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

As the war enters its 458th day, let’s take a look at the main developments.

This is the situation on Friday, May 27, 2023.

Fight

Ukraine said it shot down 10 missiles and more than 20 drones in an overnight attack on the capital Kyiv as well as the city of Dnipro and the country’s eastern regions. The Ukrainian air force said 17 missiles and 31 drones in total were launched during the overnight raid.
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 Zelenskyy described the attack as a crime against humanity.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it carried out a nighttime attack on ammunition depots in Ukraine, the RIA news agency reported.
Five districts in Russia’s Belgorod region have been hit by drones, 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 in Belgorod was attacked 14 times.

Two drones destroyed a residential and office building in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, east of Crimea, officials said.
Ukraine’s general prosecutor’s office said at least 483 children had been killed and nearly 1,000 injured since last year’s all-out Russian invasion. Nearly 1,500 Ukrainian children have been orphaned, the National Social Service of Ukraine said.
The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF says an estimated 1.5 million children in Ukraine are at risk of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues, with the potential to be chronic effects.
Russia’s foreign ministry has summoned senior US diplomats over comments by White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who the ministry accused of “effectively endorsing strikes” in Crimea. On Sunday, Sullivan was asked whether Ukraine should have weapons that could reach Russian targets in Crimea. He replied: “We have not set limits on Ukraine being able to attack its territory within its internationally recognized borders.”

The European Union has condemned a deal to allow Russia to send nuclear warheads to Belarus. “This is a step that will lead to a very dangerous development,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
The German military has ordered 18 new Leopard 2 tanks to replace the vehicles that were sent to Ukraine earlier this year.
Germany will move its Patriot missile defense system, which is stationed 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 is “seriously considering” sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine but has yet to make a final decision.

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that if the US fails to adequately support Ukraine in its defense against Russia, it will send a signal to China that it may invade Taiwan. “There can be no pulling back on helping Ukraine because if we fail here, Taiwan will go,” Graham told reporters.
In coordination 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 army officers of Russia, and ban exports to 80 Russian entities such as military-affiliated ones. research labs.
Russia has shown a positive view of Pope Francis’ Ukraine peace initiative, while stressing that there are no immediate plans for a visit to the Vatican in Moscow.
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson and former US President Donald Trump discussed Ukraine and “the vital importance of victory in Ukraine”, 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 spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and reiterated his country’s willingness to talk to both sides of the conflict. Lula also thanked Putin for inviting him to the International Economic Forum in St Petersburg, but he was unable to attend.

Former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has warned that the West is underestimating the risk of nuclear war and said peace negotiations are “impossible” as long as Zelenskyy remains in power. “The Anglo-Saxons did not fully realize this and believed that it would not come to this,” he said. “It is subject to certain conditions.”
Imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is appealing against a Russian court’s decision to extend his pre-trial detention by three months, court records show. Gershkovich was arrested in March on espionage charges after Russian security services accused him of collecting military secrets.

A deal allowing the safe export of wartime grain and fertilizer from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports has yet to resume full operations, the UN said, stalling ahead of the decision. in Russia last week to extend it.