Ukraine Invasion: Part 61

[MagicFox]

Welcome to thread 61 with many thanks to all So many thanks to all contributors and a special salute to those providing daily updates. For the 61st time, Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦

**
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Kyiv Post:

⚡️ Ukraine launched a massive overnight drone assault deep inside Russia, targeting Moscow’s military-industrial infrastructure and an occupied airbase in Crimea.

Kyiv confirmed its forces struck the Moscow oil refinery, two major fuel pipeline transit stations and the sanctioned Angstrem semiconductor plant.

⚡️ Russia launched a combined drone and missile attack on Dnipro overnight, striking residential areas, sparking fires, and injuring at least 20 civilians, including children.

Authorities say emergency services are responding, victims are receiving treatment, and rescue and recovery operations are ongoing as further updates are expected.

⚡️ Ukraine struck key military and industrial targets deep inside Russia using domestically produced drones in a major overnight attack.

Ukraine’s forces hit a microchip factory and an oil pumping station in the Moscow region, while also striking Russian command posts and troop concentrations across occupied territories and border areas.

Thank you @DesdamonasHandkerchief

You’re v welcome @ReleaseTheDucksOfWar, I’ve definitely got the easy job with one day a week!

https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-may-18-2026/

Key Takeaways

1. Russian forces conducted a large-scale strike against Ukraine with 546 drones and missiles, including 14 ballistic missiles, on the night of May 17 to 18.
2. Ukraine’s new domestically produced guided glide bomb will likely allow Ukrainian forces to expand their battlefield air interdiction (BAI) campaign against Russian forces and assets in the near and operational rear.
3. The Russian economy continues to feel the strain of the compounding effects of over four years of war coupled with Ukraine’s long-range strike campaign against Russian oil infrastructure.
4. Russian sources suggested that Colonel General Alexander Lapin may become the next Russian State Duma Defense Committee chairperson.
5. The possible replacement of Kartapolov with Lapin, if confirmed, would be a continuation of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s practice of rotating high-ranking commanders into other positions despite their poor battlefield performance.
6. Ukrainian forces advanced in the Oleksandrivka direction.

Kyiv Independent Telegram Highlights

‘Hide-and-seek with death’ — Ukraine details grim situation in Pokrovsk
The statement offers a stark picture of the deteriorating situation north of Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian troops say Russian drone superiority has made troop rotations, evacuations, and resupply missions nearly impossible.

⚡️ Belarus starts nuclear drills with Russia days after Zelensky warns of attacks on Ukraine, NATO.

⚡️ Update: US again grants Russia oil sanctions waiver despite Treasury chief's pledges not to.
One U.S. official initially told the Kyiv Independent that Washington had not decided to renew the Russian oil sanctions waiver. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later announced that the U.S. had renewed it. [unsurprising]

⚡️ Ukraine claims control of Stepnohirsk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, military intelligence says.
The Ukrainian advance was confirmed by footage of Ukrainian troop movements released by HUR, which shows soldiers from the "Artan" special unit of Ukrainian military intelligence engaging Russian forces in Stepnohirsk.

⚡️ Internal Russian documents detail estimated cost of war, Zelensky says.
“Importantly, this is specifically a Russian internal assessment — one they are trying to conceal both from the world and from their own domestic audience,” President [According to Zelensky, the first indicator is a reduction in active oil wells, with one Russian oil company reportedly forced to suspend operations at roughly 400 sites.
"Given the specifics of Russian oil production, these are significant losses, as restarting wells in Russia is far more difficult than in other oil-producing countries," Zelensky said.
The second key indicator is a 10% drop in oil refining over just several months in 2026, he added. [...]
Separately, Zelensky said 11 Russian banks are on the verge of liquidation, while another eight "have accumulated critical issues that can't be addressed without external resources."
Russia's federal budget deficit is now estimated at $80 billion this year alone, which Zelensky called an "optimistic" figure given the near-bankruptcy of many regional budgets across the country.[...]
After GDP growth slowed to 1% in 2025 from 4.9% in 2024, Russia's economy has weakened further this year. The Economic Ministry reported GDP contracted by 1.8% over the past two months.]

⚡️Explosions rock Russia's Yaroslavl as Ukraine reportedly targets oil infrastructure in drone strike.

What we know about luxury estates at the center of Ukraine’s biggest corruption probe
A secretive luxury residential compound allegedly built for Volodymyr Zelensky’s inner circle could become the corruption scandal that defines his presidency.
The prosecution alleges that within four years, nearly $9 million was laundered through the construction of a cottage complex — four expensive houses near Kyiv, each roughly 1,000 square meters in size.

⚡️World Gymnastics lifts restrictions on Russian, Belarusian athletes.
The organization's Executive Committee has "decided to lift all restrictions applicable to Russian and Belarusian athletes since February 2022, with immediate effect."

May 18 marks the 82nd anniversary of the forced deportation of the Crimean Tatars — a people indigenous to Crimea and officially recognized as one of Ukraine’s indigenous peoples — by the Soviet regime.
The Soviet authorities falsely accused the entire Crimean Tatar population of collaborating with Nazi Germany during the two-year occupation of Crimea in World War II.
Up to 200,000 Crimean Tatars — mostly women, children, and the elderly — were deported to Central Asia and Siberia. Crimean Tatar men serving in the Red Army at the time were sent to labor camps.
Today, Crimean Tatars continue their struggle for freedom as part of independent Ukraine — through activism and by fighting against Russia in the full-scale war.
The Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigations Unit explores part of this history and ongoing struggle in the two-part documentary, “Crimea: The War Before the War.”
First part:
Second part:

⚡️ Ukrainian e-sports stars beat Russians to first place at US tournament.
Leading Ukrainian e-sports team Natus Vincere — known as NAVI — beat their Russian opponents to come out on top of the Intel Extreme Master Atlanta 2026 Counter Strike 2 (CS2) tournament in the U.S on May 18.

⚡️Russian overnight attack damages 25 homes in Kharkiv, hits Izmail port infrastructure.

⚡️At least 6 killed, 37 injured in Russian attacks as Naftogaz facilities hit for 3rd day.
Russia launched 209 drones overnight, Ukraine's Air Force said on the morning of May 19, most of them Shahed-type deep-strike drones. Ukrainian air defense systems downed or suppressed 180 of them.

Ragnar Bjartur Gudmundsson 🇺🇦‬
‪@ragnarbjartur.bsky.social‬
⚡️ RUSSIA'S WAR AGAINST UKRAINE — MAY 19, 2026
■ Engagements and casualties slightly below the 7-day average; no confirmed territorial changes
■ Equipment losses above average; notable losses of artillery and ground robotic systems
■ Overnight attacks: all drones; the interception rate could be better
■ 11 🇺🇦 strikes reported; 🇷🇺 drone launches and shelling above average

UNITED24 Media Telegram Highlights

Russia is placing “serious hopes” on Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to China, with the Russian leader set to travel alongside a large delegation of ministers and heads of major state companies.
Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said that during the visit, Putin and Xi Jinping plan to adopt a “Declaration on the Establishment of a Multipolar World and a New Type of International Relations.”
According to him, the leaders will also sign a “Joint Statement on Further Strengthening Comprehensive Partnership and Strategic Interaction, as well as on Deepening Good-Neighborly, Friendly, and Cooperative Relations.”
Putin also intends to discuss cooperation in rare earth metals and hydrocarbons with Xi. In particular, the sides are expected to address the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline project, whose launch has reportedly been postponed five times since 2022.
Putin is expected to arrive in China on May 19 and meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that evening. Talks with Xi Jinping and other official events are scheduled for May 20.
The Russian delegation will include deputy prime ministers, ministers, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Sberbank CEO Herman Gref, senior Kremlin officials, heads of major state corporations, regional governors, and several prominent Russian businessmen and oligarchs. [this reeks of desperation]

🤬 Russian forces struck several Naftogaz gas infrastructure facilities in the Chernihiv region.
Drone attacks on production sites destroyed critical equipment.
Personnel at one of the targeted facilities were evacuated, and no injuries were reported.

More than 1,170 km [ roads] are already protected, as the construction of anti-drone defenses in frontline regions has doubled, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.
“Compared to 2025, the pace has increased from 4 km to 8.5 km per day in recent months.
Between February and April alone, 430 km of anti-drone defenses were equipped, while 106 km of roads were restored.
A separate focus is the restoration of roads in frontline regions. Work is ongoing in five regions.
More than 60 km of roads have already been restored, including three sections in the Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv directions that have already been completed.
These measures ensure stable logistics, rapid delivery of resources, and the safe evacuation of the wounded even under enemy fire,” Fedorov said.

❗️Russia has launched large-scale nuclear exercises involving more than 64,000 military personnel.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that the drills will run from May 19 to 21.
According to the ministry, the exercises also involve 7,800 pieces of military equipment, more than 200 missile launchers, and eight nuclear submarines armed with missile systems.
Earlier, Belarus also announced the start of joint exercises with Russia focused on the combat use of tactical nuclear weapons.

Slovakia plans to replace Russian gas with Azerbaijani supplies and sign a long-term contract with Azerbaijan for at least ten years, said Tomáš Taraba, Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of the Environment in Robert Fico’s government, in an interview with the Azerbaijani agency Report, Deutsche Welle writes.
“Slovakia wants to diversify its energy supplies, and Azerbaijan is a very reliable partner for us.
At the same time, the question of how Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to Central Europe remains open. The parties are currently discussing which pipelines can be used and in what volumes,” Taraba said.
Earlier, Martin Huska, head of Slovakia’s largest energy operator Slovenský plynárenský priemysel (SPP), said the company was searching for new gas suppliers following the EU’s decision to gradually phase out Russian gas imports due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to him, negotiations are underway with the Azerbaijani company SOCAR on long-term gas supplies.
In 2024, Azerbaijan began supplying gas to Slovakia under a pilot contract.
Despite this, Slovakia remains dependent on Russian energy resources.

Ukrainian defense technology firm SKIFTECH has unveiled a virtual reality trainer designed to prepare soldiers to shoot down FPV drones, built on lessons drawn from frontline combat experience, according to Militarnyi on May 18.
The platform, named "Reflex — Minus Drone," provides basic training for troops countering one of the most pressing modern battlefield threats: Russian FPV strike drones now widely used against Ukrainian positions.

In Perm, following Ukrainian drone strikes on a local oil refinery, a prayer service and religious procession were held “for protection from unmanned attacks.”
The Perm Metropolitanate said the event was a revival of long-standing traditions.
According to church representatives, in past centuries priests held similar services during wars, epidemics, and other disasters, asking for divine protection.

Kyiv Post Telegram Highlights

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said special forces from the Artan unit conducted coordinated assault operations in Stepnohirsk, Zaporizhzhia region, forcing Russian troops from fortified positions and retaking key parts of the town.
Ukrainian forces said clearing operations are ongoing as Russia may attempt renewed assaults.

German authorities uncovered a major sanctions-evasion scheme that supplied Russia’s military industry with European dual-use technology through front companies and Turkish intermediaries.
Prosecutors say the network moved around 16,000 shipments worth more than $34 million to Russian entities linked to the defense and nuclear sectors.

Xi Jinping reportedly warned Trump that Putin may one day “regret” launching the war against Ukraine during high-level talks in Beijing.
The discussions also allegedly included a controversial proposal for the US, China and Russia to unite against the International Criminal Court.

Belarus has restricted access to forests near its borders with Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania, according to former Security Service of Ukraine Major General Viktor Yagun.
Among the possible scenarios being discussed are threats near Volyn, the Sarny-Rivne-Varash area, and the Suwałki Gap, potentially aimed at forcing Ukraine to keep more reserve forces near the border.

US senators blasted Trump’s decision to extend sanctions relief for Russian oil, calling it a “gift to Putin” after Moscow’s latest attacks on Ukraine.

Live: Ukraine Telegram Highlights

🇪🇺 The European Union is reportedly considering former German chancellor Angela Merkel, former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi, and Finnish president Alexander Stubb as possible EU negotiators in talks related to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The report also names EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas as an obvious candidate for the role. Kallas had long opposed direct negotiations with Russia, but later signaled openness to appointing a special envoy, saying EU foreign ministers would discuss the issue later this month.

Germany has uncovered a large-scale scheme for supplying European technologies to Russia in violation of sanctions, Politico reports.
🔻 The network involved the company Global Trade, which had openly worked with Russia even before the full-scale invasion. According to investigators, the actual coordinator of the procurement network for Russian industry was the sanctioned company Kolovrat.
🔻 Turkey was used as a transit hub: goods were first exported from the EU to Turkey and then re-exported to Russia.
🔻 Investigators found that Kolovrat did not operate only remotely. Its employees allegedly gained access to Global Trade’s email accounts, impersonated German staff, communicated with suppliers, requested quotations, and placed orders across Europe.
🔻 German intelligence accessed internal documents from Kolovrat and tracked supply routes, financial transfers, and Russian import data.
🔻 In the case, the managing director of Global Trade, Nikita S., has already been arrested. Investigators say he turned the Lübeck-based company into a procurement structure effectively controlled by Moscow.

Since 2022, 32,000 men have illegally crossed into Romania, while 39 have died in the mountains, according to a report by German outlet Bild.
According to their data, Romanian rescuers have deployed nearly 400 times since the start of the full-scale war to save those affected, the material said.
“They receive asylum and are allowed to stay in the EU. Here they are safe, they have nothing to fear,” a Romanian border guard said in the report.
Head of a Romanian rescue team Dan Benga, who manages the rescue of injured illegal migrants, told the publication about plans to open a tourist route through the Carpathians from Romania to Ukraine after the war ends "in memory of all the Ukrainians who passed through the mountains here."
In Ukraine, according to official sources, about 1.8 million people liable for military service are wanted, nearly 250,000 are absent without leave (AWOL), 1.37 million are reserved from mobilization, and about 1.15 million have deferments.

The Ukrainian Defense Forces are actively testing heavy multicopters designed for medevac operations

Law enforcement officers in Kropyvnytskyi detained the head of a military medical commission (VLC) and his accomplices. They are suspected of selling fake disability certificates to help men evade mobilization.

🇭🇺 Hungary has canceled the deportation orders and three-year Schengen entry bans imposed on seven Oschadbank employees who were detained in March, the bank’s press service said.
The relevant records were removed from state registries, and Hungarian authorities withdrew their previous conclusions that the employees posed a national security threat.

Scammers in Kyiv defrauded a former Ukrainian prime minister of nearly 7 million hryvnias (≈ $170,000).
According to sources cited by Ukrainska Pravda, the victim was Viktor Pustovoitenko, Ukraine’s sixth prime minister, who headed the government from 1997 to 1999 and later served as an adviser to Viktor Yanukovych between 2010 and 2014.
Investigators say the suspects posed as officers of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and the police. They sent the 79-year-old man fake summonses and claimed he was under investigation for allegedly “purchasing Shahed drones for Russians.”
Under psychological pressure, the man reportedly agreed to a “video-call search” and showed his savings. Following the scammers’ instructions, he then placed the money in a bag and handed it over near his home “for inspection.”
In total, he gave away $110,710, €10,200, as well as savings in shekels, pounds, and crowns.
The suspects have been placed in custody, while investigators continue identifying other members of the scheme.

Russian forces attacked Ukraine overnight and into the morning, targeting the Odesa, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Here is what is known about the consequences:
🔴Odesa region. Russian forces launched a massive drone attack on the south of the region. In the Izmail district, a UAV struck a warehouse building, causing a fire. No casualties were reported.
🔴Kharkiv region. In the village of Pokotylivka in the Kharkiv district, a 69-year-old woman was killed in a drone strike, while three other people, including a child, were injured. In Kharkiv city, the attack destroyed a residential building and caused a fire, injuring three people. Overall, 25 private houses and one apartment building were damaged in the city.
🔴Kherson. In the morning, Russian forces attacked a 68-year-old resident of Kherson’s Korabelnyi district with a drone. He lost a leg.
🔴Dnipropetrovsk region. Russian troops attacked Kryvyi Rih. A 41-year-old woman was injured, and private homes were damaged.

Grim news if China, Russia and the US work against the International Criminal Court.

Grim news that the US renewed the Russian oil at sea sanctions waiver.

Agreed. Surely the US wouldn’t agree to working against the ICC.

It isn't part of the ICC. It signed the Rome Treaty but never ratified it and later under Republican administrations turned against it, and under Trump has been actively hostile.

Nor is China a signatory.

What @ReleaseTheDucksOfWar said.

Some US administrations haven't displayed much love for the ICC.

Wow, I’m speechless. I could see Trump not supporting it in case they came after him at some point …

Putin is in Bejing for a 2 day visit.

And he took a large number of Russian movers and shakers with him, which is something of an indication of how much he wants to gain from this meeting. I suspect Xi Jingping holds almost all the cards here.

The WSJ has done a very good analysis of the current combat dynamic and how Ukraine has improved its position and drone warfare tactics.

Russia’s War Is Going Badly—on the Ground and in the Air Putin shows no signs he is rethinking his aims

The war is increasingly painful for ordinary Russian citizens, which, while unlikely to change Putin's negotiating position, does cost him some political support.

Good show, as they say on your side of the pond. 😁

It was reported that the official state opinion polls showed his popularity dropping for the first time in the last weeks.

So they changed the methodology of the polls and now all is well again. We can take them at their word, I'm sure.

Kyiv Independent Telegram Highlights

⚡️ Putin, Xi sign cooperation deals in Beijing, but key pipeline project still unresolved.
Putin and Xi signed a joint statement on further strengthening the countries' "comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation."

⚡️ Reuters: China secretly trained Russian soldiers who later fought in Ukraine.
The Chinese military secretly trained about 200 Russian military personnel in China in late 2025, with some later returning to fight in Ukraine, Reuters reported on May 19, citing three European intelligence agencies and documents seen by the agency.

⚡️ Breaking: NATO jet downs suspected stray Ukrainian drone over Estonia in first such case.
In response, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry accused Moscow of intentionally redirecting Ukrainian drones into NATO territory. “We apologize to Estonia and all of our Baltic friends for such unintended incidents,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said.

⚡️Vance responds to reports that US may send Iran's enriched uranium to Russia as part of peace deal.
"I'm not going to make pre-commitments in a negotiation on any particular topic," Vance said, though he maintained the proposal was "not currently" part of the plan.

⚡️ Russia threatens Latvia over unfounded claims of Ukrainian drone launch plans.
“It would be useful to remind that the coordinates of decision-making centers on Latvian territory are well known,” Russia’s intelligence agency said.

⚡️ Ukraine economy improves in April as Russia’s outlook worsens, prime minister says.
Ukraine’s economy improved in April, driven partly by the defense industry, softening what had been expected to be a sharper slowdown in early 2026 after the country’s toughest winter of the full-scale invasion, the prime minister said.

⚡️Update: Ukraine says it struck major Russian oil refinery, pumping station.
Ukrainian forces struck the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, the General Staff said, where a fire was recorded on the facility's territory on May 18.

Russia’s foreign minister Lavrov blasts Ukraine in public, but officials say he’s cut out of actual talks
Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov has been almost completely sidelined from Moscow’s most important foreign policy track — negotiations on ending Russia’s war against Ukraine, two Ukrainian officials and one U.S. official told the Kyiv Independent

⚡️ Ukraine steelmakers warn new EU limits could cost them customers.
MEPs in Brussels agreed on May 19 to slash the EU’s tariff-free steel imports to 18.3 million metric tons per year — a 47% reduction from what is currently allowed — starting in July 2026.

⚡️UK quietly issues sanctions waivers on Russian oil products.
The first license permits imports of diesel and jet fuel made from Russian oil if "the products have been processed in a third country," while the other allows the maritime transport of Russian LNG.

⚡️Civilian casualties in Ukraine reach 10-month high in April, UN finds.
Short-range drones killed and injured more Ukrainian civilians in April 2026 than in any other month since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

⚡️ Ukraine expands Supreme Court bribery probe tied to oligarch Zhevago.
Ukraine’s top anti-corruption agencies say they have widened a sweeping bribery investigation tied to the former chairman of the Supreme Court, alleging that several senior judges accepted illicit payments in exchange for a ruling favoring a powerful businessman.

⚡️Moscow Oil Refinery halts production following May 17 attack, Reuters reports.
The Moscow Oil Refinery temporarily halted its processing operations following a large-scale May 17 Ukrainian drone attack, Reuters reported on May 19, citing industry sources.

⚡️Ukraine reportedly strikes Russian chemical plant for second time in a week.
Ukraine's military reportedly struck the Nevinnomyssk Azot plant in Russia's southern Stavropol Krai overnight on May 20, Russian Telegram media channels reported.

⚡️Ukrainian drones reportedly strike oil refinery in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.

⚡️ Russian military hospitals overwhelmed by wounded soldiers from war in Ukraine, media reports.
Russian military hospitals are struggling to cope with the number of soldiers wounded in the war against Ukraine, forcing authorities to repurpose civilian hospitals, maternity wards, and other medical facilities for military use.

Ukraine must preserve system that took one of its most powerful men to corruption trial
“The answer lies in one of the key reforms in Ukraine’s justice system — the selection commission involving international experts. These experts are delegates from EU partners, tasked with conducting professional evaluations of candidates for open positions,” writes Mykhailo Zhernakov, co-founder and Chair of the Board of DEJURE Foundation, in this op-ed.

⚡️ Russian lawmaker raises alarm about economy, calls for end to war in Ukraine.
Renat Suleimanov, a State Duma deputy from the Communist Party (KPRF), said in an interview with Russian outlet Kontinent Sibir that Russia needs the “swiftest possible end” to what Moscow calls its “special military operation,” the Kremlin’s term for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s increasingly violent mobilization problem
After eight months recovering from war wounds, Mykola returned to duty — not to the eastern front, but to a posting far from the fighting, at an enlistment office in the country’s west. Still relearning how to walk again, he soon discovered how differently society regarded his new role.
“Many people, including some of my acquaintances, now seem to view draft officers as the enemy,” the former platoon commander told the Kyiv Independent.

⚡️Russia strikes residential buildings, businesses in multiple regions of Ukraine, injuring at least 11.

Ragnar Bjartur Gudmundsson 🇺🇦‬
‪@ragnarbjartur.bsky.social‬
⚡️ RUSSIA'S WAR AGAINST UKRAINE — MAY 20, 2026
■ Engagements slightly above average but casualties well below average; no confirmed territorial changes

Land-based equipment losses above average but drone losses below average
■ Overnight attacks: drone interception rate could be better; one Iskander-M used
■ 13 🇺🇦 strikes reported; 🇷🇺 air strikes and shelling above average

UNITED24 Media Telegram Highlights

[more info]
🤬 About 200 Russian servicemen underwent secret training in China, and some of them are already fighting against Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Citing documents and three European intelligence agencies, the agency reported that in late 2025, around 200 Russian military personnel were secretly trained in China under an agreement signed in Beijing on July 2.
The training reportedly covered drones, electronic warfare, aviation, and armored infantry operations.
According to intelligence sources, some of those who completed the program later directly took part in combat operations using drones in temporarily occupied Crimea and the Zaporizhzhia region. Their ranks reportedly ranged from junior sergeant to lieutenant colonel.
Intelligence services believe that Beijing may be more directly involved in the war than it publicly claims.

🇺🇦🇱🇻 Ukraine and Latvia have rejected Russian claims that Riga allegedly gave Ukraine permission to use Latvian territory for strikes on Russian regions.
“Russia is lying by claiming that Latvia allows any country to use its airspace and territory for strikes against Russia or any other country,” Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs said.

🇱🇻 Latvia summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires ad interim over false accusations and threats against Riga contained in a statement by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service.
During the meeting, the diplomat was reminded that Latvia had repeatedly stated it had not granted permission for the use of its airspace for strikes on Russian territory, while the Russian side was resorting to escalating rhetoric.
The head of the Russian diplomatic mission was also handed an official note of protest.

The Special Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported that counterintelligence officers and investigators detected elevated radiation levels on the wreckage of a Russian strike drone used in an attack on the Chernihiv region in April 2026.
According to the SBU, the radioactive fragments were identified as parts of an R-60 air-to-air missile found near the village of Kamka.

Russian forces attacked a Nova Poshta depot in Kharkiv three times, according to the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The first strike hit an area near the depot in the Novobavarskyi district at around 00:10 on May 19.
Later that evening, Russian forces directly targeted the depot twice more — at approximately 19:50 and 20:25.

Kyiv Post Telegram Highlights

Kyiv has secured nearly $5.5 billion through the NATO-backed Priority Ukrainian Requirements List (PURL) program.
The initiative, supported by 25 NATO member states and three partner countries, is helping finance urgently needed weapons, including PAC-3 interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems.

Putin may announce mass mobilization after Russia’s State Duma elections as Moscow struggles with heavy battlefield losses.
Ukraine’s intelligence shows the Kremlin is preparing new offensives, expanding recruitment efforts, and continuing broader military planning beyond Ukraine.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Russia again “in the near future,” according to Putin aide Kirill Dmitriev.
Witkoff has played a key role in negotiations linked to the war in Ukraine and rising tensions in the Middle East.

Hungary and Ukraine have begun consultations on restoring relations, with minority rights emerging as the key issue.
Budapest said protecting national minorities remains its top priority, while Kyiv reaffirmed its commitment to European standards.

Romania scrambled F-16 fighter jets as Russian drones attacked Ukrainian infrastructure near the NATO border overnight.
The strikes targeted the port city of Izmail near the Danube, while air raid alerts were activated in Romania’s Tulcea region.

Ukraine’s UN envoy tore into Russia at the UN, accusing Moscow of pretending to be the victim while escalating attacks on civilians.
Andrii Melnyk dismissed Russian claims about Ukrainian drone operations from the Baltics as “fairy tales,” telling Moscow: “Just stop lying.”
“What Russia is witnessing is the boomerang of war, launched by Putin against Ukraine, and now returning with triple force.”

Javier Bardem used the Cannes 2026 stage to call out what he described as “toxic masculinity” in global politics, pointing to Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin.
The actor made the remarks while presenting The Beloved, his upcoming film with director Rodrigo Sorogoyen, which explores themes of family, power and masculinity. https://t.me/Kyivpost_official/36669

KADORR Group, led by Ruslan Kivan, handed apartments to 11 Ukrainian families displaced by war during a ceremony in Odesa.
The initiative, tied to the NGO “IDPs of Ukraine,” gathered senior officials and highlighted ongoing humanitarian support, with total aid in 2026 exceeding 100 million UAH (about $2.33 million).

Kyiv said goodbye to 12-year-old Liubava and 17-year-old Vira Yakovlieva, two sisters killed by a Russian missile strike on the capital.
Relatives, teachers and grieving residents gathered at St. Michael’s Cathedral as the girls’ mother stood beside their coffins — having already lost her husband in the war, and now both daughters.
Russia’s May 14 strike on a residential building in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district killed 24 people, including three children, and wounded dozens more.

Thunder rolling over Kyiv tonight.
Beauty and power at once.

Live: Ukraine Telegram Highlights

🇺🇸🇺🇦 The United States wants to secure the right to use Ukrainian military technologies as part of the Drone Deal program, Bloomberg reports citing sources.
The relevant document is currently awaiting approval. Washington is interested because it could allow the U.S. to reproduce Ukrainian defense technologies domestically.
The technologies in question reportedly include AI-based targeting systems, GPS-independent navigation, jam-resistant communication channels, and drone combat tactics developed and used by Ukraine.
A source told Bloomberg that the U.S. wants to personally test Ukrainian developments, including drones and electronic warfare systems.
▪️The Drone Deal is a program focused on the joint development and production of drones, missiles, electronic warfare systems, and other defense technologies.

Ukraine’s Armed Forces are planning to introduce short-term contracts for people who were discharged for health reasons but want to return to service, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
In an interview with Militarnyi, Syrskyi said the contracts would provide for minimum service terms of 6–9 months.
For currently serving personnel, the new contract term would be 10 months, while new recruits would continue to sign standard contracts for 2–3 years or longer.
The commander-in-chief also said the Armed Forces plan to create a three-shift rotation system, allowing units to rotate every two months. Military command would monitor the process in brigades on a monthly basis.
Syrskyi also confirmed a potential threat from Belarus and said the active front line currently stretches about 1,200 kilometers. At the same time, Ukrainian units have increasingly shifted toward counterattacks and offensive operations. According to him, Russia’s overall losses are currently around 3.5 times higher than Ukraine’s.

🇺🇸🇨🇳 U.S. President Donald Trump has denied reports that Chinese leader Xi Jinping told him Putin may regret launching the war against Ukraine.
“Xi never said that,” Trump told reporters while commenting on a Financial Times article that cited sources familiar with the talks, Bloomberg reported.
China’s Foreign Ministry also denied the Financial Times report. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the article “contradicts the facts and is pure fabrication.”

Russian forces carried out overnight and morning attacks on the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Sumy regions, causing deaths and injuries. Here is what is known so far:
🔴Dnipropetrovsk region. Overnight, Russian troops struck Dnipro, killing two people and injuring six others. Fires broke out, and warehouse facilities were damaged.
🔴Sumy region. In Konotop, at least six people were injured in drone strikes. Fires erupted and residential buildings were damaged.
🔴Zaporizhzhia region. Early in the morning, Russian forces struck Vilniansk. Four people were injured, including two children. Houses and vehicles were damaged.

Fgs, the UK lifting sanctions on Russian oil at sea too :/

Disgusting:

I haven't got time to dig into this ATM but it does look like to some extent the UK Gov announcement was an almost complete stuff up and all is not as it initially appeared in the media.

There's certainly been some back pedaling in Westminster this PM, the UK Trade Minister has apologised for the mess and the Ukranian government has apparently stepped slightly back from the outrage bus, at least for now

It might be worth waiting a few hours for the dust to settle and then trying to work out exactly what has gone on.

They are waivers on new sanctions but very poorly communicated

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-waters-down-russian-oil-sanctions-amid-jet-fuel-crisis-brought-on-by-strait-of-hormuz-closure-13546009