Armed forces of neighbouring Nato countries could intercept incoming Russian missiles over Ukrainian territory, said Voldymyr Zelenskyy
During the six-month break in aid, Ukraine lost the key front-line city of Avdiivka in February amid a severe ammunition shortage. Ukraine's shortage of air defense has also been felt as Russia intensified its strikes all over the country, mainly targeting energy infrastructure. Russian strikes against Ukraine's energy infrastructure have cost the state over $1 billion in damages, according to the Energy Ministry.
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Voldymyr Zelenskiy told Reuters: “Russians are using 300 planes on the territory of Ukraine. We need at least 120, 130 planes to resist in the sky,” he said. Ukraine is waiting for the delivery of F-16 fighter jets. Zelenskiy said that if countries could not supply the planes straight away, they could still fly them from neighbouring Nato states and shoot down Russian missiles.
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The Ukrainian president said Kyiv was negotiating with international partners to use their weapons to strike Russian military hardware at the border and further inside Russian territory. “So far, there is nothing positive,” he said. Zelenskiy reiterated that he had not broken agreements with allies not to use their weapons inside Russia. “We can’t put the whole volume of weapons at risk.”
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Ukraine’s allies should lift such restrictions, the Lithuanian foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, has said. “From the beginning we have made the mistake of limiting the Ukrainians because it could be seen as an escalation,” he said, adding that Ukraine’s supporters were “dominated by fear of Russia … the Ukrainians must be allowed to use the equipment provided to them so that they can achieve strategic objectives. They must be able to strike Russian territory, supply lines, and military units preparing to attack Ukraine. Only one side has rules imposed on it,” he said. “We must abandon these rules that we created.”
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Ukrainian sources indicated that Russian forces are concentrating limited, understaffed, and incohesive forces in the Sumy direction, but even such a Russian grouping of forces will be able to achieve the likely desired effect of drawing and fixing Ukrainian forces in the international border area. The deputy commander of a Ukrainian brigade operating in northern Kharkiv Oblast reported on May 20 that Russian forces, including Chechen forces, are accumulating in the Sumy direction but that the limited number of Russian personnel suggests that the Russian objective is to draw and fix Ukrainian forces to the international border area.[1] Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets stated on May 20 that the Russian grouping in Kursk Oblast consists of 9,000–10,000 personnel.[2] Mashovets stated that this grouping consists of up to three under-strength motorized rifle regiments (each lacking one to two battalions); eight motorized rifle, tank, and infantry battalions; and one airborne (VDV) battalion all redeployed from various units, formations, and military districts; and at least two assault detachments at the echelon of a reinforced company or an under-strength battalion.[3] Mashovets also reported on May 5 that an unspecified VDV battalion is part of the Russian grouping in Kursk Oblast, ...ISW continues to assess that even limited Russian activity in other areas of the international border below the threshold of Russian offensive operations could have the effect of stretching Ukrainian forces along a wider front and that Russian forces will be able to draw and fix Ukrainian forces to this area as long as Russia threatens penetrations of other border areas beyond northern Kharkiv Oblast.[5]
- Ukrainian sources indicated that Russian forces are concentrating limited, understaffed, and incohesive forces in the Sumy direction, but even such a Russian grouping of forces will be able to achieve the likely desired effect of drawing and fixing Ukrainian forces in the international border area.
- Kremlin officials expressed their condolences to senior Iranian officials following the announcement of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's and Foreign Affairs Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian's deaths on May 20.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin fired Russian Deputy Defense Minister Colonel General Yury Sadovenko on May 20, replacing him with former Deputy Economic Minister and current Federation Council Accounts Chamber Auditor Oleg Savelyev.
- Putin also dismissed Presidential Advisor Alexandra Levitskaya on May 20, but the reason for Levitskaya’s dismissal is unclear.
- US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated the White House's unwillingness to approve Ukraine's use of US-provided weapons in strikes against military targets in Russia following a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (also known as the Ramstein format) on May 20.
- Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas stated that some unspecified countries, presumably NATO member states, have already sent personnel to train Ukrainian soldiers "on the ground."
- Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev amplified a known Russian information operation aimed at directly undermining Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's legitimacy as president.
- Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near Vovchansk, Chasiv Yar, Avdiivka, and Donetsk City and in western Zaporizhia Oblast and the Dnipro River Delta.
- Russian opposition outlet Vazhnye Istorii (iStories) reported that Russian military authorities and Kazakh law enforcement acting on Russian orders detained at least two more servicemen in Kazakhstan who had deserted from the Russian military.