NATO is developing a plan in case of war with Russia. It is the first time since the end of the Cold War and according to rumors it will be discussed in Vilnius. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in the NVO area and visited the forward headquarters of the “V” group in the direction of Zaporozhzhia
Biden is ready to approve the export of F-16 planes to Ukraine, but with one condition, CNN says. As the TV channel informs, the United States is ready to allow the export of F-16 combat aircraft to Ukraine, but in the event that the decision on the transfer of the aircraft is made by the Allies. The Biden administration is ready to make such a decision “against the backdrop of heavy pressure from US congressional representatives and allies due to the intensification of Russian air strikes against Ukraine”.
Military Watch Magazine has confirmed that an attack by a Russian hypersonic cruise missile “Dagger” (Kinzhal) on May 16 destroyed a radar, a control center and at least one launcher of a Patriot air defense system located in Kiev. The result – one of the complexes was disabled before the replacement of its important elements, and in total two such complexes were supplied to Ukraine.
As the publication points out, “the air defense missile system fired 32 surface-to-air missiles at the approaching Kinzhal, but without success: they managed to spend 96 million dollars but without shooting down the Russian missile.”
The Ukrainian premier is still on tour this time to the Arab League, in Saudi Arabia, and at the G7 to be held in Japan, where it is learned from Ukrainian sources that he will meet the Indian leader, Narendra Modi for the first time
As of May 17, Polish media write that near Warsaw military conducted an exercise to counter CBRN threats. Some media since the Russian attacks in Khmelnitsky, Ternopil reported that radiation would increase in eastern Poland.
It was reported that in Lublin, measuring instruments experienced a sharp increase in level. The Poles write that the radiation threat came from the Khmelnitsky region, where a depot and a large number of tank shells with depleted uranium were destroyed.
On May 18, Polish media reported that citizens complain that when crossing the border from Ukraine to Poland, cars began to be closely inspected by soldiers in protective suits.
The Ministry of Health of Ukraine has declared the Kremlin’s propaganda about radiation contamination in the Ternopil region to be false. Reports of increased background radiation in the region had appeared in the media after the destruction of an ammunition depot where British depleted uranium shells were stored. According to local media, despite the denials, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine distributes instructions with typical precautionary measures for the prevention of radiation sickness.
On May 19, Barbara Woodward, Britain’s Permanent Representative to the UN said that the United Kingdom has been using depleted uranium munitions for some time and sees nothing supernatural in it: “This is a standard component and has nothing to do with with nuclear weapons or capabilities,” Woodward said.
Before that, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya noted that “Britain does not care about the fate of Ukrainians, and London is well aware of the monstrous long-term consequences for the environment and public health the use of projectiles with depleted uranium”.
Poland’s state atomic agency denied reports of increased radiation levels in the Lublin Voivodeship on May 19. The agency called the information that appeared about the “increased radioactivity” in Khmelnitsky in Ukraine false, noting that there was no radiation danger.
Of a different opinion Nikolaj Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, according to which the cloud full of radioactive dust that emerged from the explosion of the Khmelnytsky ammunition depot is moving towards Western Europe. An increase in the level of radiation has been recorded in Poland.
According to Ukrainian social media sources, as of April 28, “Russia resumed bombing Ukraine. After a pause of 50 days, the enemy has carried out six massive attacks on the relatively backward regions of the country.” “Apparently, after a failed attempt to destroy the energy system, the attacker has stockpiled missiles for other tasks. Most go into a capital, which has already suffered ten drone and rocket attacks since the end of April. The same Ukrainians who have been writing for months that Russian missiles are running out.
The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed the media reports. Spokesman Yuriy Ignat clarified in a comment to RBC-Ukraine that Russian tactics remain unchanged – a combination of various means of attack to distract the attention of our air defense. “Now the Russians have specific goals, each of them has its own priority – these are our military facilities, critical infrastructure facilities, important strategic facilities, defense enterprises, warehouses, troop concentrations and, above all, Western equipment and ammunition,” added Ignat.
Statements regarding the sabotage of the railway in the Crimea also differ. According to British Intelligence, the railway explosion in Crimea disrupted the delivery of missiles to Sevastopol. “Any sabotage in this sensitive area will further heighten the Kremlin’s fears about its ability to protect other key infrastructure in Crimea,” the intelligence agency said. At the same time, Britain notes that Russia will quickly start repairing the railway, because it is the only railway route to the port of Sevastopol.
The images coming from both the pro-Russian social sphere and those of local citizens showed the wagons poured on their side. If there had been missiles they would certainly have exploded and there would have been much more damage than shown certainly the Russian defense like the Ukrainian one can do little in the face of small drones flying at low altitude.
In Russia they say that after demining the railway tracks in the Simferopol region of the Crimea, a criminal case was initiated under the article “Terrorist act” there is no mention of a drone attack. The power of the explosion was about 25- 40 kilograms of TNT, according to our source. They are looking for saboteurs. “Yesterday morning, unknown persons blew up the tracks near the village of Chistenkoye. The train was traveling from Simferopol to Sevastopol. After the explosion, 11 carriages on 23 derailed: five overturned, one was blown to pieces. A crater with a diameter of 12 meters was formed at the site of the explosion. 75 meters of rails were damaged, no one was injured. At 22:00 the traffic on the damaged section has been completely restored”.
While we learn from social sources that on the morning of May 19, an aerial-type drone was shot down by an air defense system in the Crimea. “The UAV flew to the Dzhankoy district today at about 3 in the morning. It was destroyed a few kilometers from the settlement. There were no casualties or damage.” On the night of May 18-19 at about midnight, Ukrainian formations launched seven Mugin-5 UAVs from an improvised airfield in the Chernomorsky area of \u200b\u200bthe Odessa region.
Only five flew to the Russian Peninsula, which were shot down and landed in the northern part of the Crimea: four at the Mamut station north of Dzhankoy and another one near the village of Salt Lake. Judging by the areas of destruction of the drones, the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to hit the railway infrastructure connecting Crimea with the Kherson region.
Together with yesterday’s sabotage on the railway section from Sevastopol to Simferopol, the intentions of Ukrainian units to disrupt logistics in the Kherson and Zaporozhzhia directions are becoming more apparent. At the same time, simultaneously with the departure from the Odessa region, information was received about the launch of 14 UAVs from the Dolgintsevo airfield near Krivoy Rog in a southerly direction. However, the data has not been confirmed
The RBC – Ukraine channel showed a video it claims was posted by Syrskyi where the onslaught of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the direction of Bachmut is supposed to be seen in the accompanying post it reads: “The commander of the Eastern Group of Forces noted that it is a video of the assault actions of one of the special units of the 10th “Edelweiss” Mountain Assault Brigade”. However, the commander is not seen and the date of the video is not exposed.
According to Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar: the Armed Forces of Ukraine cleared about 20 square kilometers, advancing 500 m to 1 km on the flanks; “each meter is like 10 km of advance in other conditions”; he reported at a press conference. “The occupiers want to return the lost kilometers, they are concentrating their efforts; repel attacks.
British intelligence has updated the map of hostilities in Ukraine and said that the Ukrainian army was able to advance north and south in the Bakhmut district about 20 square kilometers. On the last day Ukrainian fighters cleared about 500 meters north of Bachmut and 1 kilometer south. Meanwhile, according to the Ukrainians, the Russians are attempting limited ground attacks on the Avdiivka-Donetsk line, as well as northeast of Kupyansk and along the Svatove-Kreminna line in Luhansk Oblast. At the same time, the situation in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions remains stable. However, the Russians continue to attack the Ukrainian positions.
The extent of the Ukrainian advance risks being exaggerated given that the entire Bachmut is about 41 square km. The opinion on Bachmut’s recovery from the Russian side is different: despite Prighozin’s denials on the taking of the Domino district, the last stronghold in the hands of the Ukrainians, clashes are recorded in the lower part of Yubileynaya Street. There is currently fighting in the Tchaikovsky area. Other clashes are concentrated in the southwest and on the flanks. “The history of defending the city for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is coming to an end.” It reads in the posts.
The head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin, was angry at the Russian Defense Ministry’s 4th and 72nd brigades for allowing the Armed Forces of Ukraine to ensure the unhindered movement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Chasy Yar to Bachmut.
A third version of how Bachmut is doing is given by Ukrainian analysts that the situation in Bachmut is critical: having occupied the fortified area “Domino”, PMC “Wagner” knocks out the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the last piece of city.
Ukrainian military analysts in the operational report write: “The Armed Forces of Ukraine control only part of the western periphery. Those few houses (more precisely their ruins), which the Armed Forces of Ukraine recaptured during the counterattack a few days ago, have already been lost again.” “The usable area for the defense of the remains of the city has dropped to critical values.” “At the crossroads east of the 8th HQ, north of the gray area of Bachmut, the PMC continues to storm the fortified area.” “West of the Novy (“Domino”) district, the “Wagners “continue their attacks towards Donetska and Kiev streets. South of Novy (Domino) district, PMC Wagner is conducting assault operations towards Bulavina Street. At the same time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine continues the counter-offensive on the flanks, trying to break through the defense of the Russian troops”.
Finally comes the Bachmut version from Donbass: “The Armed Forces of Ukraine are trying to break through Bachmut’s flanks to endanger our forces in the city,” DPR head Denis Pushilin reported. ”The enemy is now purposefully trying to break through the flanks in order to create difficult conditions for Bachmut herself, for the guys who are in the city itself. Therefore, of course, exhaustive measures are being taken (to prevent this),” Pushilin said. “Our reinforcements are approaching the flanks, the situation is improving, thanks, among other things, to the soldiers of the 1st Army Corps of the DPR But the enemy is also building up reserves.” “There (in the city)” Wagner “is really advancing, both by day and by night. We are also strengthening along the sides. That is, the situation is not easy, the enemy is transferring reserves, but I think (there are ) all the conditions <…> lead to the complete liberation of the city. The prospect is close enough,” he added.
The debate on the fate of Zaluzhny, the Ukrainian Chief of Staff, also continues, and everyone continues to wonder whether or not he died in Bachmut. In Ukraine, more and more rumors are spreading about the death of Zaluzhny in the Bachmut region. The Ukrainian Chief of Staff was last seen alive in late April in Lviv. Earlier, a refusal to participate in a meeting with NATO generals came on his behalf. For now, the Ukrainian prime minister did not want to comment on any news about Zaluzhny, his only real political rival.
On the front line there are movements of Ukrainian military vehicles, a column of armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region near the village of Taranovka. The military echelon is moving south of Kharkov. The movement south from Kharkov confirms the high activity of Ukrainian formations south and southeast of Kharkov. In recent days, several units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been deployed in the stretch from Zmiev to Shevchenkove.
In the Lviv region, 5 drones were shot down tonight. This was announced by the head of Lviv OVA Maksym Kozytskyi. In the interval from 03.00 to 05.00, the defenders destroyed 5 “Shahed” on Lviv Oblast. Another was eliminated over another region in western Ukraine.
Russians say military facilities in Ukraine have been attacked. Explosions have replayed in Lviv, Krivoy Rog, Lutsk, Nikolaev, Rivne, Khmelnytsky, Chernihiv and Volyn regions. The Russian Armed Forces prevented an attempt by a tactical group of a Ukrainian company to attack in the Soledar-Bachmut direction — Vadim Astafiev, head of the press center of the Russian Armed Forces group “South”. Furthermore he states that: “this morning the Ukrainian armed forces bombed Energodar”. Earlier, one person died Rogov said.
The Ukrainians claim that the Russians would have bombed the plant, or rather they would have bombed themselves, since the control of the nuclear plant is in the hands of the Russians.
Graziella Giangiulio
