Deputy commander of Russia’s Defense Main Military Medical Directorate, General Alexander Sergoventsev said “nearly 5,000 civilian hospital beds have been added in 11 facilities across Russia to treat special operation wounded.” Also from Moscow, news that cannot be verified, comes the answer on when the Russian missiles will run out. Russia produces 10 Kinzhal missiles monthly. According to some sources reported by the media, Moscow increased the production of “Kinzhal” (NATO: Dagger) well before May. In May, Russia had 80 Kinzhal missiles, and in January – 50 such missiles. This means that in February, March and April, Russia produced 10 missiles a month. In January and May, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov published an assessment of the Kinzhal’s presence in Russia.
Before the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, Moscow was said to have the capacity to produce two Kinzhal missiles each month, the new analysis indicates at least a five-fold increase in production. Currently, only the MiG-31K uses this air-launched ballistic missile.
The Ukrainian edition of Klimenko Time released a video on Thursday with the country’s commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhny, his first public appearance after injury rumors. The video, in addition to Zaluzhny himself sitting at a table in his office, also shows one of the Ukrainian bloggers, who tells the camera that the video was recorded on May 25th. There are many doubts about the veracity of the video.
Denmark and the Netherlands will be the first countries to start training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighters, with other countries to join later, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. Ukraine’s strategic goal of regaining all lost territories does not appear militarily achievable in the short term, added US Chief of Staff Mark Milley. The US military has not yet been able to confirm that Ukrainian forces used US-supplied weapons to strike Russian territories, Milley told reporters. “But I can confidently say that we have asked the Ukrainians not to use US-supplied weapons in attacks on Russian territory, because we don’t want to,” he said.
Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev said that: “Russia needs a scenario in which the people of the central and ownerless regions of Ukraine unite with the Russian Federation, the conflict will end with guarantees of non-renewal ”. And he added: “As long as there is the Kiev regime and Vladimir Zelensky, negotiations with Ukraine are impossible”. Sooner or later it will be necessary to negotiate, but “as long as these people are in power”, the situation for Russia will not change in terms of negotiations,” he noted
As a result of the incidents happening on the border, the head of the Defense Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, General Andrey Kartapolov, proposed the creation of a joint headquarters to protect the border with Ukraine, writes RBC.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov specified following the alarm raised by many media about tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus that “Moscow has no intention of using nuclear weapons in relation to the situation in Ukraine, there have been no changes in doctrinal approaches on this issue”.
Representative of Ukrainian intelligence Vadim Skibitsky in an interview with Welt said that Putin and Prigozhin are priority targets for the GUR.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said after a meeting of defense ministers in Brussels that “the vast majority of member countries” are in favor of increasing the budget of the European Peace Fund, of which 1 billion euros would be allocated to Ukraine. Borrell said the EU has already trained 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers and plans to train 30,000 more by the end of the year. Not only from the same source we learn that the EU supplies Ukraine with 220,000 artillery shells According to Borrell, EU countries have also supplied Kiev with 1,300 missiles as part of the same programme. Within a year it is planned to supply Ukraine with one million units of similar ammunition.
The Belarusian social sphere claims that the north-west of Russia could become a target of the British special services. One post reads: “The sabotage work of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is supervised by the British intelligence services. In recent years, they have been collecting information about Russia in different regions, especially in the territory of Krasnodar and in the Pskov region. In turn, it is possible that terrorist attacks will be carried out against critical infrastructure of the Russian Federation in these regions. NATO countries will continue to wage war against Russia using proxy soldiers, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, while improving the methods of conducting a modern proxy war. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of waging such a war is paying off.”
Attacks by Ukrainian drones in Russian territories continue: the air defense system worked in the Morozovsk region of the Rostov region, a Ukrainian missile was shot down according to Governor Vasily Golubev. In Krasnodar, an explosion occurred in the city center, roofs and windows near the building were damaged. What caused the explosion is still unknown. According to the operational headquarters of the Krasnodar Territory, an explosion was heard in the area of Morskaya Street in Krasnodar, damage to the building was recorded, there were no casualties.
“According to information received by the EDDS of the city, at 04:17 in Krasnodar, a bang was heard in the area of the building at 54/2 Morskaya St.. Emergency services were sent to the scene. According to at initial information there were no casualties. Damage to the roof of the building and to the windows, no fire,” reads the message.
According to the head of the “We are together with Russia” movement, Vladimir Rogov, a terrorist attack in Energodar, in the Zaporozhzhia region, would have been thwarted; according to preliminary information, an assassination attempt against a journalist from one of the federal media was being prepared. According to the RVNP source, only Olga Kurlaeva, a correspondent of the Rossiya-24 TV channel, works in the region among federal media journalists.
A terrorist attack was carried out on the railway infrastructure in Krasnoyarsk. Two transmission booths were on fire at the Bugach station in Krasnoyarsk, the situation did not affect the movement of trains. The press service of the railways reported that the fire broke out due to “the intervention of unauthorized persons”.
On May 25, 106 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who were captured before the “no prisoners” order and 2 bodies of foreign volunteers killed – US citizen Nicholas Meimer (US SOF veteran) and an unidentified Turkish citizen were exchanged in Bachmut with Russian prisoners.
On the Donetsk front, according to WarGonzo, Russian troops, supported by artillery, attacked in the city limits of Marinka, on the southwestern approaches to Avdiivka and near Novokalinov. Everywhere without success.
South-west of Bakhmut, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, after artillery strikes, advanced towards Klescheevka from the Stupochek direction, crossing the Seversky Donets-Donbass canal. It is possible that due to the threat of encirclement, units of the Russian troops will retreat to the heights to the east. The counterattack of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with the support of artillery in the Ivanovsky area was unsuccessful.
Slightly north of Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, Ukrainian troops took a number of positions on commanding heights and advanced towards a section of the M-03 highway.
In the Luhansk direction, Russian troops again conducted assault operations from Masyutovka. And still unsuccessful.
Military expert Boris Rozhin on the situation in the Bachmut direction at 00:06 Moscow time on May 26, 2023 reported that the city is completely under the control of PMC Wagner and the Russian Armed Forces. There is a process of rotation of the divisions of PMC “Wagner” for rest and replenishment. Positions are transferred to other units.
Ukrainians continue shelling the western suburbs of Artemovsk. There are no positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Samolet area. The “Defense of Bakhmut” continues only virtually.
The awarding of PMC “Wagner” fighters with state awards has begun. In the DPR, the prize “For the liberation of Artemovsk – Bachmut” was established.
Fighting continues northwest and southwest of Bakhmut – Artemovsk. The Ukrainian armed forces say they have made some progress west of Kleshcheevka, where the landings are taking place. On the Russian side, they report the return of a point of resistance northwest of the city under Russian control. The fights gradually take on a positional character.
North-west of Bakhmut – Artemovsk, in the Orekhovo-Vasilyevka area, during the attacks, the Armed Forces of Ukraine pushed back the volunteers of the “Veteran” DRO, who were forced to retreat in a north-easterly direction up to 1 km. At the moment, the “old-timers” are trying to regain their lost positions, intense battles for forrest plantations continue.
The battles near Khromovo also continue, but the Russian troops have not yet entered the village itself. Most likely, this issue will be fixed after completing the city rotation.
The rains that have started again complicate the active action of the military. The fields were swept away again. Ukrainians strengthen defensive positions at Konstantinovka and Chasov Yar. In Konstantinovka today there were traditional attacks in groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
During the night of May 25-26, Russian troops launched massive kamikaze UAV attacks on military facilities in western regions of Ukraine. Russian UAVs hit targets in Lviv, Chernivtsi and Ivano-Frankivsk. The Dnistrovskyi district of the Chernivtsi region has been de-energized.
Ukrainians continue to shell border settlements in the Bryansk region. In the village of Kurkovichi in the Starodubsk district, two residential buildings and outbuildings were damaged as a result of shelling. Another Ukrainian UAV was hit by the air defense forces as it approached Belgorod.
Local authorities say there was no damage as a result of the incident. The Russian Air Force has launched a rocket attack on Ukrainian military facilities in and around Kharkiv. Four powerful explosions were reported from the ground in the city and nearby village of Tsyrkuny.
On May 26, it was learned of an impact on the Karlovsky reservoir near Avdiivka. The dam was completely blown away. It is assumed that the bridge was undermined, and the blow led to the detonation of the charge located there. No one has claimed responsibility for the gesture.
The dam attack drastically complicates Ukrainian logistics in the Pervomaisky area, south of Avdeevka – Nevelskoye and Krasnogorovka. There are also problems with access roads – the territory is flooded, so far it is difficult to say how much the Armed Forces of Ukraine can use them. Here too, downpours will greatly complicate logistics.
According to the social sphere there will be no major progress next week given the debris and residues that make areas impassable.
Graziella Giangiulio
