Ukraine updates: Kyiv, Wagner claim Russian retreats near Bakhmut
Kyiv says its forces are advancing in the eastern city as Wagner Group of mercenaries accuses Russian troops of abandoning vital ground.
This blog is now closed, thank you for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Thursday, May 18.
This blog is now closed, thank you for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Thursday, May 18.
- Ukraine’s military and Russia’s private Wagner Group army reported fresh Russian retreats on the outskirts of Bakhmut, as Kyiv pressed on with its biggest advance for six months ahead of a planned major counteroffensive.
- Dozens of Russian cruise missiles were fired in the Odesa region and the capital, Kyiv, overnight, Ukraine says, while claiming its defence forces shot down 29 out of 30.
- At least one person was killed in Odesa during the raids, according to Ukrainian officials. Moscow said it hit its military targets.
- Rail traffic has been suspended between Simferopol, the capital of the Crimean Peninsula annexed by Russia, after a train carrying grain derailed. Moscow-backed officials have called the incident a deliberate act.
Ukraine says it advances, repels Russia attacks at Bakhmut
Ukraine said it had repelled a day of Russian attacks in and around the ruined eastern city of Bakhmut and made gains of a kilometre in some places while buying time for “certain planned actions”.
The head of the Wagner Group of mercenaries said his forces had advanced up to 400 metres. “We’re pushing Bakhmut all the way to the end,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio recording on his Telegram channel.
Ukraine’s forces advanced 500m in the north and in some areas in the south by one kilometre, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said on her Telegram channel.
“The defence of Bakhmut and its outskirts is meeting its military objectives,” she said. “As of now, we control the southwestern part of Bakhmut.”
She said that Russia had attacked Bakhmut all day having “significantly strengthened” its grouping in Bakhmut by bringing most of its reserves there.
“All the attacks were repelled by our defenders,” she said.
Three new ships approved for Black Sea grain deal
Three new ships were authorised to take part in a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain, said the United Nations as global wheat prices fell further a day after Russia agreed to extend the pact for 60 more days.
Russia had threatened to quit the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) if a list of demands to overcome obstacles to its own grain and fertiliser exports was not met by May 18. The Kremlin said it had extended the agreement because some results from talks had given it “certain hopes”, but more progress needed to be made.
The BSGI’s Joint Coordination Centre authorised three new vessels to travel to the Ukrainian ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk, said UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq.
“While we welcome this partial resumption of inbound movement activity, we call on the parties to ensure that the authorisation of new vessels is done for all three ports to make use of capacity and meet industry demands,” Haq told reporters.
Pentagon accounting error overvalued Ukraine aid by $3bn
The Pentagon overvalued US equipment it sent to Ukraine by around $3bn, a Senate aide and a defence official has said, an error that opens up the possibility of more weapons being sent to Kyiv for its defence against Russian forces.
The error was the result of assigning a higher-than-warranted value on weaponry that was taken from US stocks and then shipped to Ukraine, two senior defence officials said.
“We’ve discovered inconsistencies in how we value the equipment that we’ve given” to Ukraine one of the senior defense officials told the Reuters news agency. The officials and the Senate aide spoke on the condition of anonymity. Congress is being notified of the accounting adjustment on Thursday, the sources said.
The defence official said it is possible the amount of overvalued weaponry could grow as the Pentagon examines the situation more thoroughly, increasing the $3bn.
Ukraine deputy defence minister says Russia on offensive in Bakhmut
Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar says in a Telegram post that Kyiv’s forces had repelled a daylong attack by Russia in Bakhmut.
“The enemy gathered most of its reserves to Bakhmut and significantly strengthened the group,” she said. “Today, the enemy attacked Bakhmut for the entire day. All attacks were repelled.”
What happened in the 64th week of the war?
During week 64 of the war, Ukrainian forces pushed back against Russian troops in Bakhmut as Kyiv prepared for a highly anticipated counteroffensive.
On Monday, Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces had advanced a further 220 metres (240 yards) into the eastern city, reducing Ukraine’s hold to 1.59sq km (0.6sq miles).
The United Kingdom also confirmed it would give Ukraine hundreds more air defence missiles as well as “long-range attack drones”.
Read more on everything that happened during the war this past week.
Ukraine says operations have yet to resume after deal renewal
The Black Sea grain corridor has not yet resumed operation despite statements by Turkey and Russia on extending the agreement, a senior Ukrainian official said.
On Wednesday, the deal was extended for two more months, just a day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports.
“This was announced yesterday, but so far these statements have not led to the resumption of work and the joint centre in Istanbul did not inspect vessels for entry yesterday or today,” Yuriy Vaskov, Ukraine’s deputy restoration minister told the Reuters news agency.
“We expected it to be yesterday immediately after the statements of our partners. We are expecting the partners’ position today and believe that they will be able to resolve this issue,” he said.
Japan, US to work closely on Russian sanctions
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has agreed with US President Joe Biden to continue sanctions against Russia and support Ukraine.
“We are in unison about working closely with like-minded countries, including the G7 members, and we agreed to continue strict sanctions against Russia as well strong support for Ukraine,” Kishida told reporters in Hiroshima.
The two leaders met ahead of a broader G7 summit in Hiroshima on May 19-21 where they will discuss a wide range of topics from climate change and food security to tightening sanctions on Russia.
How do Ukrainians see China’s role in negotiating peace?
This week, China’s envoy to Ukraine visited Kyiv and urged all parties to create the conditions for a peace deal.
But on Wednesday, Ukraine’s foreign minister told the envoy that Kyiv would not accept any proposals to end the war that involved losing territory or freezing the conflict.
For Ukrainians, China’s offer to mediate the conflict is complex.
With Beijing never having condemned the conflict and remaining a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the motivations behind the peace plan are murky at best.
Read more here.
Russian troops hitting supply lines in Bakhmut: Ukraine
Russian troops are hitting supply lines in Bakhmut to try to halt Ukraine’s advances, soldiers near the front line said.
“Now, for the most part, as we have started to advance, [the Russians] are shelling all the routes to the front positions, so our armoured vehicles can’t deliver more infantry, ammunition and other things,” said Petro Podaru, the unit’s commander.
In the past week, Kyiv has said it has stepped up pressure on Moscow’s forces to the north and south of Bakhmut but that Russia has continued to send in more troops, including paratroopers.
“The enemy conducts [air] reconnaissance daily. They fly very often,” said a Ukrainian soldier with the call sign Barber.
Ukraine reported new territorial gains on Thursday in what appears to be a momentum shift.
Wagner Group accuses Russia of abandoning Bakhmut flanks
The Wagner Group have reported further Russian retreats on the outskirts of Bakhmut.
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin says that, while his forces inside Bakhmut are still advancing, Russian troops have abandoned flanks on the north and south of the city.
“Unfortunately, units of the Russian Defence Ministry have withdrawn up to 570 metres [1,880 feet] to the north of Bakhmut, exposing our flanks,” Prigozhin said in his latest voice message on Telegram.
“I am appealing to the top leadership of the Ministry of Defence – publicly – because my letters are not being read,” Prigozhin said.
“Please do not give up the flanks.”
Who controls what?
Here are four maps charting the latest war developments:
African peace delegation to visit Russia soon: Lavrov
Russia has announced that African leaders would visit capital Moscow next month or early July under a peace initiative for the war in Ukraine announced by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“Taking into consideration the wishes of President Ramaphosa, we are talking about mid, end June or beginning July” for the visit, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
On Tuesday, Ramaphosa said Russian President Putin and Ukraine leader Zelenskyy had each agreed to receive the six-member mission, which will visit Moscow and Kyiv.
All targets ‘destroyed’ in overnight Ukraine attacks: Russia
Russia has said it hit all targets in a series of attacks on Ukraine overnight, after Kyiv said it downed most of the missiles launched by Moscow.
“All assigned targets have been destroyed,” the Russian defence ministry said. Moreover, the ministry added that its forces hit “a significant stock of weapons and ammunition of the Ukrainian armed forces”.
Russian prosecutor wants government critic fined over Ukraine comments
A Russian prosecutor has recommended a fine for prominent Kremlin critic Yevgeny Roizman, on trial in the central city of Yekaterinburg for comments about the Ukraine conflict.
The prosecutor urged the judge to “find Yevgeny Roizman guilty and impose a fine of 260,000 rubles (around $3,250)” for charges of discrediting the Russian military, according to local news agencies.
The 60-year-old former mayor had pleaded not guilty at the trial that began in early April and which could have seen him jailed for up to five years.
Zelenskyy may attend G7 meeting: Japanese news agency
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may travel to Japan for the G7 summit in Hiroshima, according to a Japanese media report.
Ukrainian official Ihor Dzhokova told the Japanese news agency Kyodo that Zelenskyy would “carefully monitor the situation on the battlefield and then make a final decision”.
Moscow does not see progress despite grain deal renewal: Lavrov
Moscow has agreed to renew the Black Sea grain deal for two months despite not seeing results when it came to implementing the parts of it which apply to Russia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says.
Speaking at a news conference with his Ugandan counterpart, Lavrov said the deal was aimed at bolstering the food security of the world’s poorest people.
Moreover, he denied that Russia’s renewal of the part Turkish-brokered deal was related to the presidential election in Turkey.
Freezing of Finland’s bank accounts forced retaliatory step: Moscow
Moscow has said a decision to freeze bank accounts of Finnish embassies and consulates in Russia was a response to what it called the unfriendly acts of “the collective West”.
Officials from Finland and Denmark said on Wednesday the diplomatic bank accounts of both countries had been frozen, prompting their embassies to make payments in cash.
“This is not an initiative from the Russian side. We are reacting to the situation created by the authorities of several countries of the collective West, including, to our regret, Finland,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Sierra Leone’s Maada Bio urges end of war for ‘sake of humanity’
Sierra Leone’s president has said in an interview that he hopes a new African mediation mission would help end the war which has hit the “poorest of the poor” around the world.
Julius Maada Bio, speaking from the capital, Freetown, told AFP the war had wreaked havoc in his country and other places.
“We are all suffering as a result of the war in Ukraine … For the sake of humanity, for what is happening, let’s end the war,” he said on Wednesday. “I think even those who sympathise with Russia are in favour of stopping this war.”
Russian attacks on Kyiv ‘senseless’: Ukraine official
Ukraine’s defence council secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, has called Moscow’s latest attacks on Kyiv “senseless”, actions that he claimed were being committed to raise “patriotic hysteria” in Russia.
“In Russia, a process of despair and disappointment with the authorities is developing against the background of the unsuccessful offensive and failures at the front,” he posted on Twitter.
Kyiv remains putin’s maniacal and unattainable goal. Symbolic places of Kyiv are the target of russian missile attacks. The kremlin needs those senseless and super-expensive attacks for russia on the capital to raise the degree of patriotic hysteria inside the country. In russia,…
— Oleksiy Danilov (@OleksiyDanilov) May 18, 2023
G7 to discuss sanctions on Russian diamonds
G7 leaders meeting in Japan will discuss sanctioning Russia’s billion-dollar trade in diamonds, an EU official says as Ukraine’s allies try to further starve Moscow of funds for its war.
“We believe we need to limit exports from Russian trade in this sector,” the official said.
Military hospital in Japan to treat injured Ukrainian soldiers
Japan’s Ministry of Defence says a Tokyo military hospital will treat two injured Ukrainian soldiers, the latest measure the country has taken to support Ukraine as it fights a Russian invasion.
The Self-Defence Force Central Hospital plans to admit them next month for rehabilitation treatment, the ministry said in a statement without providing details about the nature of the soldiers’ injuries or if the hospital would receive more wounded from Ukraine.
Moldova says it wants to join EU ‘as soon as possible’
Moldova wants EU membership “as soon as possible” as a protection against a threat from Russia and hopes for a decision to start negotiations “in the next months”, its president says.
“Of course, nothing compares to what is happening in Ukraine, but we see the risks, and we do believe that we can save our democracy only as part of the EU,” Maia Sandu told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
China envoy in Kyiv says ‘no panacea’ to end Ukraine war
China’s special envoy Li Hui has told Kyiv “there is no panacea to resolve the crisis” as he repeated calls for Ukraine and Russia to engage in peace talks to end the war, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry revealed.
China has refrained from condemning Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and has instead sought to position itself as a neutral mediator including proposing a path to end the conflict.
Li held talks with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and other officials on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Crimea official says rail traffic suspended after derailment
A freight train carrying grain has derailed in Russian-annexed Crimea, the region’s Russian-installed leader said on Thursday.
As a result, rail traffic was suspended between Simferopol, capital of the Crimean peninsula, and the city of Sevastopol.
The derailment was caused by “interference by outsiders”, Crimean Railway said in a statement. In a statement posted on Telegram, Sergei Aksyonov said no one was injured in the incident.
Ukraine says downed 29 of 30 Russian missiles overnight
Ukraine says its air defence forces had shot down 29 out of 30 Russian cruise missiles fired overnight, in an attack that targeted Odesa, the capital Kyiv and other regions.
“The Russian occupiers launched several waves of missile attacks from different directions. A total of 30 sea, air and land-based cruise missiles were launched,” the military revealed, adding that Ukrainian air defence systems had “destroyed 29 cruise missiles”.