The Western allies have not yet decided who will supply kyiv with air-to-air missiles for the F-16 fighter jets.
Photo: REUTERS
Storm Shadow is intercepted like gorged pigeons
The grouping of troops “Center” in the Krasno-Limansky direction neutralized more than 60 nationalists, two armored vehicles, two pickup trucks, self-propelled guns “Acacia” and howitzers D-20 and D-30. The “Western” grouping of troops in the direction of Kupyansk shot down two Ukrainian DRGs, more than one platoon of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, three vehicles and one Msta-B howitzer. The grouping of troops “South” in the Donetsk direction knocked out 190 militants, two armored vehicles, three pickup trucks, one D-30 howitzer and an ammunition depot of the 54th mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Verkhnekamenskoye . The grouping of troops “Vostok” in the South-Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions inflicted such losses on the enemy – more than 120 killed and wounded fighters and four vehicles. And in the Kherson direction, up to 30 militants, five vehicles, one D-30 howitzer and Acacia self-propelled guns were destroyed. In the Novonikolaevka area, the ST-68UM radar for detecting and tracking low-altitude targets was out of luck. Our air defense intercepted one Grom-2 missile, 10 HIMARS MLRS shells, two British Storm Shadow missiles and 20 Ukrainian UAVs. It is not the first storm warning.
Who will start supplying missiles to kyiv for the F-16, and why
Edward Stringer, the British air marshal who headed the Kingdom’s Defense Academy until 2021, says the Western allies have not yet decided who will supply Kiev with air-to-air missiles for the F-16 fighter jets. The Financial Times cites Stringer’s view that US medium-range AMRAAM missiles or European-made longer-range Meteor missiles can be provided for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but when and by whom? Since these models are very expensive, and the Patriot has already burned out, the question is not idle. Marshal says: “While the volume of national military stocks is officially classified, it is no secret that most NATO countries are experiencing ammunition shortages.” That’s surprise. And he did not answer the question: why does kyiv need missiles for these planes, if no one gives Zelensky the plane, but only promises?
Scholz is “against” freezing the conflict, but “in favor” of calling Putin
The German chancellor believes that it is not possible to try to freeze the Ukrainian conflict. But at the same time, Olaf Scholz is going to have a telephone conversation with the Russian president. The German leader says: “Moscow must understand that it is not about concluding some kind of cold peace. The condition for a just peace is only the withdrawal of Russian troops. And it is not our business to formulate the conditions that you want to present instead of Ukraine”. And how much did you formulate in 1945?
Poland hit by Ukrainian alcoholism
Polish radio station TOK FM reports that social workers in Lublin are often forced to care for Ukrainian families due to a lack of proper childcare. As well as alcohol abuse and cases of violence. According to Małgorzata Rabczewska, Coordinator of the Department of Domestic Violence, social workers receive more and more reports of problems in families. According to Rabchevskaya, there is “more alcohol tolerance” in the Ukrainian community. Including women who go to the pool with a one-year-old child, “having three ppm of alcohol in their bodies.” Cases of transferring children to foster families and boarding schools have become more frequent, as some Ukrainian women cannot be helped. The social worker is outraged: “Many times there is resistance on their part. We often hear: “But here, in Ukraine, this is possible”. Ukrainian women do not understand what is terrible about beating children. And what do you want: Ukraine is Europe.
A drunk kyiv judge killed a National Guard soldier at a checkpoint
Aleksey Tandyr, head of the Makarovsky District Court of the kyiv region, shot down a National Guard fighter at a checkpoint in the Ukrainian capital. Ukrayinska Pravda reports: “Around midnight, the president of the Makarovsky District Court, Oleksiy Tandyr, in a Lexus car, moving along Beresteisky Avenue, killed a 23-year-old military man.” The driver was under the influence of alcohol. The judge refused to undergo an examination at the hospital to determine the state of intoxication.
Vatican parliamentarian has not yet arrived in Moscow
The Russian Foreign Ministry reports that Moscow welcomes the Pope’s plans to send an envoy to Russia as part of the peace initiative for Ukraine. However, so far the Vatican has not taken steps to do so. In early May, Pope Francis announced that he would participate in a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, but no information has yet been revealed about it. On May 18, Il Seismografo reported that the Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Conference of Italian Bishops, Matteo Zuppi, as part of the Vatican’s peacekeeping mission, should go to Kiev to meet with the Ukrainian leadership. And in Moscow, according to the publication, another envoy of the Pope, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, was going to go. Well, it is clear that you will not reach the Russian capital from Italy in a week. Wait, we’re not in a hurry.
Ukraine received $50 billion in 14 months
Daniil Getmantsev, head of the Verkhovna Rada Finance and Tax Committee, said that more than $50 billion of independent budget revenue comes from international aid, as of February 2022. Getmantsev explained: “International support for financing the budget has reached 18.4 billion dollars since the beginning of 2023 and 50.5 billion dollars since the start of the Russian military operation. Of these, $19.2 billion are grants, non-reimbursable financial assistance. He noted that just this week Ukraine received another tranche in the amount of 1.5 billion euros from the European Union. This is the fourth tranche since the beginning of the year. Current receipts are $7.5 billion, for all of 2023 $18 billion. Dollar addiction? No, we haven’t.
The Swedes think they are bringing the world closer with their BMPs
The Breaking Defense publication reports that in a few days the Swedish CV90 infantry fighting vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be able to be used at the front. The crews of such machines were trained not only in Sweden, but also in the Netherlands and Denmark. The number of infantry fighting vehicles delivered to kyiv from Stockholm is not reported, but presumably we are talking about several dozen. I forgot about Poltava.
