Russia opens terrorism investigation into Belgorod incidentRussia has opened a terrorism investigation over the events in Belgorod.
In a statement, authorities said:
The investigative committee of Russia initiated a criminal case on the grounds of crimes under articles 205, 317, 105, 167, 222, 222.1 of the criminal code of the Russian Federation (terrorist act, encroachment on the life of law enforcement officers, attempted murder, intentional destruction or damage to property, illegal circulation of weapons and explosives).
According to the investigation, on 22 May 2023, representatives of the Ukrainian armed formations attacked the Graivoronsky district of the Belgorod region. Residential and administrative buildings, civilian infrastructure facilities were subjected to mortar and artillery shelling. Several civilians were injured as a result of these criminal acts.
Currently, investigative and operational measures are being carried out aimed at establishing the identity of the attackers and all the circumstances of the incident.
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Amy Hawkins
Amy Hawkins is the Guardian’s senior China correspondent:
Russia’s prime minister, on a visit to China, said that bilateral trade could reach $200bn (£160bn / €185bn) this year, up from $190bn last year. Already in the first three months of this year, trade between the two countries reached $53.8bn, a nearly 40% increase on the same period in 2022.
Mikhail Mishustin said that Russia would continue exporting energy to China and could increase agricultural exports. This month China’s customs authorities added Russia’s Vladivostok to its list of transit ports, effective from 1 June. That will be the first time that the Chinese have had access to Vladivostok since the territory was ceded from the Qing dynasty 163 years ago.
Orbán: relations between Hungary and Sweden must improve before Nato ratificationPolitical relations between Hungary and Sweden must improve before the Nordic state’s bid for Nato membership is approved, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán said at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday.
“The political relations between Hungary and Sweden are awfully wrong,” Reuters reports he said. “We don’t want to import conflicts into Nato.”
Hungary ratified Finland’s entry into the alliance in March, but delayed making a decision on Sweden’s bid.
At the time, one of Orbán’s advisers said “Some Hungarian MPs feel uncomfortable because they have seen how Swedish ministers have made a habit of questioning democracy in Hungary. They have repeatedly insulted Hungarian voters and politicians and thus the whole of Hungary.”
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has just posted a video clip of his visit to marines on the frontline today, revealing that the location was the Vuhledar-Maryinka defence line in the Donetsk region.
Here are some of the latest images to be sent to us from Ukraine over the news wires.
A Ukrainian soldier fires an RPG toward Russian positions at the frontline near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Photograph: LIBKOS/APUkraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy awards a Ukrainian marine in an unspecified location. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Ser/ReutersA view of the heavily damaged monastery in the village of Bohorodychne in Donetsk oblast. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesRussia opens terrorism investigation into Belgorod incidentRussia has opened a terrorism investigation over the events in Belgorod.
In a statement, authorities said:
The investigative committee of Russia initiated a criminal case on the grounds of crimes under articles 205, 317, 105, 167, 222, 222.1 of the criminal code of the Russian Federation (terrorist act, encroachment on the life of law enforcement officers, attempted murder, intentional destruction or damage to property, illegal circulation of weapons and explosives).
According to the investigation, on 22 May 2023, representatives of the Ukrainian armed formations attacked the Graivoronsky district of the Belgorod region. Residential and administrative buildings, civilian infrastructure facilities were subjected to mortar and artillery shelling. Several civilians were injured as a result of these criminal acts.
Currently, investigative and operational measures are being carried out aimed at establishing the identity of the attackers and all the circumstances of the incident.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, one of the occupied regions of the Donbas which the Russian Federation claims to have annexed, has reported that the city of Toretsk has been struck this morning. He wrote:
This morning, the Russians struck Toretsk – fortunately, without casualties. The school in which the point of invincibility is located, an extension to the temple and a high-rise building within a radius of 100 metres from the epicenter were damaged. According to preliminary information, the enemy used aerial bombs.
Сьогодні зранку росіяни завдали удару по Торецьку — на щастя, без постраждалих.
Пошкоджено школу, в якій розташовано Пункт незламності, прибудову до храму і багатоповерхівки в радіусі 100 метрів від епіцентру.
За попередньою інформацією, ворог застосував авіабомби.#StopRussia pic.twitter.com/zreEfch97y
— Павло Кириленко (@Pavlo_Kyrylenko) May 23, 2023The claims have not been independently verified.
23 May is celebrated as a national day for Ukrainian marines, and the president has posted some images of himself meeting service personnel on his social media channels. In a post, Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote:
Our defenders. Frontline. Today I am here to congratulate our warriors on the day of the Ukrainian marines. Glory to everyone who defends Ukraine!
An image from Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s Telegram channel showing him with frontline troops in Ukraine. Photograph: Zelenskiy/TelegramRichard Dannatt, former chief of the general staff of the British armed forces has been appearing on Sky News in the UK. He told viewers that he felt there was a good chance that Russian morale in the army could crack if a Ukrainian counteroffensive started with gains. He told viewers:
They shouldn’t launch it before they’re ready. Quite rightly, they’re integrating the weapons and the advice and the equipment and the training that the west has been giving them.
But I’m quite certain that at the moment of their choosing, and I think the time is getting quite close now, and at a place of their choosing, and that’s entirely up to them, I think they have the chance, if they can strike some decisive blows on the Russians, that they could have significant effect.
Now, that doesn’t mean to say the war is going to be over in a few days and weeks. D-day on 6 June 1944 was the start of the Normandy campaign, but it lasted for quite some time.
But I think we will see some decisive strikes, which could be potentially spectacularly successful. Because, think of it from the Russian soldiers point of view. Most of them don’t want to be there. They are poorly trained, poorly equipped, poorly clothed, poorly led. Frankly their morale could crack, and that’s what the Ukrainians really need to achieve. Because once a soldier, once an army thinks it’s beaten, frankly, it is beaten.
Germany is looking into options to support a coalition of countries that plan to train Ukrainian pilots in flying F-16 fighter jets, German defence minister Boris Pistorius said on Tuesday.
Reuters reports he added that any potential German contribution could be minor only, as Germany itself does not own any of the US-built jets.
Ukrainian forces still control the south-western edge of the city of Bakhmut and fighting in the city itself has decreased, deputy Ukrainian defence minister Hanna Maliar claimed on Tuesday.
Reuters reports she wrote on the Telegram messaging app that Kyiv’s forces had made some progress “on the flanks to the north and south of Bakhmut” and that Russian forces, which say they have taken the city itself, were continuing to clear areas they control.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that there has been an interruption in power supplies in Kherson as a result of Russian military action. Citing the head of the city region, Roman Mrochko, it writes:
In Kherson, electricity supply was temporarily stopped in Korabel microdistrict. Energy workers are repairing the reserve line damaged by the shelling of the Russian troops. Water supply interruptions are possible. After the completion of the works, electricity will be supplied stably.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s minister of defence, has been speaking to Times Radio in the UK, and has said Ukraine is confident that the incident in Belgorod will not be the last time insurrection is seen within Russian borders. He told listeners:
It is quite surprising to us that it has taken so long for Russian insurgents and Russian partisans to become more active in terms of trying to get rid of the terrorist regime which is inflicting death and destruction on Ukraine, which is isolating Russia internationally. Over 200,000 Russian soldiers have been killed. Apparently the breaking point has been reached.
Why is it happening now? Because Ukrainian armed forces have exposed that Russia is a paper tiger. We have exposed that Russia can and should be beaten on the battlefield. This is what we are doing in Ukraine.
And we are confident that this has encouraged Russian partisans and those Russian citizens who hope to change something, and don’t want to be part of this crime of aggression.
Russians who don’t want to be associated with this terrorism. Who don’t want their children to, you know, live with this eternal shame and disgrace because of what a group of people in the Kremlin are doing to Ukraine and the world.
Sak distanced Ukraine from direct involvement with the partisans, but said they shared similar aims:
I think the objective of those activities has been articulated yesterday by the people who have committed them. They have said they want to demilitarise that part of Russia. They want the war to go away from their territory.
And this is in line actually with our objectives. Because we believe that for Ukraine to be safe and for Europe to be safe, after we defeat Russia on the battlefield we will need to all establish a demilitarised zone of some form in parts of Russia.
Ukraine’s general staff has issued its situation update, claiming that Russia struck three regions of Ukraine yesterday with missiles. It writes:
Russia carried out 20 missile strikes against Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv oblasts, using cruise missiles, Iskander-M ballistic missiles, and S-300 anti-aircraft missiles over the past day.
Furthermore, Russia launched 48 airstrikes using Shahed drones, and targeted both civilian and military targets with up to 90 strikes using multiple-launch rocket systems
Shellings resulted in a yet unspecified number of injuries among civilians, as well as damages to residential buildings, kindergartens, and other civilian infrastructure.
There were over 30 combat engagements with the Russian military in the directions of Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Marinka.
Ukraine’s defences downed four cruise missiles Kh-101/Kh-555, one Mi-24 attack helicopter, 25 Shahed drones, and nine reconnaissance drones.