CONFLICTSUKRAINE
Ukraine updates: Belgorod governor says drones shot down
Published 1 hour agoPublished 1 hour agolast updated 18 minutes agolast updated 18 minutes ago
Authorities in Russia’s Belgorod region said a “counter-terrorism operation” was ongoing after an alleged sabotage group from Ukraine crossed the border. Kyiv has denied involvement in the attack. DW has the latest.
https://p.dw.com/p/4Rgwl
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said on Tuesday that drones targeting the area had been shot down by anti-aircraft weaponry.
Fighting in the border region is ongoing a day after Russia reported an incursion by what they called a group of “saboteurs” from Ukraine. The alleged raid would be the largest attack of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a “counter-terrorism operation” was still underway, with the Defense Ministry and law enforcement agencies continuing “to clean up” the territory on the border with Ukraine.
He also said earlier on Telegram that several drones struck houses and a government building in the region overnight but did not result in casualties or deaths.
He added that it was too early for residents who had been evacuated to return home: “I now appeal to the residents of the Graivoron district, who … temporarily left their homes, it is not possible to return yet.”
Gladkov said one woman died during the evacuation on Monday. Two people were reportedly wounded but Russian security forces have not been able to reach them.
Meanwhile, Russian investigators said they had opened a terrorism investigation after what they said was a cross-border attack on Russia’s Belgorod region mounted by what they called Ukrainian armed groups.
However, a Ukrainian presidential adviser said on Twitter that the situation “has nothing to do with” the Ukrainian government.
Ukrainian military intelligence said two armed Russian opposition groups, the Liberty of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, both consisting of Russian citizens, were responsible for the attack.
The details of the incident could not be independently verified.
Russia fights ‘sabotage group’ in border region
01:53
Here are some of the other developments concerning Russia’s war in Ukraine on Tuesday, May 23:
Zelenskyy visits front line to congratulate marines
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he visited frontline troops to congratulate them on the Day of the Ukrainian Marines.
Zelenskyy posted photos online showing himself presenting awards and posing for a group photograph with marines in a dimly lit location.
“Our defenders. Frontline. Today I am here to congratulate our warriors on the Day of the Ukrainian Marines,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Zelenskyy did not say where exactly he was.
Ukraine says it still holds part of Bakhmut
Ukrainian forces still control the southwestern edge of the city of Bakhmut and fighting in the city itself has decreased, Deputy Ukrainian Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said.
She wrote on the Telegram messaging app that Ukrainian forces had made some progress “on the flanks to the north and south of Bakhmut” and that Russian forces, which say they have taken the city itself, were continuing to clear areas they control.
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said on Sunday that his forces had captured all the territory in Bakhmut and would leave the city by June 1.
Russia’s sanctioned interior minister visits Saudi Arabia
A top Russian official who faces sanctions in the West over Moscow’s war on Ukraine visited Saudi Arabia and held talks with his counterpart in the kingdom, state media reported.
Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev’s visit to Riyadh came just days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed an Arab League summit held in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port city of Jeddah on Friday.
The visits underline how the kingdom and Gulf Arab states, traditionally the security clients of the United States, have been maintaining their relations with Moscow amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency said Kolokoltsev met with Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud.
“During the session, they discussed ways to enhance security cooperation paths between the two countries’ ministries of interior, in addition to discussing a number of issues of common interest,” the report said, without elaborating.
Kolokoltsev has been sanctioned by the US since 2018 as part of a slew of sanctions over Russia’s activity in both Syria and Ukraine. The US Treasury says that Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, New Zealand and the UK all separately have sanctioned Kolokoltsev as well.
The US also refused to grant him a visa to participate in a United Nations chiefs of police summit in 2022, something criticized by Moscow. As interior minister, Kolokoltsev has cracked down on independent media in Russia, including targeting the outlet Proekt in 2021 as it prepared to publish an investigation about his alleged wealth.
Russian PM arrives in China for talks with Xi
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has arrived in China, Moscow’s Foreign Ministry said, for a visit in which he will meet with President Xi Jinping and ink a series of deals on infrastructure and trade.
Mishustin is scheduled to take part in a Russian-Chinese Business Forum and visit a petrochemical research institute in Shanghai, the Kremlin said, as well as hold talks with “representatives of Russian business circles.”
That forum has invited a number of sanctioned Russian tycoons — including from the key fertilizer, steel and mining sectors — as well as Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who handles energy issues, Bloomberg reported.
China last year became the top energy customer for Russia, whose gas exports had otherwise plummeted after a flurry of Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.
China and Russia have in recent years ramped up economic cooperation and diplomatic contacts, with their strategic partnership having only grown closer over the past year. While China says it is a neutral party in that war, it has refused to condemn Russia for the invasion.
Will China rescue Russia’s economy?
04:22
More DW coverage on Russia’s war in Ukraine
Disputes in Russian society do not pose a threat to Vladimir Putin’s government, says Bruno Kahl, head of Germany’s foreign intelligence service. He argues Moscow has enough recruits and equipment for a long-lasting war.
Yevgeny Prigozhin has admitted to leading the Wagner Group of mercenaries and a massive internet troll farm. But is he a threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin, or is he just doing what the Kremlin leader wants? Read more here.
The Wagner Group: Russia’s shadow mercenary organization
01:35
dh/nm (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)
