UNITED24 Media Telegram Highlights
Ukraine is urgently seeking energy equipment and air defense ammunition to prevent summer blackouts following devastating Russian strikes on its energy infrastructure, reports Bloomberg.
Estonia has discovered an additional 1 million shells destined for Ukraine, as reported by Forbes.
Anno Pevkur, the Minister of Defense of Estonia, revealed that these munitions are valued at approximately $2.2 billion. They include 155-mm projectiles conforming to NATO standards, 152-mm projectiles following Soviet standards, and "Grad" missiles. [thank fuck]
While Russia seeks out weak points in Ukraine's defense, Ukraine is relying on the mistakes made by the enemy, according to CNN. The Russian forces have been launching frequent mechanized ground attacks, resulting in significant losses in manpower and equipment for the occupiers, albeit causing erosion in Ukrainian defense capabilities along the front line.
Kateryna Stepanenko from ISW suggests that Russia's objective may be to identify vulnerabilities and exhaust Ukrainian defense capabilities in preparation for summer offensive operations
The ratio of artillery shells on the front line currently stands at least 5:1.
The EU has pledged to provide Armenia with 270 million euros to help reduce its economic dependency on Russia. This commitment came after negotiations in Brussels involving the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
However, Azerbaijan, a key exporter of natural gas to Europe and a historical adversary of Armenia, raised objections to the trilateral meeting in Brussels. Prior to the meeting, von der Leyen reassured Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during a telephone call, affirming the EU's commitment to continue cooperation with Baku in areas such as renewable energy sources, transportation development, and energy security.
Ukraine has proposed banning air transit through the EU for Russians and Belarusians.
"Our proposal aims to restrict the comfortable use of EU skies by Russian businesses and tourists. We've discussed with our partners the possibility of closing transit for flights to and from Russia," said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
Andriy Yermak, in an interview with Politico, emphasized that Ukrainians may feel fatigued but will not entertain compromise with Putin, asserting that negotiations with Russia are out of the question
Zelenskyy underscored that following the mobilization of an additional 300,000 individuals, it would take approximately a month for the Russians to prepare them, and he did not discount the possibility of Russia later mobilizing even more individuals.
Zelenskyy expressed concern that the existing air defense reserves may not be sufficient in a month's time, given the ongoing high intensity of shelling.
Furthermore, he mentioned that only 10% of the promised F-16 fighter jets will be delivered to Ukraine this year. Nevertheless, he emphasized that these aircraft will be capable of coordinating with air defense systems to enhance Ukraine's defensive capabilities.
President Zelenskyy announced that the construction of defense structures in certain directions has reached completion rates of up to 98%. The plan is to finish constructing fortifications across all directions within the next couple of months.