Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, DTEK, says five of its six plants have been damaged or destroyed with 80% of its generating capacity lost after two weeks of Russian attacks. The head of the firm says repairs could take up to 18 months. Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Russia was carrying out “vile strikes” designed to cause the “bleeding” of Ukrainian energy. DTEK, which meets about a quarter of the country’s needs, has seen its thermal power stations and other facilities repeatedly hit by Russian missiles, drones and artillery in more than two years of war.
France’s defence minister said Paris would deliver “hundreds” of armoured personnel carriers and anti-aircraft missiles as part a new aid package to Ukraine in its war against Russia. “To hold such a extensive frontline, the Ukrainian army needs for example our VAB vehicles: it’s absolutely essential for troop mobility,” said Sebastien Lecornu. “We’re talking about hundreds of them for 2024 and early 2025,” he said. France is pushing defence companies to ramp up production to meet the needs of its own army and to ensure continued support to Ukraine after Kyiv warned its stocks of munitions are running low.
Russia maintains a significant quantitative advantage in the conflict, overmatching Ukraine in munitions and equipment numbers, according to the UK Ministry of Defence’s latest intelligence report. Moscow is likely recruiting approximately 30,000 additional personnel a month and can highly likely continue to absorb losses and continue attacks aimed at wearing down Ukrainian forces. Russian forces also have maintained a gradual advance west of Avdiivka and in late March, almost certainly took control of two villages and are continuing to contest others in the area, according to the report.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Saturday Russian and Belarusian athletes “were not welcome” at the Olympics being staged in the French capital this year, according to Agence France-Presse. “I want to tell Russian and Belarusian athletes that they are not welcome in Paris and to tell Ukrainian athletes and all the Ukrainian people that we support them very strongly,” Hidalgo said in a video posted by Ukrainian YouTube channel, United News. Hidalgo made her comments on a trip to Kyiv where she visited a training centre for Ukrainian athletes. Russian athletes can compete in the Paris Olympics, which run from 26 July until 11 August but only as neutrals.
In response, Moscow launched a furious tirade at the International Olympic Committee, arguing the IOC’s restrictions on Russian athletes amounted to “neo-nazism”. The IOC suspended Russia from the 2024 Games last year, but gave the green light for its athletes to compete as neutrals as long as they did not actively support the Kremlin’s assault on Ukraine.
The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, says Europe is entering a “prewar” era, cautioning that the continent is not ready and urging European countries to step up defence investment. Tusk’s comments came days after a Russian missile briefly breached Polish airspace during a major attack on Ukraine, prompting Warsaw to put its forces on heightened readiness. In an interview with a group of European newspapers reported by the BBC, Tusk said: “I don’t want to scare anyone, but war is no longer a concept from the past. It’s real and it started over two years ago.” Tusk has been using his platform to try to add a sense of urgency to Europe’s debates about defence and aid to Ukraine, amid fears about the future of American assistance and concerns about defence industrial capacity.
Foreign diplomats in Russia have laid flowers at the site of last week’s attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed 144 people. Those in attendance included ambassadors from the US, EU countries, Africa and Latin America. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said the “around 130 diplomatic missions” taking part included representatives of “unfriendly states.” An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest on Russian soil in years. The Kremlin, however, has insisted that Ukraine and the west had a role, something Kyiv has vehemently denied.
A Moscow court has ordered a Russian journalist who covered the trials of the late Russian opposition politician, Alexei Navalny, and other dissidents to remain in custody pending an investigation and trial on charges of extremism. Antonina Favorskaya, also identified by court officials as Antonina Kravtsova, was arrested earlier this month. On Friday, Moscow’s Basmanny district court ordered that she remain in pre-trial detention at least until 28 May. The hearing was conducted behind closed doors at the request of the investigators, which was supported by the presiding judge. Favorskaya and her lawyer protested against the decision, the independent Russian news site Mediazona reported.
