• Kharkiv, Ukrainian flags are raised in Stroivka and Topoli on the border with Russia
• NATO: “Kiev advances 100 meters per day”
• Depleted uranium munitions and cluster bombs: the “dirty weapons” of the war in Ukraine
• Kamala Harris: “A big mistake for North Korea to give weapons to Russia.” I ask them to call it an act of desperation on Putin’s part.”
6:44 a.m. – New attacks on the Danube ports in Ukraine. Putin meets other grain routes
(from Marta Serafini, our correspondent in Odessa) On the Potemkin Steps, closed to the public and guarded by the military, the statue of the late governor Duke de Richelieu still stands wrapped up. Not even the “cougar” moves. The merchant ship, flying the flag of the Cayman Islands, has been in port since February 24, 2022. After Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to rejoin the agreement that allows exports across the Black Sea, the grain ships are once again at anchor. But that’s not enough for the tsar. Now in Moscow’s sights is the port of Ismail on the Danube, which is used as an alternative route for transporting goods overland to Romania. Hit four times in five days, last night Russian drones damaged a grain silo, a building and slightly injured a truck driver after a three-hour attack here.
But while alternative routes have been discussed for some time, the Ukrainians yesterday resumed exporting grain via Croatian ports on the Adriatic. A “niche route” as defined by Minister of Economy and First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyridenko during the bilateral meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Andrei Plenkovich in Bucharest. But it could pave the way for new directions.
06:43 a.m. – Depleted uranium munitions and cluster bombs: the “dirty weapons” of the war in Ukraine – The military point
(By Andrea Marinelli and Guido Olimpio) The military point 568 | The United States has announced that it will send depleted uranium anti-tank ammunition, which has a low radioactive charge but is not banned, to Ukraine. Unlike cluster bombs.
The US has announced it will send depleted uranium anti-tank ammunition to Ukraine, which Britain delivered in March, to support the counteroffensive by Volodymyr Zelensky’s men. These 120mm armor-piercing munitions – part of the latest multi-billion dollar aid package – will arrive on the ground later this year along with the Abrams tanks that Washington promised in January to simultaneously release the delivery of German Leopards.
Read the military point HERE
1:57 a.m. – Kiev: Moscow no longer has troops to attack from Belarus
Russia moved most of the units that were in Belarus to other areas for training purposes and therefore no longer had enough ground forces to launch an offensive from the Minsk Territory. This was reported by Belarusian border guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko, quoted by CNN. “Russia does not have the necessary strike force on the territory of Belarus that would be ready and able to invade the territory of Ukraine,” Demchenko said. “Moscow has withdrawn almost all of its units that have been trained and completed their rotation,” the spokesman said, but “no new units have been deployed on the ground.”
01:56 – The US announces the second arms shipment to Ukraine within 24 hours
The US Department of Defense has announced a new weapons package for the Ucrina, the second in 24 hours after the one unveiled by Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit to Kiev. According to a statement from the Pentagon, this is a shipment worth $600 million, which includes, among other things, ammunition for the highly mobile artillery rocket systems (Himars), 105 mm artillery ammunition and for demining.
1:55 a.m. – Blinken: “The elections in Ukraine organized by the Russians are a disgrace”
The United States has called the elections organized by Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine a “disgrace.” “These so-called elections – commented Secretary of State Antony Blinken – come a year after the shameful referendums organized by the Kremlin to justify the annexation of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Lugansk. “The Kremlin – he added – hopes that these predetermined outcomes will strengthen Russian claims to Ukrainian territories, but this is nothing more than propaganda.”
01:53 a.m. – Telephone conversation between the USA and Romania about security in the region
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a telephone conversation with Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu. The two spoke about the remains of the Russian drone found in Romania, near the border with Ukraine. The State Department said Blinken and Odobescu spoke of working together to “maintain air security, including an upcoming rotation of American F-16s to intensify the NATO air control mission in Romania.” Blinken reiterated his “firm support for Romania.”