New Russian attacks shake Donetsk region. According to the Ukrainian military, it can repel the attacks. The Donetsk separatists, on the other hand, want to have conquered the village of Kamianka. Should Kyiv be interested in peace talks again, Moscow has threatened "completely different conditions" than before. According to the British intelligence expert, the Kremlin is filling in gaps in the troops with Wagner mercenaries. The 144th day of the war at a glance.
Kyiv: Moscow attacks again on Donetsk region
In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops have resumed their attacks near the town of Avdiivka near the city of Donetsk, according to the Ukrainian military. However, the attacks were repelled, the Ukrainian general staff said in its situation report. The Russian-backed Donetsk separatists, on the other hand, claimed to have captured the village of Kamyanka. Avdiivka is located in the Donetsk region just a few kilometers north of the city of the same name.
The new attack efforts were preceded by an order from Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. He had called for the attacks in Ukraine to be stepped up in order to reduce the shelling of infrastructure in Russian-occupied Donbass. According to the ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, a group of foreign mercenaries was attacked in the eastern region of Donetsk. Up to 250 fighters were killed. He also confirmed attacks on the southern Mykolaiv region. The information provided by both warring parties cannot be independently verified. Donetsk has recently been the target of Ukrainian artillery attacks.
Moscow wants to go into peace talks with tougher conditions than before
Russia has promised Ukraine tougher terms than before if peace talks resume. Yuri Ushakov, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, complained that concrete results were achieved in the negotiations in Turkey in March before Kyiv broke off contact. "So if the negotiations are resumed now, it will be on completely different terms," said Ushakov - without giving details.
As early as February, Putin had named the "denazification" and "demilitarization" of Ukraine, its neutral status, the cession of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the recognition of Crimea, which had been annexed since 2014, as Russian as war goals.
Kremlin to fill gaps in troops with Wagner mercenaries
According to British intelligence experts, the Russian mercenary group Wagner is increasingly filling gaps in the Russian armed forces in the fighting in Ukraine. The mercenaries would have played a central role in recent battles, for example in the capture of the cities of Popasna and Lysychansk, according to the Twitter account of the Ministry of Defense in London. However, the British experts also assume that the mercenary force had to accept heavy losses.
EU puts together new arms package for Ukraine
Almost five months after the start of the war, the EU plans to provide a further 500 million euros for the supply of weapons and equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces. "Europe stands by Ukraine's side," declared EU Council President Charles Michel after consultations with the foreign ministers of the EU states in Brussels. The new EU funds come from the so-called European Peace Facility - a new EU financing instrument that can be used to strengthen armed forces in partner countries. With the new support, EU funds for military aid made available to Kyiv as a result of the war will increase to 2.5 billion euros.
Kremlin: No timelines for war against Ukraine
According to the Kremlin, Russia has not set itself any deadlines for the duration of the war against Ukraine. "There are no fixed timeframes. The most important thing is the effectiveness of the implementation of this operation," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in an interview published today. If all goals in Ukraine were reached, the fighting would be stopped, he told Iranian radio.
Russian opposition broadcaster resumes operations
The Russian TV channel TV Rain, which is critical of the Kremlin, resumed operations today. "After the forced break in broadcasting in March, we managed to keep the team and the most important principles: like the last twelve years, we will report on events and phenomena without censorship and manipulation," the broadcaster said on its YouTube channel which he started his reporting in the evening. The launch at 20:00 Moscow time (19:00 CEST) began with the news program "Here and Now". "Because of the repressive laws passed in Russia, we were forced to leave the country and are now working outside the country," the company said.
Europeans make strides in finding substitute for Russian gas
Europeans are slowly making progress in finding alternatives to Russian gas. The EU signed a memorandum of understanding with Azerbaijan to double imports from the Caucasus country to at least 20 billion cubic meters per year by 2027. In Berlin, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi offered his country as a gas supplier for Europe and Germany. If Egypt can help, they will, he said after a conversation with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin. He emphasized that it is always good not to have to rely on just one partner.
Gazprom justifies missing gas deliveries with force majeure
Meanwhile, the Russian gas company Gazprom has justified the lack of gas deliveries to its customer Uniper as force majeure. Uniper has received a letter from Gazprom Export, said a spokesman for the energy supplier. Gazprom Export is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company. In the letter, Gazprom Export retrospectively asserted "force majeure" for the previous and current shortages in gas deliveries. According to the spokesman, however, Uniper considers this to be unjustified and has formally rejected this claim.
Putin and Erdogan discuss grain exports in Tehran
At their meeting in Tehran, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also discuss resuming grain deliveries from Ukraine. "Firstly, we are ready to continue work in this direction, secondly, the issue will be discussed by the two presidents," Russian agencies quoted Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov as saying. As a result of the Russian military offensive, around 20 million tons of grain are blocked in Ukrainian ports and warehouses. The US government suspects that the summit will also be about Russia wanting to acquire Iranian combat drones for the war against Ukraine.
Putin wants to defy sanctions with new solutions
Russia's president described the western sanctions as a challenge, but remained optimistic. "It is clear that this is a great challenge for our country, but not only will we not give up," he said, according to the Interfax agency. "Of course not, on the contrary: while acknowledging the colossal amount of difficulties that lie ahead, we will search intensely and competently for new solutions."
Zelenskyj fires secret service chief
Angered by "treason" in the Ukrainian security apparatus, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed the heads of the secret service and the general public prosecutor's office. After the secret service chief was dismissed, Zelenskyy made his previous deputy interim chief. According to a decree, Wassyl Maljuk is to head the SBU secret service for the time being. The day before, Zelenskyi had removed his childhood friend Ivan Bakanov, who had headed the service with its more than 30,000 employees since 2019, from office.
Officially, his dismissal and that of Attorney General Iryna Venediktova were justified by a large number of employees who are said to have defected from the security apparatus to the Russian occupiers in southern Ukraine. According to Zelensky, there are 651 criminal cases against employees of the public prosecutor's office and other law enforcement agencies for high treason and collaboration with Russian services. However, the media also pointed out that the 47-year-old Bakanov, as a non-specialist, enjoyed little authority among his employees.
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