11:31 PM: Attack on Kharkiv by Russia results in at least 6 fatalities

At 23:31, a Russian assault in Kharkiv led to the loss of six lives.

Following a Russian assault on a marketplace in Kharkiv, new casualty statistics have surfaced. Reportedly, 6 individuals perished instantly, 16 are still missing, claimed Oleh Synegubov, the governor of Kharkiv region, through Telegram. Additionally, there are 40 wounded. Among the deceased were two employees from the Epizentr supermarket chain on the outskirts of Kharkiv in the northeast. Earlier, it was speculated that only two fatalities and 24 injuries occurred. Ukrainian President Zelensky likewise posted on Telegram, stating that "over 200" people were inside the supermarket. All rescuers are working to help victims and extinguish fires.

22:20 Macron denounces "unthinkable" attack in KharkivFrench President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the Russian attack on a store in Kharkiv, Ukraine, as "unthinkable" through the online platform X.

21:50 Post-"savage" attack on Kharkiv: Kuleba asks for more Patriot systemsAfter a Russian assault on a supermarket in Kharkiv (view entries at 20:43, 19:44, 19:04, 18:42, and 16:50), Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba requests assistance from Ukraine's allied countries via X. He calls for additional air defense and help in striking Russian military targets. Kuleba emphasizes that stronger air defenses and the capability to shoot down Russian military aircraft before dropping bombs are the sole methods to prevent these "savage atrocities against the civilian population."

21:11 Governor: Single casualty after Ukrainian air raids on BelgorodBelgorod's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, reports more air raids (see entry at 16:30) on the Russian region in the south. According to Telegram, over 15 targets, including suicide drones, were destroyed. At a strike targeting Dubovoye village, there was one fatality, according to Gladkov. Damage was also sustained to houses and commercial buildings. Moreover, four individuals were taken to the hospital with severe injuries. A house is said to have been set ablaze.

20:43 Four deaths in Kharkiv, number of injured rises to 42In a Russian attack on a supermarket in Kharkiv (view entries at 19:44, 19:04, 18:42, and 16:50), at least four fatalities and 42 injured have been recorded, according to Ukrainian authorities. Igor Terekhov, the mayor of the city, discloses through his Telegram that the number of dead has risen to four, while the number of victims now stands at 42. Oleg Synegubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, likewise uploads on Telegram that the number of casualties has climbed to 42.

20:13 Ukrainian soldiers describe continuous fighting for VovchanskVovchansk, a Ukrainian city, is facing daily artillery attacks, as reported by Ukrainian soldiers. Various strategic sites, including schools, churches, and administrative buildings, have been destroyed. The city's devastated condition has forced many residents to flee. Unfortunately, there seems to be no end in sight, as Vovchansk holds significant military importance for Russia.

19:44 Over a dozen injured in another Kharkiv attackShortly after an attack on a hardware store in Kharkiv (see 19:04, 18:42, and 16:50), there was a fresh incident in the city. As noted by Igor Terekhov, the city's mayor, on his Telegram, this attack targeted the city center. The incident occurred in a densely populated area and included a least 12 injured. A 13-year-old kid was one of the casualties, and Oleg Synegubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, confirmed through Telegram that at least 12 individuals were injured. The magnitude of the damage and number of casualties are still being assessed.

19:04 Video shows Kharkiv's sky filled with smoke after Russian bombingRussia is once more attacking the beleaguered Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, this time through airborne bombing. A glide bomb destroys a neighborhood hardware store, releasing a substantial smoke cloud. A significant number of people, estimated to be approximately 200, were reportedly inside the building at the time. The aftermath includes casualties.

18:42 Zelensky: Hardware store attack stands as display of Russian madnessPresident Volodymyr Zelensky describes the Russian military's assault on a hardware store in Kharkiv as a "further display of Russian madness" in his daily video address. The "incomprehensible" actions of Putin render him capable of murdering and terrorizing civilians. The regional civil defense has recorded at least two deaths and 33 injuries caused by the attack on the hardware store known as "Epizentr." The fire department's rescue teams continue to work in the destroyed structure.

18:06 Ukraine: Air defense shoots down Russian Su-25 fighter jet in Donetsk

Soldiers from the 110th Brigade of the Ukrainian army have shot down a Russian Su-25 fighter jet in the Donetsk region, as per a report in Ukrainian Pravda based on a Telegram post on the OSUV "Khortytsia" channel.

17:35: Ukrainian troops show off fresh ammunition supplies
For the first time in two years, Ukrainian forces have received a full load of ammunition from the United States. "We're finally fully equipped," a soldier stationed in Luhansk tells us. Fresh US aid is on its way to bolster the defense against Kharkiv. Germany is also prepping to send another air defense system.

16:50: Attack leaves at least two dead, dozens injured in Kharkiv
At least two people are reported dead with over 24 others injured, as per authorities, from a Russian attack on a home improvement store in Kharkiv, Eastern Ukraine. "Two people have been confirmed dead," said Kharkiv mayor Igor Terekhov in a Telegram post, while regional military administration head Oleg Synegubov added that the store was in a residential area, perhaps housing more than 200 individuals. Emergency services are on-site to help and extinguish fires.

16:30: Shebekino targeted by Ukrainian drones
Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed two instances of Ukrainian drone attacks on the city of Shebekino. No civilians were hurt and only one industrial building's roof was damaged as a result. The governor's Telegram post provides these details.

16:07: Russian-Iranian strategic partnership continues
Russian and Iranian foreign ministers have upheld the strategic partnership between the nations in the wake of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's death. Both countries agree to keep all agreements and projects running smoothly, affirming their commitment to the partnership pledged by Vladimir Putin and Ebrahim Raisi.

15:46: Italian banks urged to pull out of Russia
Italian central bank governor Fabio Panetta called on Italian banks to immediately withdraw from Russia, as he believes the reputation loss outweighs any benefits from staying. UniCredit, Rum's largest European financial link to Russia, is divesting it's business there, and Intesa Sanpaolo is in the process of doing the same.

15:22: Reports: Russia consolidates its positions in Donetsk
Russian troops appear to have taken control of the village of Archangelske in Donetsk's eastern region, Interfax news agency reports. They've also advanced in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv and repelled two Ukrainian counterattacks. No official Ukrainian announcement has made its way yet.

14:59: Weapons seized from Ukrainian forces
Russian officials have claimed that Russian troops captured a large-scale arsenal of weapons and ammunition, likely from Ukrainian forces. The Russian Defense Ministry, according to TASS, shared the information.

14:31: G7 states vow to keep supporting Ukraine financially
The G7 nations plan to keep aiding Ukraine financially, with the goal of long-term support. "We're firmly supporting Ukraine," said German Finance Minister Christian Lindner at a G7 meeting in Italy (see post at 12:51). For now, 2023's financing is confirmed, but they aim to explore new avenues beginning 2025.

14:06: Paris considers honoring Navalny
In a tribute to fallen Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, Paris plans to rename a street after him. One senator lauded Navalny as a symbol of freedom not only in Russia but around the world. The street will be placed in the 16th district - near the Russian embassy.

13:58: VIDEO: Kharkiv airstrike footage
Here's a video shared by the Mayor of Kharkiv, showing the aftermath of the Russian attack on the city.

13:39: Russia furious over cyberattack
Russia's media has been up in arms over a recent cyberattack. "The West should be warned," they fume, implying escalation of the conflict.

13:11: Weather isn't slowing down the war
Despite the snow and harsh temperatures, the war between Russia and Ukraine hasn't been stopped, as documented in this striking photo.

12:51: G7 celebrates Ukraine's resistance
G7 members hailed Ukraine's resistance against Russia's aggression at an Italy-hosted summit, vowing to step up support through increased financing. "We're with you," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized.

12:25: Tanks found near Ukrainian villages
Intelligence indicates that Russia has installed tanks near several Ukrainian villages, a window in fighting that may have suffered due to the winter conditions.

13:47 Ukrainian Authorities Probe Former Defense Brigade in Kharkiv

Investigations in Ukraine have led to a criminal case against the 125th Brigade, which played a role in defending Kharkiv in May. Around May 10th, Russia launched an offensive in the northern part of the country and advanced up to 10 kilometers into the region. Preliminary investigations found that the brigade had failed to properly organize the defense of their positions. It was accused of neglecting military duties. Authorities plan to examine the actions of 30 commanders and officers, though possible punishments remain unclear.

12:51 Lindner Assures No Taxpayer Aid for Ukraine

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner warns that there is a long road ahead in the race to provide Ukraine with more financial aid. At a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Italy, he emphasized that risks to taxpayers must be minimized. The Western nations want to use funds from frozen Russian central bank assets to aid Ukraine. However, the exact manner in which the funds will be used remains contentious. The U.S. has suggested that the G7 could give Ukraine a large loan, with the latter being secured by the interest on the frozen funds. This loan could amount to around 50 billion dollars. A decision is expected in mid-June when G7 leaders get together in Apulia.

12:17 Russian Lawmaker Links Ukraine Radar Attack to U.S.

Ukraine is said to have damaged a Russian early warning system's radar using drones. Dmitry Rogozin, a former Russian ambassador to NATO and now a senator in the Russian Federation Council, has voiced concern. The system, Rogozin states, is a key part of military control over strategic nuclear forces. He accuses the United States of knowing or orchestrating the attack. Such actions, Rogozin claims, raise the risk of atomic war.

11:48 Ukrainian Spy Chief: Drones Replace Warships

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Ukrainian military intelligence, believes that Ukraine is enhancing its unmanned ship fleet. These ships can target coastlines and aerial enemies. Budanov expects these drones to replace conventional warships in the future, particularly within confined or semi-enclosed waters like the Black Sea or Mediterranean.

11:17 Mangott: Putin Seeks to Instigate Conflict in Baltic Sea

A Russian Defense Ministry law is causing alarm among security officials in the Baltic Sea region. It seems the Kremlin intends to expand Russian territorial waters in the internal sea. Security expert Gerhard Mangott assessed the situation.

10:55 Russian Rocket Hits Targets in Kharkiv

Zum Schutz vorm russischen Vormarsch werden Kinder aus der Region Charkiw in Sicherheit gebracht.

Officials in a district of Kharkiv report that Russian troops attacked the city with two Iskander missiles overnight. Iskander-M is a system whose rockets can travel over 500 kilometers and carry nuclear warheads. It's difficult to intercept these rockets. They allegedly destroyed a school and a residential building.

10:04 Stoltenberg Calls for Lifting Restrictions on Western Weapons

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed his support for using Western weapons against Russian military targets. In an interview with The Economist, he stated that it was time for the allies to examine lifting some restrictions on weapons given to Ukraine. Self-defense, as enshrined in the UN Charter, is legal and legitimate. "We are helping Ukraine uphold these rights, and that should include the possibility of targeting objectives on Russian territory," he added.

09:24 Ukraine Credited with Damaging Russian Radar Station

Unconfirmed reports indicate that Ukrainian drones hit a vital radar station in the Russian region of Krasnodar. The station is part of the Russian early warning system for ballistic missile and nuclear warhead launches. This facility is believed to monitor an area up to 6,000 kilometers away.

08:42 Experts Urge Caution against Ceasefire

Vladimir Putin's call for a ceasefire is met with skepticism. The think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) cautions against such a move, claiming that it may give Russia time to improve its forces for future offensive operations targeting regime change, Ukrainian demilitarization, and occupation. The Kremlin may also test whether Western support for Ukraine lessens due to a frozen front.

08:11 CDU Politician Calls for Suspension of Debt Brake for Ukraine War

German CDU politician Kiesewetter urges the suspension of the debt brake for assistance to Ukraine. The financial aid would be important if Ukraine is to successfully defend itself from Russian aggression. He emphasizes the need for Europe to focus on Ukraine rather than internal politics.

Expert from CDU, Roderich Kiesewetter, encourages German government to declare a state of emergency due to the Ukraine war. Kiesewetter tells magazine "Spiegel," "The war can only be won with debt." Ukraine requires immediate aid. It's inexplicable why the German government classifies the Coronavirus pandemic as a state of emergency to finance a power and gas price cap of 200 billion euros, while the war doesn't meet the criteria for a state of emergency. With the declaration of a state of emergency, the strict debt brake rules in the Basic Law's suspended. However, the FDP in the traffic light coalition firmly opposes such a step.

07:56 Zelensky praises Ukrainian troops' success in Kharkiv

United States provides Ukraine with another military package worth millions. Meanwhile, Germany sends an additional air defense system to the country. Zelensky shares in a video the successful actions of his army.

07:23 Ukrainian General Staff: Russia loses 500,000 soldiers

Ukrainian General Staff reports 500,080 losses on the Russian side since the start of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. In the last 24 hours, they added 1140 losses. Russia is currently exerting intense pressure on Ukrainian defenders at various fronts, resulting in heavy casualties on their side. Additionally, Ukraine has reported 15 destroyed Russian tanks, 27 artillery systems, a missile defense system, and two multiple rocket launchers.

07:07 First Ukrainian F-16 pilots soon combat-ready

The first group of Ukrainian F-16 pilots completes their training in the United States and is on its way to Europe for more training. Training took close to a year. They should be ready to fly combat missions against Russian air forces by summer. The Ukrainian Air Force is anticipated to receive more than 60 F-16s from Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium. These countries, along with the United States, Great Britain, Romania, France, and Bulgaria, have mobilized personnel, aircraft, and ground equipment to train the Ukrainians in flying and maintaining the combat planes.

06:33 US Excalibur shells degraded by Russian jamming devices

Ukraine stops using some types of American weapons because their accuracy plummeted. According to a report in "Washington Post," this affects weapons using GPS guidance, particularly Excalibur artillery shells, but also HIMARS systems, whose accuracy decreased due to Russian jamming devices. The success rate of Excalibur missiles developed by the United States has drastically reduced, less than 10%. As a result, the United States has stopped supplying Excalibur to Ukraine. To succeed in HIMARS attacks, it is essential to first disable the enemy's jamming devices, such as through smoke munitions.

04:34 Stoltenberg: China's support for Russia is "decisive" in Ukraine war

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg considers China's support for Russia in the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine "crucial." "China says it wants to maintain good relationships with the West. At the same time, Beijing is intensifying the war in Europe," Stoltenberg says to "Welt am Sonntag." China isn't known to provide weapons or ammunition to Russia. However, there has been a noticeable increase in the export of machine parts, microelectronics, and other technologies that Moscow requires to produce rockets, tanks, and aircraft against Ukraine.

03:06 Hofreiter: Ukraine should use Western weapons against targets on Russian territory

Green Party foreign policy spokesman Anton Hofreiter supports that Ukraine should no longer be restricted from using Western weapons against Russian targets. "This is about protecting the Ukrainian population. We shouldn't hinder Ukraine from defending itself against Russian combat aircraft in Russian airspace," says the chairman of the European Affairs Committee in the German Bundestag to the Funke media group.

02:01 Ukraine reports Russian air strikes and "partial success" in Kupiansk

Ukrainian General Staff reports that Russian air forces have attacked the city of Wowtschansk. They used eight guided bombs. The Ukrainian armed forces successfully repelled ten Russian attacks on the city and its surroundings. The Russian army achieved "partial success" near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region and in the Pokrovsk sector in the Donetsk region.

01:30 Further evacuations planned in the Charkiw area

123 children from the northeastern portion of the Charkiw region will be evacuated. This is reported by the Kyiv Independent. The local authorities plan to first take the children to Charkiw and then to the northwestern region of Volhynia. Since the beginning of the new Russian offensive, more than 11,000 civilians have been evacuated.

23:23 Zelenskyy: "Combat control" reestablished in the Charkiw area

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy states that the Ukrainian military has retaken control over a border area in the eastern part of the Charkiw region that was previously infiltrated by Russian invaders. "Our combat forces have managed to regain control of the border region where the Russian invaders had infiltrated," Zelenskyy explained in a daily video update. Earlier this month, he visited the area. The Russian military had initiated a ground offensive in the border region approximately two weeks ago and had taken control of several Ukrainian villages.

At present, approximately 403 Ukrainian women are held captive by the Russian military. Many of these individuals are civilians who were illegally detained. This information was reported by "Ukrinform" and was based on a report from the Ukrainian Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. It is also suggested that there are women who have been missing since 2014, and the current whereabouts of these women are unknown. The Russian government has disregarded numerous pleas to return these captured women.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to hinder the success of a potential Ukraine peace summit scheduled to take place in Switzerland in June. Kuleba's statement comes in response to rumors that Putin is open to mediating peace negotiations (see entries at 19:55 and 12:22 p.m.). According to Kuleba, Putin aims to prevent a full resolution of the war in Ukraine, which is led by Russia. "Putin is desperately trying to prevent the peace summit in Switzerland on June 15 and 16. He is afraid of its success," he tweeted.

Six NATO member states on the Russian border intend to construct a "Drone Wall" to defend against potential incursions from "unfriendly countries." The wall, which will stretch from Norway to Poland, will incorporate drones and other high-tech devices to protect their borders. Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite made these comments after a conference with officials from Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Norway, and Poland. There is also a desire to address smuggling concerns. Additional information about a timetable for this project was not provided. The subsequent border reinforcement is attributed to security concerns arising from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The United States has announced further military aid to support Ukraine against the Russian assault. This package, worth $275 million (€253 million), includes ammunition for the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and artillery rounds with diameters of 155 and 105 millimeters. The US State Department issued a statement detailing these developments. The latest military-related assistance from the United States marks the fifth package granted by President Joe Biden since April, when Congress authorized $61 billion (€56.2 billion) in support for Kiev. Portions of the previous aid have already been delivered to the front, while the newly announced aid will be dispatched "as quickly as possible" in order to assist Ukrainian defense forces in defending their nation and protecting its people. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion more than two years ago, the United States has provided a total of $50 billion (€47.2 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine.

In Russia, students are compelled to take an additional mandatory class this school year: "Basics of Life Safety," which incorporates instruction in military skills such as shooting and bandaging wounds.

"Realities on the Ground": Putin conditions Ukraine negotiations

More than two years after the outbreak of conflict between Russia and Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has again expressed his interest in engaging in talks - but with a caveat; he does not intend to discuss the restoration of territories that have been seized and annexed by his government. "We'll talk about negotiations again," Putin said while visiting his ally in neighboring Belarus, according to Interfax. He then added, "Let's return to them. But not starting from what one side wants, but from the current realities that have arisen on the ground." Since the Russian military intervention in Ukraine began in February 2022, Russia now occupies approximately one-fifth of Ukraine's territory, prompting frequent Ukrainian demands for the repatriation of Russian forces from its land.