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🔴 Live: UK, Netherlands pledge to provide fighter jet support to Ukraine
Issued on: 16/05/2023 – 07:25
Modified: 16/05/2023 – 13:58
A Danish Royal Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft stands in a hangar at the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Siauliai, Lithuania, on January 28, 2022.
A Danish Royal Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft stands in a hangar at the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Siauliai, Lithuania, on January 28, 2022. © Petras Malukas, AFP (Archives)
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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday pledged to build an “international coalition” to provide fighter jet support for Ukraine. Earlier in the day, a Ukrainian deputy defence minister said that Kyiv’s troops had pushed Russian forces from chunks of territory around the embattled city of Bakhmut, in the eastern part of the country. Follow our live blog for all the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
12:55am: Patriot missile defense system in Ukraine likely damaged
A US-made Patriot missile defense system being used by Ukraine likely suffered some damage from a Russian strike, two US officials said on Tuesday, adding that it did not appear to have been destroyed.
The Patriot system is one of an array of sophisticated air defense units supplied by the West to help Ukraine repel a Russian campaign of air strikes that has targeted critical infrastructure, power facilities and other sites.
One US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity and citing initial information, said Washington and Kyiv were already talking about the best way to repair the system and at this point it did not appear the system would have to be removed from Ukraine.
9:54pm: Moscow denies Kyiv downed hypersonic missiles
Moscow on Tuesday denied that Kyiv’s air defences had downed six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles during an overnight barrage.
“Russia has not launched as many Kinzhals as (Ukraine) says it has shot down”, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told the Ria Novosti state news agency.
9:01pm: Europe creates ‘register of damages’ for Russia harm to Ukraine
The 46 member countries of the Council of Europe on Tuesday created a “register of damages” to record the wartime harm and destruction wrought by Russia in Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said.
He called on “all countries to join this and to actively contribute to filling it out”.
8:27pm: UK and Dutch pledge fighter jet support for Ukraine
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday pledged to build an “international coalition” to provide fighter jet support for Ukraine.
“The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Rutte agreed they would work to build (an) international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F16 jets,” a spokesman for Sunak’s Downing Street office said in a statement.
8:22pm: Hungary blocks next tranche of military support for Ukraine under EU’s peace facility
Hungary did not approve the disbursement of the next tranche of military support for Ukraine provided under the EU’s European Peace Facility (EPF), the Hungarian government spokesman’s office said in an emailed reply to Reuters on Tuesday.
“Hungary does not agree with the fact that the European Union, along with other existing tools, uses the European Peace Facility solely with regard to Ukraine as this does not allow sufficient funds to be channelled to promote the EU’s interests in other areas,” the government spokesman’s office said.
6:51pm: UK’s Sunak to discuss longer term security plans for Ukraine with other European leaders
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday that he plans to discuss the longer-term security arrangements needed to support Ukraine when he meets other leaders at the Council of Europe Summit in Iceland.
“I’ll be talking to other countries, making sure that we continue to support Ukraine, give them the support that they need to defend themselves against Russian aggression, and also start thinking about the longer term security arrangements that we will want to put in place to support Ukraine in the long term,” Sunak told reporters in Iceland.
5:21pm: Ukraine slams Georgia for resuming Russia flights
Ukraine criticised Georgia on Tuesday for allowing Russia to resume direct flights to the ex-Soviet Caucasus country, as Western nations seek to isolate the Kremlin as punishment for its invasion.
“The world is isolating Russia to force it to stop the war, but Georgia is welcoming Russian airlines and sending its own to Moscow,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on social media.
He pointed out that 20 percent of Georgian territory is still occupied by Russia “with impunity,” referring to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. “The Kremlin will surely be delighted,” he added.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted a flight ban with Georgia, against which Russia fought a brief war in 2008.
A Russian airline plans to start flying to the Georgian capital Tbilisi on May 19. Georgia’s airline, Georgian Airways, will begin flying to Moscow on May 20.
4:53pm: China presents itself as a mediator between West, Russia by sending top envoy to Ukraine
Chinese special envoy Li Hui arrived in Kyiv on Monday for a two-day visit as part of a European tour to promote Beijing-led peace negoations on the war in Ukraine. China is portraying itself as a mediator between the West and Russia, despite having close ties with Russia.
Although the Ukrainian government has been cautious about Beijing’s involvement, it has never shut down China’s desire to take on a more active role. Whether China is an effective mediator or not remains to be seen, reports FRANCE 24’s Yena Lee from Beijing.
03:25
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4:37pm: Ukraine says it recaptured 20 sq km near Bakhmut in recent days
A Ukrainian deputy defence minister said Tuesday that Kyiv’s troops have pushed Russian forces from chunks of territory around the embattled city of Bakhmut in the east of the country.
“In the last few days, our troops liberated around 20 square kilometers (7.7 square miles) in the north and south of the outskirts of Bakhmut. At the same time, the enemy is advancing in some measure inside Bakhmut itself and is completely destroying the town with artillery,” deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar said in a statement on social media.
1:56pm: African nations to send peace mission to Ukraine, Russia, Ramaphosa says
A group of six African leaders plans to travel to Russia and Ukraine “as soon as is possible” to help find a resolution to the “devastating” conflict between the two countries, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky have “agreed to receive the mission and the African heads of state, in both Moscow and Kyiv,” he told a press conference in Cape Town.
01:46
1:34pm: Head of Ukraine’s Supreme Court detained
The head of Ukraine’s Supreme Court has been detained over an alleged bribery scheme, a prosecutor from the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said.
The prosecutor did not name the official detained, but told a briefing that the suspect was the head of the Supreme Court and had not yet been served with a formal “notice of suspicion”. The court is currently headed by Chief Justice Vsevolod Kniaziev, who could not immediately be reached for comment.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and SAPO announced on Monday that they had “exposed large-scale corruption” at the court, and shared a photograph of piles of dollars neatly lined up on a sofa.
“You see that we are showing through real cases, real deeds, what our priority is: it’s top corruption, it’s criminal organisation at the highest levels of power,” NABU director Semen Kryvonos told Tuesday’s briefing.
12:01pm: Ukraine’s first lady asks South Korea for non-lethal military aid
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, has met with South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol, asking for non-lethal military assistance for her country, in the form of mine detectors among other things.
Yoon said South Korea would actively help the Ukrainian people, Yoon’s spokesperson, Lee Do-woon told a news briefing.
11:52am : Russia claims destroyed Ukrainian Patriot air defence system with hypersonic missile
Russia’s defence ministry said it destroyed a US-built Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system with a hypersonic Kinzhal missile in an overnight strike on Ukraine, the Zvezda military news outlet reported.
It quoted the ministry as saying the overnight strikes had also been aimed at Ukrainian fighting units and ammunition storage sites, and that “all targets hit”.
Ukraine said earlier in the day that it had shot down 18 Russian missiles overnight, including an entire volley of six Kinzhals
7:52am: Ukraine says shot down all 18 missiles Russia launched overnight
Ukraine forces shot down all 18 missiles that Russia launched in a concentrated overnight attack on Ukraine, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said.
Russia launched six Kinzhal ballistic missiles from aircraft, nine Kalibr cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea and three Iskander land-based missiles, Zaluzhnyi said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine’s Air Force said that six Iranian-made Shahed drones were also shot down and three reconnaissance drones
6:12am: EU should crack down on imports of Indian fuels made with Russian oil, Borrell says
The European Union should crack down on India reselling Russian oil into Europe as refined fuels including diesel, the EU’s high representative for foreign policy, Josep Borrell, said in an interview with the Financial Times.
“If diesel or gasoline is entering Europe … coming from India and being produced with Russian oil, that is certainly a circumvention of sanctions and member states have to take measures,” the bloc’s chief diplomat said
5:43am: New CIA Telegram video urges Russians to leak information
The US Central Intelligence Agency bolstered efforts to convince Russians to leak their country’s secrets on Monday, posting an emotional video on Telegram aimed at people frustrated with the situation under President Vladimir Putin.
The short video depicts a Russian bureaucrat and a woman at home with a child, both apparently troubled in their lives, asking if it is what they dreamed of.
4:48am: Overnight attack on Kyiv ‘exceptional in its density’, officials say
Russia’s overnight air attack on Kyiv – its eighth in May – was complex, with drones, cruise and likely ballistic missiles launched from different directions, Kyiv’s officials said early on Tuesday.
“It was exceptional in its density – the maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time,” Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s city military administration, said in comments posted on the Telegram messaging app.
“According to preliminary information, the vast majority of enemy targets in the airspace of Kyiv were detected and destroyed!”
2:46am: Several blasts in Kyiv, says mayor
There were blasts in several districts of Kyiv in early hours on Tuesday, city officials said, with no immediate information about the extent of the damage and potential casualties.
“Explosions in Kyiv. A few – in the Solomyanskyi district,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram channel. He added that falling debris fell onto the city’s zoo in the Shevchenkivskyi district.
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In a separate post, Klitschko added that falling debris set ablaze several cars in the Solomyanskyi district.
Key developments from Monday, May 15:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continued his European tour with a visit to the UK for talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Ahead of the meeting Britain said Monday that it would deliver “hundreds” of both air-defence missiles and long-range attack drones to Ukraine.
A top Chinese envoy will began a tour of Ukraine, Russia and other European cities on Monday in a trip Beijing says is aimed at discussing a “political settlement” to the Ukraine crisis. Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia is due to arrive in Ukraine on Tuesday.
Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded.
