Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now
[1/3]Burnt cars are pictured through the glass of a damaged car in Saltivka neighbourhood, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, May 10, 2022. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
May 15 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian counteroffensive was underway near the Russian-held town of Izium, but its military said Russian forces were advancing elsewhere in the key Donbas region, Ukraine said. read more
FIGHTING, CIVILIANS
* British military intelligence said Russia's offensive in the Donbas "has lost momentum and fallen significantly behind schedule", with a dramatic acceleration unlikely over the next 30 days. read more
* Russia, rejecting Ukraine's claim to have set alight a modern navy logistics ship in the Black Sea, showed photos of what it said was the Vsevolod Bobrov with no signs of damage. read more
* Refugees from bombed-out Mariupol spoke of devastation as they reached Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia in a large convoy of cars and vans after waiting days for Russian troops to let them leave. read more
* Four missile strikes hit military infrastructure in the Yavoriv area of western Ukraine, near to the Polish border, early on Sunday, Lviv regional governor said.
* Russia's defence ministry said its forces had hit Ukrainian command posts, ammunition depots and other military equipment in several regions, including the Donbas, killing at least 100 Ukrainian "nationalists".
DIPLOMACY
* Russian neighbour Finland will apply for NATO membership, President Sauli Niinisto said, in a major policy shift prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. read more
* Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he met U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Berlin on Sunday and that "more weapons and other aid is on the way to Ukraine". read more
* G7 foreign ministers vowed to reinforce Russia's economic and political isolation, continue supplying weapons to Ukraine and work to ease global food shortages stemming from the war. read more
* Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said the country's diplomats in Washington were being threatened with violence, Tass reported. read more
* Sweden's ruling Social Democrats were poised to come out in favour joining NATO, paving the way for an application soon after and abandoning decades of military non-alignment. read more
QUOTE
"We had a victory: today in Eurovision, but soon we will have a victory in Ukraine-Russian war," Tetyana, a military medic, said in a Kyiv basement after Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra won the popular song contest. read more
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Compiled by William Mallard and Raissa Kasolowsky
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
