Russia continues its offensive in northeastern Ukraine. Several bombings in the Kharkiv region left at least 2 dead.
Russian troops struck Kharkiv again on the morning of May 23. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that there had been around ten explosions in the city and urged residents to stay in shelters.
The head of the regional administration, Oleh Synehobov, wrote on Telegram that at least five strikes had hit the city. Mr. Sinegubov also asked residents not to leave their shelters until the air alert was canceled.
Two people dead and two others injured, including a 10-year-old boy, after the bombing of the village of Rig, in the Donetsk region. According to the regional prosecutor’s office, the Russians struck the town with an Iskander missile on May 21 around 11 p.m.
Glide bombs on Kharkiv, missiles on Tchouhouïv
Twelve people were also injured in an airstrike on Kharkiv, where the Russians launched two munitions. One of them hit a business in the west of the city, the other exploded to the north, in a residential area, damaging apartment buildings and a cafe.
The Russians launched a missile attack on Chuhuiv, a town 40 kilometers from Kharkiv. The strikes hit a daycare center, damaged several buildings and injured eight people.
Zelensky awaiting peace summit in Switzerland
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that the peace summit in Switzerland in June is an opportunity to restore full protection to every nation under the United Nations Charter.
“Russian aggression attempted to transform the United Nations Charter into a museum piece”Our peace summit and the participation of world leaders can restore the full effectiveness of the United Nations Charter and restore full protection to every nation.”Mr. Zelensky said in a video address to Ukrainian citizens late in the evening.
Austria, Albania, Chile and Mozambique have confirmed their participation in the summit, the Ukrainian leader added.
Chinese ‘lethal aid’ for Russian war effort in Ukraine
China sends a “lethal aid” to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine, British Defense Minister Grant Shapps said, in comments disputed by Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
Mr Shapps used a speech at the London Defense Conference on Wednesday to declare: “Today I can reveal that we have evidence that Russia and China are collaborating on the development of combat equipment for use in Ukraine”.
As part of his call for NATO to “wake up” and increase its defense spending alliance-wide, he added: “US and UK defense intelligence can reveal lethal aid is now being flown from China to Russia and Ukraine.”
Mr Sullivan appeared to take exception to some of Mr Shapps’ comments. He said the possibility that China could “directly supply weapons – lethal assistance – to Russia” had been an earlier concern, but that “we haven’t seen that to date.”