May 25, 2023 6:39 p.m
Moscow: “US warplanes intercepted in the Baltic Sea”
Russian Su-35 and Su-27 fighter jets attempted to intercept two US bombers over the Baltic Sea that were threatening to violate Russian borders. This was announced by the Moscow Ministry of Defense quoted by Tass.
May 25, 2023 6:00 p.m
Lukashenko: “Efforts to welcome Russian nuclear weapons have begun”
Efforts are already underway to supply Russian non-strategic nuclear weapons to Belarus. This was stated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, quoted by the Tass agency, after the defense ministers of both countries signed agreements today in Minsk that allow the use of non-strategic warheads, as announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin last March. “Putin informed me that today he signed a decree on our measures to supply nuclear weapons to Belarus,” Lukashenko said.
May 25, 2023 5:59 p.m
Secret service Kiev: “We want to take Putin with us to extradite him to The Hague”
Vladimir Putin is Kiev’s main target “because of his detention and transfer to The Hague”. This was stated by Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Main Directorate for Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, quoted by Ukrinform. “The Hague is inevitable for Putin. And in this situation, it’s even better that he’s still alive in court,” Yusov said, adding that Putin “and his whole gang” are war criminals. “And it really is the ultimate goal – in terms of imprisonment and transfer to the International Court of Justice and the Hague tribunal. Ukraine is a civilized state and acts in a civilized manner.” “To make extraordinary efforts to physically eliminate a person who looks like Putin – we can talk about that for a long time, but it is a question of expediency” and “necessity, to arrest the President of the Russian Federation as a war criminal and kill him.” “International law is a matter of just retribution and will be enforced in any case,” Yusov said.
May 25, 2023 5:58 p.m
The Chinese envoy to Ukraine is in Brussels
Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Political Director of the European External Action Service Enrique Mora received the Chinese Government’s Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui in Brussels today. It can be read in a note. “Mora welcomed Special Envoy Li’s visit to Europe, particularly to Kiev, and China’s recent engagement in Ukraine, including at senior level, although more than a year has passed since the start of the ‘illegal Russian aggression’.” Both sides agreed that to keep in touch and continue to work for a sustainable peace in Ukraine. “Both sides – it continues – discussed Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and ways to promote a just and sustainable peace. Deputy Secretary General Mora stressed Russia’s full responsibility for the unmotivated and unjustified aggression against Ukraine, which poses a key challenge to regional and global stability, security and prosperity. He stressed that Ukraine is exercising its right to self-defense and that the European Union is committed to providing Ukraine with long-term support.” Mora then stressed that restoring a just and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with international law is a EU is of crucial importance and stressed that any meaningful way to end Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine must be consistent with the EU UN Charter in its entirety. The EU expects China, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, to “play a constructive role and seize every opportunity to uphold and promote the United Nations Charter and international law and recall the need to respect the principles .” To ensure sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and to put an end to the bloodshed and indiscriminate killing of civilians through the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all armed forces and equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”
May 25, 2023 5:46 p.m
Russia has released 106 Ukrainian prisoners held in Bakhmut
Russia has released 106 Ukrainian prisoners held in Bakhmut, said the head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, quoted by national media. “You fought for Bachmut and accomplished a feat that prevented the enemy from advancing deep to the east. Each of them is a hero,” said Yermak. Of those who returned from captivity, 68 were reported missing. Some have wounds, burns, fractures. The oldest is 59 years old, the youngest 21. Three bodies were also returned, two foreigners and one Ukrainian. So far, 2,430 people have been released, including 139 civilians.
May 25, 2023 5:45 p.m
Explosion at occupied Melitopol airport
Explosions occurred in Melitopol in the city of Zaporizhia, which was occupied by Russian troops. Smoke was hanging over the airport, exiled mayor Ivan Fyodorov wrote on Telegram.
May 25, 2023 5:42 p.m
Kremlin: “Putin’s security forces know how to do their job”
The services responsible for the security of Russian President Vladimir Putin “know their job and what they are doing”. This is what Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on statements by Deputy Chief of Ukrainian Military Intelligence Vadim Skibitsky that Putin was the “main target” of the Kiev operations. This was reported by the Tass agency.
May 25, 2023 5:41 p.m
Secret service Kiev: “We are trying to kill Prigozhin”
The Ukrainian secret services are trying to eliminate the founder of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said the deputy head of the main intelligence directorate in Kiev, Vadym Skibitsky, in an interview with the German newspaper Welt. “What is your relationship with Yevgeny Prigozhin…?” Skibitsky was asked: “We are trying to kill him,” he replied.
May 25, 2023 5:40 p.m
Secret service Kiev: “Putin is our main target”
Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “main target” of the Ukrainian intelligence services, Deputy Head of the Main Directorate for Intelligence in Kiev Vadym Skibitsky said in an interview with the German newspaper Welt. “Our priority is to destroy the unit commander who ordered his men to attack Ukraine,” Skibitsky said, specifying that the main target of his detachment is “Putin” because he coordinates and decides what happens. Skibitsky also threatened to destroy the Mariupol port, calling it one of the critical logistics points for the Moscow Armed Forces. “We are getting closer and closer to Putin,” added the senior official, stressing that the president too “is afraid of being killed by his own people.”
May 25, 2023 5:40 p.m
Kyiv: “We control the southwestern suburbs of Bakhmut”
Ukrainian troops control the southwestern outskirts of Bakhmut and Wagner Group fighters are still in the city: Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar writes on her Telegram channel, adding that the Russians are replacing “Wagner units with regular army units in the suburbs replaced” the city. “At the moment, Wagner’s men are staying in the city of Bachmut,” says Malyar. “Our troops control the outskirts of the city in the southwestern part, in the Plane area.”