.
According to the advisor to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Mychajlo Mychajlovyč Podoljak to Bild: “The Russians do not have the goal of capturing Kharkov, they want to destroy it.” “Their goal is to get closer to Kharkiv. But not capture it, but shoot it with guided bombs, ballistic missiles and artillery. To do this, they have to come 20-30 km from Kharkiv city and spread panic, but the situation is under control,” Podolyak said.
From Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov made statements on May 22nd, responding to the United States on space issues and speaking about the BRICS: “The Russian Federation is carefully monitoring the situation of US nuclear tests in Nevada”. “The Russian Federation has sent invitations to the BRICS Council of Ministers, proceeding from the fact that all participants of the “ten” will be represented; “An impressive number of states among the friends of the group received an invitation to the BRICS Ministerial Council; The Russian Federation will expose and show to the world US disinformation on the topic of Russia’s alleged deployment of weapons in space; The Russian Federation takes into account further US plans on the subject of nuclear tests in its military planning.”
And now a look at the front line updated at 16:00 on May 22nd.
According to the Russian social sphere: “In recent days the Russian group “North” has managed to expand the front line; it is already extending to the eastern part of the Kharkiv region”. Quoting the words of the head of the Russian administration of the region, Vitaly Ganchev. “In total, almost 300 square kilometers of the region’s territory are under the control of Russian forces.”
According to another source: on the night of May 21 for three hours, the Russian armed forces carried out attacks with the Geranium UAV on Ukrainian targets in the Odessa and Mykolayiv regions. Explosions were reported near Zatoka, in the Belgorod-Dnestrovsky district and in Ochakov. The creation of a buffer zone in the Kharkiv region continues. Russian troops are advancing towards the village Lyptsi with fighting. Lyptsi and Vovčans’k. They are constantly being hit by heavy weapons. There are several videos of Ukrainian prisoners available online.
In the direction of Seversky Donets, footage of attacks by Russian flamethrower systems on Bilohorivka was widely disseminated.
Near the eastern outskirts of Chasiv Jar, the Russian military is expanding its zone of control, negatively impacting development. To the south, in Klishchiivka, the Russian armed forces use tanks equipped with “super grids” to launch assault groups. A new video has appeared showing the installation of the flag in the village of Klishchiivka.
On the southern flank of the Pokrovs’k direction (west of Avdiivka), the Russian assault on the western part of Netailove is completed. Ukrainian units were reported to be retreating towards Karlivka. The Russian Armed Forces are attacking the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces south of the settlement.
The Russian armed forces advanced towards Paraskoviivka from Novomykhailivka. The Russian flag is installed in the western part of Paraskoviivka.
In the direction of Kherson, the Ukrainian Armed Forces used the MBEC with installed missiles. After striking from a distance of at least 5 km, the naval drone left the area. The situation indicates an increase in threats to Russian facilities along the entire Black Sea coast. In the river floodplain on the Dnieper, Russian groups continue to operate on the islands; the Ukrainian coast is being hit more and more often with precision-guided munitions, destroying the positions of UAV operators. Information about the transfer of some Marine Corps units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the direction of Kharkiv, where Ukrainian marines are receiving mobilized units, is confirmed.
In the Belgorod region, attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine fell on Dolgoye, Valuysky urban district, n.p. Novaya Tavolzhanka, Krasnoe, Voznesenovka, Rzhevka and Murom of the Shebekinsky urban district. Shebekino was bombed. A car was attacked on the road between the Ustinka settlement and Yasnye Zori, Belgorod district, a woman was injured.
Near a checkpoint in the village of Oktyabrsky, Belgorod region, a kamikaze drone attacked a moving car, killing a woman and wounding three men. In the Borisov district of the Zozuli settlement, following the fall of an explosive device, the windows of two houses were broken. Another drone fell near a residential building and exploded. Upon leaving the village of Gruzskoye, a kamikaze drone also fell and exploded. During the day, several aircraft-type UAVs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were shot down.
In the Bryansk region, two kamikaze drones attacked the vehicles of a farm in the Starodub municipal district: there were no casualties;
As a result of Ukrainian attacks on Donetsk, one civilian died and four were injured.⠀
Graziella Giangiulio
