Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 458

By William On May 27, 2023

As the war enters its 458th day, we review key developments.

Here is the state of affairs on Friday, May 27, 2023.

To fight

Ukraine said it shot down 10 missiles and more than 20 drones in a nighttime attack on the capital Kyiv, the city of Dnipro and the country’s eastern regions. The Ukrainian Air Force said a total of 17 missiles and 31 drones had been launched during the night attack.
Two people were killed and 23 injured when a Russian missile hit a health clinic in the city of Dnipro, the regional governor said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as a crime against humanity.
Russia’s defense ministry said it carried out an overnight attack on Ukrainian ammunition depots, the state news agency RIA reported.
Five districts in Russia’s Belgorod region were hit by drone, artillery and mortar fire in the past 24 hours, with the village of Kozinka hit 132 times, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said, adding that the town of Belgorod was attacked 14 times.

Two drones damaged a residential and office building in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, east of Crimea.
Ukraine’s prosecutor’s office said at least 483 children have been killed and nearly 1,000 injured since Russia’s invasion last year. Nearly 1,500 Ukrainian children have been orphaned, according to Ukraine’s National Social Service.
According to the United Nations Children’s Organization, UNICEF, an estimated 1.5 million Ukrainian children are at risk of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems, with potentially lasting consequences.
The Russian State Department summoned senior US diplomats after comments by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who the ministry accused of “effectively authorizing attacks” on Crimea. Sullivan was asked on Sunday whether Ukraine should have weapons capable of reaching Russian targets in Crimea. He replied: “We have not placed any restrictions on Ukraine from attacking its territory within its internationally recognized borders.”

The European Union condemned an agreement to allow the deployment of Russian nuclear warheads in Belarus. “This is a move that will lead to further extremely dangerous escalation,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
The German army has ordered 18 new Leopard 2 tanks to replace vehicles sent to Ukraine earlier this year.
Germany will move its Patriot missile defense system, based in Slovakia, to Lithuania to protect the NATO summit in Vilnius scheduled for July, the country’s defense ministry said.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the Netherlands was “seriously considering” sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, but has not yet made a final decision.

(Al Jazeera)

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that if the US fails to sufficiently support Ukraine in its defense against Russia, it would send a signal to China that it could invade Taiwan. “We can’t hold back from helping Ukraine because if we fail here, Taiwan will go there,” Graham told reporters.
In consultation with other members of the Group of Seven (G7) and sanctions related to the invasion of Ukraine, Japan will freeze the assets of 78 groups and 17 individuals, including military officers in Russia, and restrict exports to 80 Russian entities, such as to military-affiliated entities. research laboratories.
Russia expressed a positive attitude towards Pope Francis’ peace initiative in Ukraine, but stressed that there are no immediate plans for a Vatican visit to Moscow.
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former US President Donald Trump discussed Ukraine and “the vital importance of the Ukrainian victory,” Johnson’s spokesman said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed gratitude for China’s “balanced position” and willingness to play a positive role in the conflict in Ukraine.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and reiterated his country’s willingness to talk to both sides in the conflict. Lula also thanked Putin for inviting him to the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg but not being able to attend.

Former Russian president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev warned that the West is underestimating the risk of nuclear war, saying peace negotiations were “impossible” as long as Zelenskyy remained in power. “The Anglo-Saxons don’t fully realize this and don’t think it will come to that,” he said. “It will under certain conditions.”
Jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has appealed a Russian court decision to extend his pre-trial detention by three months, court records showed. Gershkovich was arrested in March on espionage charges after Russian security officials accused him of collecting military secrets.

A deal allowing the safe export of grain and fertilizer from Ukraine’s wartime Black Sea ports is not yet fully operational, the UN said, stalling before Russia decided to extend it last week.