Paramilitary units attack Russian military installations in Belgorod. The local governor reacts. The news ticker on the Ukraine war.
- Sabotage attacks in Belgorod: groups from Ukraine involved in attacks in Russia
- After successes in Bakhmut: Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner troupe weakened
- All the news from the Ukraine war in our news ticker. Some of the information comes from the warring parties in Russia or Ukraine. They often cannot be independently verified.
Update from May 23, 17:25 p.m.: Kiev denies Ukrainian involvement in the fighting in the Russian region of Belgorod. "There are Russians who are on the side of light and are there to take care of the darkness that exists in Russia," Oleksiy Danilov, head of the National Security Council of Ukraine, told CNN.
The fighters are Russians and therefore have a right to be in the Russian region. The issue is an internal matter of Russia, he stressed. Therefore, either Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin or other Russian statesmen or military officers would have to comment on the incidents.
Ukraine war: Kremlin admits "deep concern" over fighting in Belgorod
Update from May 23, 15:40 p.m.: Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that the battles with partisans in the Kremlin "certainly give cause for deep concern." In the government of Vladimir Putin, however, one feels vindicated by the fighting. "Efforts will continue, as well as the special military operation aimed at preventing such infiltrations in the future," the Kremlin spokesman said.
Russia allegedly pushes aggressors back from Belgorod
Update from May 23, 14:31 p.m.: The Russian army says it has pushed back and "eliminated" the fighters who have entered the Belgorod border region. The nationalist groups were "stopped and destroyed" in an "anti-terrorist operation" with air strikes and artillery fire, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. Initially, the information could not be independently verified.
An anti-terrorist operation is underway in the Belgorod region of Russia. © IMAGO/Russian Defence Ministry
"Sabotage group" from Ukraine involved in attack in Belgorod
Update from May 23, 12:00 p.m.: After the penetration of a "sabotage group" from Ukraine, there have been ongoing artillery and mortar attacks in the Russian border region of Belgorod, according to Russian sources. This was announced by the governor of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, on Tuesday (23 May). He published a list of Monday's attacks, adding: "Ukrainian forces have launched attacks on the Belgorod region."
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Russia's morale could collapse after counteroffensive
Update from May 23, 10:15 a.m.: Richard Dannatt, former Chief of the General Staff of the British Armed Forces, said on SkyNews that in his opinion there is a good chance that Russian morale in the army could collapse if a Ukrainian counteroffensive starts with gains. Commenting on Ukraine's possible counteroffensive, Dannat said:
"But that doesn't mean that the war will end in a few days or weeks. D-Day on June 6, 1944 was the beginning of the Normandy campaign, but it continued for quite a while." "But I think we're going to see some crucial blows that could potentially be spectacularly successful. Because you have to imagine the situation from the point of view of the Russian soldiers. Most of them don't want to be there. They are poorly trained, poorly equipped, poorly dressed and poorly led. Frankly, their morale may collapse, and this is what Ukrainians really need to achieve. Because as soon as a soldier, as soon as an army thinks it has been defeated, it is defeated."
Battles for Belgorod continue
Update from May 23, 08:45 a.m.: "The cleansing of the territory by the Ministry of Defense and other security structures continues," Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram on Tuesday. Although there are no fatalities among the civilians, according to previous findings, it is too early for the return of the inhabitants, he explained.
On Monday, fighting broke out in Graiworon county, on the border with Ukraine. According to Gladkov, an "espionage and sabotage squad" had entered the area. Two volunteer corps consisting of Russian citizens fighting on the side of Kiev in the war in Ukraine claimed responsibility for the attack. The goal is to create a demilitarized zone along the border to prevent constant shelling of Ukrainian territory, they said. Kiev denied any involvement in the action. The incident in Belgorod is the most serious attack on Russian territory to date.
Update from May 23, 08:00 a.m.: Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Russian city of Belgorod, has urged the citizens of Grayvoron not to return yet. "This doesn't work yet," he wrote on his Telegram channel, according to the British Guardian. He reported that there were no civilian casualties in the attack. Currently, "all necessary measures on the part of law enforcement agencies" are being carried out. "We are waiting for the completion of the anti-terrorist operation announced yesterday," he wrote.
U.S. think tank believes Russia was caught off guard by attacks in Belgorod
Update from May 23, 7:00 a.m.: After reports of fighting in Russia's Belgorod Oblast, "panic, factionalism and incoherence" reigned in the Russian information space, according to the Institute for the Study of War in its latest report, according to kyivindependent. After Russia announced an "anti-terrorist operation" in the Belgorod region, Russian military bloggers speculated about the purpose of the attacks, which were allegedly carried out by the Free Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps.
The lack of a unified response, according to the Washington-based think tank, "primarily shows that the attack took the Russian side by surprise."
EU discusses further arms deliveries
Update from May 23, 5:30 a.m.: European Union defence ministers will meet in Brussels to discuss further support for Ukraine (from 11.00 a.m.). This is about the promise of the Europeans to supply Ukraine with one million artillery shells. The government in Kiev urgently needs the ammunition to defend itself against Russia. According to diplomats, however, delivery schedules have stalled.
Situation in Belgorod border region tense
Update from May 22, 23:31 p.m.: The situation in the Russian Ukraine border region of Belgorod remains "extremely tense". So the Russian regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov in a video address in the evening, quoted by CNN. Russia speaks of a sabotage group that came to Russia from Ukraine. The region is now responding with house searches "in the border villages" and the city of Graivoron - to protect the Russian population, according to the Russian side. The "terror alert" was imposed, which gives special rights to state institutions. The governor made it clear that in the meantime most of the population had left the area. Videos on social media showed long traffic jams from the region.
Meanwhile, the Legion "Freedom for Russia", which is committed to the attacks on Russian soil and opposes Putin, shared a video in the evening: it shows the flag of the so-called Free Russia hovering over Moscow State University. In the clip, the group thanks its supporters in Russia: "Thank you to those who support us and are waiting for us!" In other videos, the flag also seems to be flying in other parts of Moscow. The flags are carried into the sky by balloons. The videos cannot be independently verified.
According to Ukraine, the fighters in Belgorod are Russian nationals.
Update from May 22, 22:40 p.m.: Yevgeny Prigozhin has once again announced the withdrawal of his Wagner mercenaries from Bakhmut. However, he apparently does not trust the Russian army to defend the largely occupied Donbass city.
"If the Ministry of Defense's own armed forces are not enough, we have thousands of generals. We just need to assemble a battalion of generals, give them all the weapons, and everything will be fine," Prigozhin reportedly said, according to Reuters.
Attacks in Belgorod region: "Legion Freedom for Russia" claims responsibility
Update from May 22, 21:30 p.m.: The "Freedom for Russia Legion" has claimed responsibility for carrying out the attacks in the Belgorod region. The alleged partisan fighters published a video on Telegram.
In it, a heavily armed man declares: "We are not your enemies. Unlike Putin's zombies, we do not touch the civilian population and do not use it for our own purposes. Freedom is near!" He continued: "We want our children to grow up in peace and freedom. That they can travel, study and just be happy in a free country. But this has no place in today's Putin's Russia!"
Details of the partisan attack in Belgorod: Allegedly attacked three localities
Update from May 22, 20:05 p.m.: New details on the partisan attack in Belgorod: According to information from Russia, a total of three villages were attacked. Six people were injured. The Russian air defense managed to shoot down another combat drone.
Update from May 22, 18:51 p.m.: The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, has taken drastic steps because of attacks in his region. "As of today, the regime of an anti-terrorist operation has been introduced," the governor wrote on Telegram. The "special measures" that Gladkov describes are similar to declaring a state of emergency. For example, public life will be temporarily restricted and identity papers will be more strictly controlled.
Ukraine warns Putin's troops
Updatefrom May 22, 16:55 p.m.: Ukrainian intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov has addressed Russian soldiers in Ukraine with a warning, announcing that the situation on the battlefield for Putin's troops would soon worsen. The 37-year-old said this in a video on Monday, referring to the social media project "I want to live", which has been helping Russian soldiers desert for several months.
Budanov's announcement may indicate that the long-announced counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army is gradually gaining momentum. Budanov pointed out that in over a year of war, Russia had not achieved any of its initial goals and that the soldiers now had to choose: "die or save your life".
Paramilitary units from Russia claim responsibility for Belgorod attacks
Updatefrom May 22, 15:35 p.m.: After explosions in southwestern Russia, contradictory reports are circulating in Russian, Ukrainian and international media. As reported by the Ukrainian news site Ukrainska Pravda, citing several Telegram channels, the Russian resistance groups "Russian Volunteer Corps" and the "Legion Freedom for Russia" have claimed responsibility for carrying out the attacks in Belgorod. The anti-Kremlin groups have also called on the population not to resist. The Kremlin reacted immediately. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the security services told Putin "about an attempt by Ukrainian saboteurs to enter the Belgorod region."
Russia's state-run Tass news agency, on the other hand, also reports "Ukrainian saboteurs" who invaded Russian territory to distract from the ignominy of Ukrainians after the loss of the city of Bakhmut, as reported by the British Guardian. According to international media reports, the Ukrainian secret service has also commented on the incident and emphasized that Russian paramilitary groups are suspected of being the masterminds. According to unconfirmed reports, there were deaths on both sides in the fighting.
Reports in Ukraine war: Russian troops "massively weakened"
Update from May 22, 14:35 p.m.: Contrary to claims from the Russian side that the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is over, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reports ongoing fighting in Bakhmut, as well as Russian reinforcements and equipment supplies arriving in the city. This was reported by the online medium Kyiv Independent on Monday.
According to Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, the offensive potential of Russian troops has been "massively weakened", many Russian fighters have been injured or fallen, and fighting between Ukrainian troops and aggressors is still taking place on the outskirts of Bakhmut. However, according to consistent reports, Ukrainian defense forces have largely withdrawn from the city. Bakhmut is said to have been virtually razed to the ground.
Russia is apparently planning a new elite unit
Update from May 22, 10:30 a.m.: According to British intelligence, Russia wants tocreate a new elite unit in its air forces for use in Ukraine. That's according to the Ministry of Defense's daily intelligence report on the war in Ukraine from the Ministry of Defense in London on Monday (May 22, 2023).
Experts: Battle for Bakhmut weakens Wagner troops
Update from May 22, 9:10 a.m.: According to Western experts, the Russian private army Wagner of businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has been weakened by the fighting for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The mercenaries are hardly able to carry out new attacks outside the city due to the wear and tear, said the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in Washington.
At the same time, military analysts assumed that Bakhmut is largely controlled by Russian troops. Ukrainian forces, on the other hand, counterattacked in the north and south of Bakhmut and controlled communication routes around the city.
Situation in Bakhmut remains unclear
Update from May 21, 22:45 p.m.: The focus of the Ukraine war also rested on Bakhmut over the weekend - but it is still unclear whether Russia had actually completely taken the embattled city. The spokesman for Ukrainian Army Group East, Serhiy Cherevatyi, spoke in the evening on Ukrainian state television of his own "advances" near the city. The 3rd Assault Brigade of the Ukrainians, deployed near Bakhmut, declared that it had advanced as much as 1700 meters on a sector of the front of 700 meters. To do this, she later posted on Facebook a video of the capture of Russian soldiers.
Biden cites huge figure for Russia's losses in Bakhmut: "It's hard to compensate"
Update from May 21, 17:30 p.m.: Speculation about the situation in embattled Bakhmut continues to flourish – US President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has drawn attention to Russia's losses in the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city. "The truth is that Russia has suffered more than 100,000 casualties in Bakhmut," Biden said at a press conference at the G7 summit in Hiroshima. "This is difficult to compensate," he stressed. The White House had previously mentioned this figure, according to a report by Deutsche Welle.
Update from May 21, 16:47 p.m.: The EU has apparently identified a leak in the sanctions effort against Russia - in China. According to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, several companies registered there are involved in circumventing sanctions against Russia. There is "clear evidence" that "about eight companies" are shipping sanctioned goods from the European Union directly to Russia via third countries, she told ZDF on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima.
Ukraine news: Russia is struggling with heavy losses
First reported on 21 May: Moscow/Kyiv - Russia continues to struggle with heavy losses in the Ukraine war. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, about 24 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in combat within 670 hours. This brings the total number of troops Russia is said to have lost in the Ukraine war so far to 203,160. The information cannot be independently verified.
In addition, the Ukrainian Air Force says it shot down four Shahed-136/131 drones on Sunday night. The Air Force stated that Russian forces used the drones "in an easterly direction."
Ukraine news: Bakhmut captured by Russia - Zelensky causes confusion
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky clarified ambiguous, ambiguous statements by him about the military situation in Bakhmut. The city is not completely under Russian control, he said after the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan: "Bakhmut has not been occupied by Russia today." Earlier, Zelensky caused confusion with a statement about a possible loss of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The General Staff in Kiev wrote in its morning situation report: "The battle for the city of Bakhmut continues."
The day before, first the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and later the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the capture of Bakhmut. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the Wagner units and the army, the Russian news agency Tass quoted a statement from the Kremlin.
According to the chairman of the defense committee of the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the possible fall of Bakhmut shows the importance of further support for Ukraine. The FDP politician told the Rheinische Post that Germany had recently put together a package of 2.7 billion euros for Ukraine. "The situation in Bakhmut shows how important this is," said the FDP defense expert. "Ukraine will continue to defend itself."
Ukraine news: Biden pledges further military aid to Kyiv
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has announced another package of military equipment for Ukraine. Biden held out the prospect of the package on Sunday at a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan. According to the White House, the aid has a volume of about 375 million US dollars (about 346 million euros). (with agency material)