Ukraine may be preparing for counteroffensive near Kherson, thinktank suggests; remarks by Chinese ambassador to France spark anger in Baltic and Ukraine
Ukraine’s military has set up positions on the eastern side of the Dnipro River near Kherson city, the Institute for the Study of War cites Russian military bloggers as saying. Infiltrating the area could be a first step towards trying to dislodge Russians from positions they are using to shell and shoot at Kherson.
China’s ambassador to France has sparked anger in eastern Europe and Ukraine while drawing a rebuke from Paris and the EU after questioning the sovereignty of post-Soviet countries. Ambassador Lu Shaye suggested countries that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union “don’t have effective status under international law because there is not an international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations”.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, Moscow would respond by terminating the Black Sea grain deal that enables vital exports of grain from Ukraine. Russia has strongly signalled that it will not allow the deal to continue beyond 18 May.
Europe’s military spending grew at a record pace in 2022, reaching a level unseen since the cold war following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global security researchers said. The rise in Europe helped global military expenditures reach an eighth straight record at $2.24tn, or 2.2% of the world’s gross domestic product, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said Moscow “will not forgive” Washington for denying US visas to Russian journalists who were meant to accompany him on a visit to UN headquarters. “We won’t forget, we will not forgive this,” he said. Russia took up the presidency of the 15-member security council in April.
Russia is advising citizens to avoid travel to Canada. Russia cited what it called numerous cases of discrimination against its citizens, including physical violence, its foreign ministry said.
Anti-Kremlin protesters staged a rally in Paris on Sunday, urging the EU to impose sanctions on the socialite wife of the Russian deputy defence minister, who they accuse of bypassing sanctions. The protesters said deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov had divorced his wife Svetlana Maniovich last year in order to enable her to live a luxury lifestyle in France and evade sanctions.
Russia is appealing for “real men” in a new military recruitment drive. Russia’s defence ministry has launched a major drive for volunteer recruits, pitching to their masculine pride amid a limited pool of fighting-age men in Russia, the UK Ministry of Defence says.
Russia’s defence ministry claims it has captured another three districts in the western part of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Troops who have continued into the heavily contested city are thought to be part of the Wagner group of mercenaries.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
