Daily Wrap Up May 15-16, 2023
Under the cut:
The UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch leader Mark Rutte have agreed to build an “international coalition” to help procure F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine, the British government has announced.
Ukrainian forces have taken back about 20 square km (7.5 square miles) of territory from Russian forces around the eastern city of Bakhmut in recent days, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on Tuesday.
The renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative is critical to limit "future shock" to the security of global food supplies, the International Rescue Committee said in a statement on Tuesday. "The looming expiration of the Black Sea grain deal risks further food market instability at a time of record food insecurity," the humanitarian organization said. "With 349 million people across 79 countries estimated to experience acute food insecurity this year, the Black Sea grain deal must be extended."
Ukraine said on Tuesday it had shot down six Russian Kinzhal missiles in a single night, thwarting a weapon Moscow has touted as a next-generation hypersonic missile that was all but unstoppable.
Drone attacks were reported in Russia's Kursk and Bryansk oblasts over the past 24 hours, according to local officials and independent media.
The UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch leader Mark Rutte have agreed to build an “international coalition” to help procure F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine, the British government has announced.
A Downing Street spokesperson said Sunak and Rutte “would work to build an international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F-16 jets”.
“The prime minister reiterated his belief that Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato and the leaders agreed on the importance of allies providing long-term security assistance to Ukraine to guarantee they can deter against future attacks.
“The leaders agreed to continue working together both bilaterally and through forums such as the European Political Community to tackle the scourge of people trafficking on our continent.”
The statement on Tuesday came a day after Ukraine’s president hinted that Kyiv could soon receive F-16 fighter jets, saying he was hopeful of “very important” decisions on the subject with the help of the UK.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy flew in by helicopter for a one-to-one unnanounced meeting with Sunak on Monday at Chequers, the prime minister’s country retreat.
Standing next to Sunak after the meeting, Zelenskiy said they had discussed fighter planes “because we can’t control the sky”, and was positive about persuading the US and other western nations to supply them.
“We spoke about it and I see that in the closest time you will hear some, I think, very important decisions, but we have to work a little bit more on it,” he said.
At the meeting, Britain also promised to supply “hundreds of attack drones”.
The UK said in February that it would begin training Ukrainian pilots in standard Nato techniques, and Downing Street repeated that on Monday, saying the plan was to help “build a new Ukrainian air force with Nato-standard F-16 jets”.
Britain does not use F-16s, which are made by the US defence firm Lockheed Martin in South Carolina. Ukraine has been seeking to obtain them for some time to augment its small Soviet-standard air force because they are widely available, with about 3,000 in service in 25 countries.
Both countries will have to persuade the US if Ukraine is to receive F-16s. Asked later on Monday if the US had changed its position on supplying the jets to Ukraine, John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House’s national security council, gave a one-word reply: “No.”
-via The Guardian
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Ukrainian forces have taken back about 20 square km (7.5 square miles) of territory from Russian forces around the eastern city of Bakhmut in recent days, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on Tuesday.
She said on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces had advanced “somewhat” in the city of Bakhmut itself, and that heavy fighting continued.
She said: “The enemy is advancing somewhat in Bakhmut itself, completely destroying the city with artillery. In addition, the enemy is raising units of professional paratroopers.
“Heavy battles continue with different results. In the current situation, our troops are doing their best and even more.
“The fact that the defence of Bakhmut lasts for so many months and there are advances in certain areas is the strength of our fighters and the high level of professionalism of the defence command.
“I will remind you that the enemy has an advantage in the number of people and weapons. At the same time, thanks to the actions of our military, he has not been able to implement his plans in the Bakhmut direction since last summer.”
-via The Guardian
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The renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative is critical to limit "future shock" to the security of global food supplies, the International Rescue Committee said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The looming expiration of the Black Sea grain deal risks further food market instability at a time of record food insecurity," the humanitarian organization said. "With 349 million people across 79 countries estimated to experience acute food insecurity this year, the Black Sea grain deal must be extended."
The grain initiative, which is set to expire on May 18 if not renewed, is a deal between Russia and Ukraine allowing the safe exportation of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
According to the IRC, as much as 90% of imports into East African countries are shipments supported by the grain deal. Should these imports stop, there will be a "spike in the number of undernourished people" to almost 19 million in 2023, it said.
IRC East Africa Emergency Director Shashwat Saraf said in the statement that food shortages and a lack of affordable fertilizer are increasing food prices, making it difficult for people in countries like Somalia to "predict if they will be able to afford a meal the next day."
"The expiration of the Black Sea Grain Initiative is likely to trigger increased levels of hunger and malnutrition, spelling further disaster for East Africa," he continued. "Constructive extension of the grain deal means bringing in more food into the global system and, as a result, helping to lower soaring costs and to maintain market stability." "It is crucial the international community unequivocally stands behind maintaining Ukraine’s grain exports," he added.
-via CNN
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Ukraine said on Tuesday it had shot down six Russian Kinzhal missiles in a single night, thwarting a weapon Moscow has touted as a next-generation hypersonic missile that was all but unstoppable.
When asked about the Ukrainian claim, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu dismissed it, the RIA news agency reported.
The number of claimed Ukrainian missile intercepts in general is "three times greater than the number we launch", RIA quoted Shoigu as saying.
"And they get the type of missiles wrong all the time. That's why they don't hit them," he said, without elaborating.
It was the first time Ukraine had claimed to have struck an entire volley of multiple Kinzhal missiles, and if confirmed would be a demonstration of the effectiveness of Kyiv's newly deployed Western air defences.
The United States and the European Union have supplied Ukraine with weaponry to defend itself since Russia invaded in February 2022. EU and NATO member Hungary has refused, however, to provide any military equipment to neighbour Ukraine, and on Tuesday, the government said it had blocked the next tranche of the EU's off-budget military support known as the European Peace Facility.
Air raid sirens blared across nearly all of Ukraine early on Tuesday and were heard over the Ukrainian capital and the surrounding region for more than three hours.
"A year ago, we were not able to shoot down most of the terrorists' missiles, especially ballistic ones," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in praising the military's claim to the Council of Europe rights body in Iceland by video link.
"And I am asking one thing now. If we are able to do this, is there anything we can't do?"
The meeting of European leaders over two days was to focus on ways to hold Russia to account for its war, officials said.
Russia says its invasion was necessary to counter threats to its security posed by Ukraine's growing ties to the West. Kyiv and its allies call it an unprovoked war of conquest. Kyiv says it won't stop fighting until all Russian forces leave its land.
The six Kinzhals were among 27 missiles Russia fired at Ukraine over the past 24 hours, Ukraine's military General Staff said in its evening update on Tuesday, lighting up Kyiv with flashes and raining debris after they were blasted from the sky.
It was not clear which Western weapon Ukraine used to defeat the Kinzhals. The Pentagon had no immediate comment.
For its part, Russia's defence ministry claimed to have destroyed a U.S.-built Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system with a Kinzhal missile, the Zvezda military news outlet reported.
But the commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said all had been successfully intercepted.
Kyiv authorities said three people were wounded by falling debris.
"It was exceptional in its density - the maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time," Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's city military administration, said on Telegram.
Zvezda quoted the Russian ministry as saying the attacks had been aimed at Ukrainian fighting units and ammunition storage sites.
Zaluzhnyi said his forces had intercepted the six Kinzhals launched from aircraft, as well as nine Kalibr cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea and three Iskanders fired from land.
Two S-300 missiles targeted infrastructure in Kostyantynivka, west of the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut, the General Staff update said.
-via Reuters
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Drone attacks were reported in Russia's Kursk and Bryansk oblasts over the past 24 hours, according to local officials and independent media.
Independent Russian media publication Astra reported on May 16 that "three rounds of ammunition" were dropped by a drone onto a building of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in the village of Glushkovo in Kursk Oblast.
According to Astra, the incident took place at around 11:00 p.m. local time on May 15.
Five border guards were allegedly hospitalized with shrapnel wounds to the neck, stomach, and face.
Meanwhile, Kursk Oblast Governor Roman Starovoyt reported on May 15 that a "Ukrainian drone" dropped an explosive device on a construction worker near the village of Plekhovo in the region. The construction worker was "lightly wounded" on his shoulder, Starovoyt said.
Bryansk Oblast Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz claimed on May 16 that a "Ukrainian drone" was shot down over the town of Klintsy in the region.
According to Bogomaz, there were no casualties and only the balcony of a residential building was damaged.
Russia's Investigative Committee publicly acknowledged on May 16 the drone attacks in Plekhovo and Klintsy, but not the alleged attack on the FSB office in Glushkovo.
There have been multiple reports since the start of the full-scale invasion about fires, explosions, and other acts of sabotage within Russia and the Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow.
-via Kyiv Indpendent
