Monday, May 20

Russia’s war against Ukraine

The site of the attack on Mala Danylivka on May 16 (Telegram/Oleh Syniehubov)

Iranian president presumed dead after ‘no survivors’ found at crash site. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister are presumed dead after rescuers found “no survivors” at the site of the crashed helicopter that went down over a mountainous area in Iran on May 19, Iranian state media reported.

Zelensky: Ukraine secures stronger positions in Kharkiv Oblast amid Russia’s offensive. Zelensky also said that Ukraine successfully repels Russian assaults in Donetsk Oblast, including the area near the city of Chasiv Yar, which became one of the main strategic targets.

Media: SBU drones strike airbase, oil refinery in Russia. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in conjunction with the country’s new Unmanned Systems Forces, launched a drone attack on Russia’s Kushchevskaya military airbase and Slavyansk oil refinery plant overnight, Ukrainska Pravda reported on May 19.

Energy workers targeted by Russian Lancet drone during repair in Donetsk Oblast; no casualties reported. The attack comes as Russia continues to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with various types of weapons across the country.

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Ukraine’s Navy says it destroyed Russian sea minesweeper Kovrovets overnight. The report refutes Moscow’s earlier claims of having repelled all strikes on occupied Crimea overnight.

Air Force: All 37 Russian attack drones targeting Ukraine overnight shot down. Russian forces targeted eight regions across Ukraine overnight, Kyiv, Odesa, and Vinnytsia oblasts, according to the Air Force’s report.

Moscow claims it repelled Kyiv’s ‘attempts’ to strike occupied Crimea, bordering Russian regions. Moscow claims that it had shot down nine U.S.-provided long-range ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) missiles, and a drone over Crimea.

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Ukraine war latest: Russian ‘double-tap’ strike north of Kharkiv kills 6, including pregnant woman

Russian troops attacked a recreation center in a northern suburb of Kharkiv at around 11 a.m. local time, killing six civilians, including a pregnant woman, and wounding 27, the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office said on May 19.

Photo: Ivan Samoilov/Gwara Media/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian attacks against Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast kill 1, injure 3. Russian forces attacked Vovchansk at around 3:30 a.m. local time, killing a 63-year-old man. The other three men were injured due to the shelling.

Russian strikes near Kupiansk kill 5, injure 9. Five people were killed and nine injured in Russian strikes on villages in the Kupiansk district of Kharkiv Oblast, local authorities reported on May 19.

Russian attacks in Kherson Oblast injure 6. At least six people were injured in Ukraine’s Kherson Oblast after a series of Russian attacks on May 19, the Kherson Regional Military Administration said.

UPDATED: Russian ‘double-tap’ strike north of Kharkiv kills 6, including pregnant woman. “(Russian troops) attacked the area where local residents were resting” in Mala Danylivka, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

General Staff: Russia has lost 492,290 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,210 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

International response

UK defense secretary calls Germany to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles. U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps on May 19 urged Berlin and other allies to send long-range missiles to Ukraine and to allow Kyiv to hit facilities in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Ukraine to receive 100 missiles from UK in May, UK defense secretary says. London also sent Kyiv more than 30 pallets of parts, including anti-mine equipment, over a million rounds of small arms ammunition, 20 Viking armored amphibious vehicles, and over 4,000 items of military clothing.

West’s stance on Ukraine war ‘completely nonsensical,’ says UK defense secretary. The West’s current stance on the war in Ukraine and delays in military aid are “completely nonsensical,” the U.K’s defense secretary said on May 19.

Next Ramstein summit to be held on May 20. The next Ramstein-format summit of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) will occur on May 20.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Olga Rudenko, Asami Terajima, Kateryna Denisova, Chris York, Toma Istomina, Kateryna Hodunova, Oleksiy Sorokin, and Rachel Amran.

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