UNITED24 Media
Chinese balloon shot down over US gathers intelligence from secret military facilities, NBC News, citing US officials.
China is said to have been able to control the balloon to fly over some objects (sometimes flying in a figure-eight shape) several times and transmit the information gathered back to Beijing in real-time.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the opening of new hubs for repairing military equipment in countries neighboring Ukraine, — Reuters.
Asked why Romania was chosen to host the Rheinmetall service center, Scholz said other European countries would also open maintenance centers to repair Western tanks and howitzers that Ukraine uses to defend against Russian aggression.
▫️Japan announced it would also contribute to a special NATO fund to support Ukraine.
The KGB of Belarus (State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus) reported that those involved in the criminal case for the detonation of the Russian A-50 early warning plane at the Machulyshchi airport might face the death penalty
In the temporarily occupied part of the Kherson region, the occupiers began to draw up lists for the "evacuation" of residents of the Skadovsk district to Crimea, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported
For now, the "evacuation" will be carried out voluntarily; primarily women and children will be taken out.
Russia "does not want a nuclear war" and "is trying to prevent it," said Vasily Nebenzya, Russia's permanent representative to the UN.
▫️Given the rhetoric of European leaders about the "Ukrainian-Russian conflict", the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to China is unlikely to change anything.
▫️Did I have nightmares about the risk of starting a nuclear war? I sleep peacefully, knowing that at least the Russian Federation "does not want a nuclear war" and "is trying to prevent it."
▫️Russia takes a place in the UN Security Council "absolutely legitimate" as the legal successor of the USSR.
▫️Many UN Security Council member countries "will work against Russia" during its presidency. But no one will be a "more honest intermediary" than the Russian Federation.
▫️"The grain deal "doesn't work the way it should." We expect a breakthrough, but we'll see what happens after May 26th."
▫️Russia is "ready to organize a meeting" of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the UN.
For the first time in 60 years, China has changed its position on the question of ownership of the southern part of the Kuril Islands
As Kyodo reports citing a source, Xi Jinping said during the talks with Putin that China is now neutral and "does not take any side" in the territorial dispute.
In 1964, Mao Zedong stated that Beijing considered the four disputed islands to be Japanese territory. Since then, China's position has not changed, and the islands are marked as "occupied by Russia" on Chinese maps.
Employees of the US Embassy in Moscow still do not have consular access to Evan Gershkovich – the representative of the US National Security Council, John Kirby.
NATO aid to Ukraine exceeded Russia's military budget, The Moscow Times calculated
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, NATO countries have provided Ukraine with more than $65 billion in military aid, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said.
At the same time, in 2023, Russia plans to spend almost 5 trillion rubles, or $63.7 billion, on military needs, according to the draft law on the budget.
Russia can use nuclear weapons only with China's permission
This was stated by the Secretary of the NSDC Danilov in an interview with The Times. [unconfirmed]
Closed-door negotiations have begun in Washington to remove Cold War-era munitions from bunkers and further upgrade them for transfer to Ukraine, — Politico.
Five brigades of SU-27 and MIG-29 fighters are currently in service with the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said the spokesman of the command Yuriy Ignat.
US mulls possible interim nuclear deal with Iran, – The Times of Israel
US officials have told their counterparts in Israel, France, Britain, and Germany that they are considering a proposal to strike a deal limiting Tehran's enrichment of nuclear material to 60 percent purity in exchange for sanctions relief.
Crimea is what must be liberated because you can destroy all Russian soldiers within a radius of 200 km from Bakhmut, but this will not affect the strategic end of the war, — American General Ben Hodges, former commander of the American army in Europe, in an interview with the Lithuanian TV and radio channel LRT.
🇱🇹Lithuania banned Russians from buying real estate, — Reuters
The ban, which will be in effect until 2024, will not apply to Russians who have received a residence permit in the country.