Here is the situation on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
Fighting
- Intense fighting raged in Vovchansk in the northeastern Kharkiv region about 5km (3 miles) from the border with Russia. Oleksiy Kharkivskyi, the town’s police chief, said the situation was “extremely difficult”, while Ukraine’s General Staff said Ukrainian troops managed to “partially” push back some Russian infantry groups but “defensive actions” were ongoing on the town’s northern and northwestern fringes.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed Russian forces had taken control of the settlements of Hlyboke and Lukyantsi in the northeastern Kharkiv region, and Robotyne in the southern Zaporizhia region.
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Regional Governor Serhiy Lysak said a Russian air attack on Ukraine’s city of Dnipro killed two people and injured several more.
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At least 25 people were injured, three of them seriously, after Russian missiles and guided bombs struck Ukraine’s southern cities of Kherson and Mykolaiv. The attack also damaged apartment blocks, homes, schools and a medical facility, local officials said.
- At least two people were injured in Russian shelling of a central district of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said the injured were being treated in hospital.
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The Russian Defence Ministry said its air force destroyed 10 long-range Ukrainian missiles launched at Sevastopol in Crimea, which Moscow invaded and annexed from Ukraine in 2014. It did not say whether there was any damage.
- Sri Lanka said at least 16 of its citizens had been killed fighting as mercenaries in the war in Ukraine, mostly on the Russian side.
Politics and diplomacy
- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cancelled visits to Spain and Portugal that were scheduled to take place this week.
- Swiss President Viola Amherd said delegations from more than 50 countries, including in South America, Africa and the Middle East, had so far signed up for next month’s Ukraine peace summit. Switzerland is trying to persuade more countries to join, including China.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in China on Thursday for a two-day visit where he will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In an interview with Chinese state news agency Xinhua ahead of the visit, he backed China’s peace proposals for Ukraine.
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European Union ambassadors agreed to expand sanctions on Russian media to four more outlets, accusing them of publishing propaganda. EU Commissioner for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova said Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestija and Rossiyskaya Gazeta would be added to the list, which already includes Sputnik and RT. Jourova said Russian funding of EU media, nongovernmental organisations and political parties would also be banned.
- Nadezhda Buyanova, a 68-year-old Moscow paediatrician, went on trial for spreading “fake” information on the army after the ex-wife of a soldier killed in Ukraine lodged a complaint about an alleged comment Buyanova made during a consultation.
Weapons
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $2bn in additional military aid for Ukraine and said Washington was rushing ammunition, armoured vehicles, missiles and air defences to the country to ensure their speedy delivery to the front line.
- Putin said Russia’s total defence and security spending may reach a little more than 8.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024
