Sunday, May 26

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Firefighters work at hardware superstore ‘Epicenter’ after a Russian aerial attack on May 25, 2024 in Kharkiv. The bombing killed at least 12 people and injured 43, according to city authorities. (Denys Klymenko/Gwara Media/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Russia launches overnight attacks across Ukraine. Russian forces launched a large-scale aerial attack against Ukraine the night of May 26, causing explosions in multiple regions and injuring at least three people.

Kuleba calls for more Patriots, support for striking military targets in Russia after ‘barbaric’ attack on Kharkiv. After a Russian strike that killed 12 and injured at least 40, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on Ukraine’s partners to “provide Ukraine with additional air defense and support for Ukrainian strikes on military targets in Russia” in a post on X on May 25.

Zelensky: Russian losses during Kharkiv offensive 8 times higher than Ukraine’s. Speaking to the Kazakh outlet Vlast, Zelensky said the figure shows Russian dictator Vladimir Putin “has absolutely no regard for human life.”

Stoltenberg joins growing calls to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s ability to use Western weapons to strike Russia. “The time has come for allies to consider whether they should lift some of the restrictions they have put on the use of weapons they have donated to Ukraine,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Your contribution helps keep the Kyiv Independent going. Become a member today.

Media: Western intelligence sees ‘gloomy’ outlook for Ukraine, ‘major’ losses of territory in 2024. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) newspaper, a report seen by German MPs says Ukraine will not be able to regain the initiative this year and is likely to lose more land than it already has since January.

Ukraine opens investigation into improper organization of defenses in Kharkiv Oblast. According to the court document, investigators said the 125th Brigade and its subordinate units “did not properly organize the defense of positions on the border of Kharkiv Oblast” due to a “careless attitude to military service.”

Musk: SpaceX spending ‘significant resources combating Russian jamming’ of Starlink in Ukraine. After the New York Times reported that Russia has been increasingly disrupting Ukraine’s Starlink service, Elon Musk said that SpaceX is spending “significant resources combating Russian jamming efforts,” in a May 24 post on X.

Justice Minister: Nearly 350 prisoners have been released to join army after new conscription law. Nearly 350 prisoners have been released from detention to serve in the military after a new conscription law took effect, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska told the New York Times in an interview on May 24.

Ukraine claims Russian Su-25 jet downed in Donetsk Oblast. This is the sixth Russian Su-25 jet that Ukraine has claimed shot down this month.

Read our exclusives

As Russian losses in Ukraine hit 500,000, Putin buries future demographic risks at home

Russia’s aggression with little regard for the lives of its own soldiers is likely to continue, but behind the figure lies a potential demographic and economic time bomb that Russian President Vladimir Putin may not be able to ignore. so easily.

Image: Lisa Kukharska/The Kyiv Independent

Aiming to mobilize thousands of new troops, Ukraine is digitalizing its military

The Defense Ministry also recently launched an online appointment service for enlistment offices and announced that more digital instruments for the armed forces and potential conscripts were in the making.

Photo: Anastasiia Smolienko/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Human cost of war

At least 12 killed, 43 injured in Russian strike on Kharkiv hypermarket. According to a post on social media from President Volodymyr Zelensky, more than 200 people may have been inside the hypermarket at the time of the attack.

At least 25 injured in second Kharkiv attack, hours after deadly strike. Mere hours after a deadly strike on a hypermarket in Kharkiv, another strike on the city’s center injured at least 25.

International response

G7 announces ‘progress’ on Russian frozen assets but work still to be done. Ukraine’s Western partners and other allies froze around $300 billion in Russian assets at the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Roughly two-thirds are held in the Belgium-based financial services company Euroclear.

FT: Hungary holding up EU’s use of frozen Russian assets for Ukrainian defense. Hungary is holding up legislation that would allow the European Union to send billions of dollars in profits from frozen Russian assets for Ukrainian aid, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Polish FM says US will strike Russian troops in Ukraine if Russia uses nuclear weapons. “The Americans have told the Russians that if you explode a nuke, even if it doesn’t kill anybody, we will hit all your targets (positions) in Ukraine with conventional weapons, we’ll destroy all of them,” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told the Guardian.

Baltics, Poland, other countries agree to create ‘drone wall.’ “This is a completely new thing —a drone border from Norway to Poland, the purpose of which would be to protect our border with the help of drones and other technologies,” said Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite.

Borrell calls on Europe to increase air defense support in wake of Kharkiv attack. “These systematic Russian crimes against civilians and civilian infrastructure stress again the need for Europe to urgently ramp up support for air defense.”

In other news

NBC: Intelligence officials say Russia, North Korea planning to disrupt US elections. “We have no doubt that North Korea will be provocative this year. It’s just a matter of how escalatory it is,” a U.S. intelligence official told the news outlet.

US State Department ‘deeply concerned’ over Chinese military drills near Taiwan. “Using a normal, routine, and democratic transition as an excuse for military provocations risks escalation and erodes longstanding norms,” U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Want to get the news faster? Follow our website: kyivindependent.com.

Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Chris York, Oleg Sukhov, Nate Ostiller, Olga Rudenko, Lili Bivings, Andrea Januta, and Abbey Fenbert.

If you’re enjoying this newsletter, consider joining our membership program. Start supporting independent journalism today.