Russia continues to attack eastern Ukraine, where it claims to have destroyed a stockpile of weapons supplied by Westerners. For his part, Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to rely on diplomacy. Polish President Andrzej Duda is the first head of state to address Ukraine’s parliament since the start of the Russian invasion.
1:01 am: The Moscow-appointed mayor of Energodar is injured in an explosion
Andrei Shevchik, “the self-proclaimed head of the people’s administration of Energodar” (southern Ukraine) and his bodyguards were injured in an explosion on Sunday, Dmytro Orlov, the elected mayor of Energodar, said by telegram. He added that they were hospitalized “with injuries of varying degrees of severity,” but the circumstances surrounding the blast were unclear.
He was appointed mayor of Energodar after Russian troops seized control of that city and the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant located on its territory.
11:09 p.m.: Russian forces concentrated on eastern Ukraine
“All Russian forces are concentrated in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions” in the Donbass, Sergei Gaidai, the governor of the Lugansk region, wrote on Telegram. These forces include units that have withdrawn from the Kharkiv region in the north, those besieging Mariupol in the south-east, militias from the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, the feared Chechen forces and troops arriving as reinforcements from Siberia and the Far East Russia’s were mobilized thousands of miles away, he listed.
In terms of armaments, too, “everything is concentrated here,” he added, including the famous S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft and anti-missile complexes, which correspond to the American patriots.
In Severodonetsk, a city in the Luhansk region that is still under Kyiv control, “they use scorched earth tactics, they destroy the city on purpose” with airstrikes, multiple rocket launchers, mortars or tanks firing at the buildings , assured Serguiï Gaïdaï.
8:37 p.m.: Russia says it is ready to resume talks
Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said Russia is ready to resume peace talks with Ukraine and said their suspension was due to Kyiv.
“For our part, we are ready to continue the dialogue,” Vladimir Medinsky, the Kremlin adviser in charge of negotiations with Kyiv, said in an interview with Belarusian television.
8:10 p.m .: The Baltic States stop importing Russian electricity
Following the international sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, Russian electricity exporter InterRAO has lost the ability to sell electricity to these customers in the Baltic countries since Sunday.
“This is an important step on our road to energy independence,” Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys told AFP on Sunday.
5:39 p.m .: The Senegalese President is to visit Russia and Ukraine
Senegalese President Macky Sall has indicated that he will soon visit Russia and Ukraine on behalf of the African Union, which he currently chairs.
The latter explained at a joint press conference with Chancellor Olaf Scholz that he had received a mandate from the African Union for this trip. Russia invited to it, he said. The trip originally planned for May 18 could not take place “due to scheduling reasons”, he had suggested new dates, he reported.
“As soon as it is decided, I will of course go to Moscow and also to Kyiv, and we have also agreed to bring together all African Union heads of state who wish to do so with President (Ukrainian Volodymyr) Zelenskyy, who had expressed the need to to communicate with African leaders,” he said.
4:08 p.m .: Emmanuel Macron calls on WHO members to condemn Russian aggression
The French President called on World Health Assembly (WHO) member countries to support a resolution condemning Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and “reaffirmed the full solidarity of France and the European Union with Ukraine”.
The text was supposed to be adopted on Tuesday, but if it harshly condemns Russia, it “under no circumstances envisages (its) expulsion,” argued a Western diplomat, recalling that sanctions against a member country are those approved by WHO regulations were “very low”. .
3:47 p.m .: Polish President Andrzej Duda visits Kyiv
The head of state is the first leader to address the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) in person since the start of the Russian invasion, his cabinet said. The latter unreservedly supported Ukraine’s candidacy for the European Union, despite skepticism from France and Germany.
Andrzej Duda, whose speech was interrupted by several standing ovations, promised that he would not let up “as long as Ukraine is not a member of the European Union”.
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2:47 p.m .: Ukraine’s EU accession will “probably take 15 or 20 years”
This was stated by Clément Beaune, the delegate of the French Minister for European Affairs. In the meantime, he believes Kyiv can join the European political community proposed by President Macron.
“You have to be honest. (…) If we say that Ukraine will join the EU in 6 months, 1 year or 2 years, we are lying. That’s not true. It’s probably 15 or 20 years, it’s a lot long,” he explained on Radio J. “In the meantime, we owe the Ukrainians (…) a political project to participate in,” he said. he continued.
1:50 p.m.: In Borodyanka, north of Kyiv, the scars of war
11:45 a.m .: Russia continues to pound on eastern Ukraine, diplomatic channel deadlocked?
Update on the situation on the ground with our special correspondent Cyril Payen.
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10:30 a.m.: Mariupol now in Russian hands
Gulliver Cragg, a correspondent in Ukraine, deciphers the stakes for the Russians in this military victory.
02:29 A man walks in a market destroyed by Russian shelling in Kharkiv, May 21, 2022. © Sergei Bobok, AFP
6 am: Russia steps up attacks on Donbass, Ukrainian army assures
Ukraine’s General Staff noted in its daily morning report that the Russian army “continued its missile and airstrikes throughout the area” and even “upped the intensity, using aviation to destroy critical infrastructure.”
4:30 a.m.: Ukraine at the center of a WHO Assembly resolution
Ukraine is on the initiative of a resolution to be submitted to the World Health Assembly, where the 194 members of the World Health Organization meet to build a more efficient and equitable global health system.
This resolution must denounce the attacks on the health system carried out by Moscow, but also condemn the extremely serious consequences of the invasion and blockade of Ukrainian ports for world supplies and the explosion in grain prices.
00:05: “The situation in Donbass is extremely difficult,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his usual video message in the evening, noted that the military situation on Saturday “didn’t change significantly, but it was very difficult.”
“The situation in Donbass is extremely difficult,” he said. But the Ukrainian army “repels this offensive. Every day that our defenders disrupt the Russians’ plans brings us closer to the decisive day (…) that we all wish for and are fighting for. The Day of Victory “.