❗️Putin replaced governors in 2 Russian regions bordering Ukraine, removing Vyacheslav Gladkov in Belgorod Oblast and Alexander Bogomaz in Bryansk Oblast. Aleksandr Shuvayev, a participant in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Hero of Russia awardee, was appointed to Belgorod. Yegor Kovalchuk, formerly the so-called prime minister in the unrecognized LPR, was appointed to Bryansk.

❗️4 Tu-95MS aircraft have been recorded taking off — they are flying towards the launch lines.

5 more Tu-95MS are ready to take off from the Olenya airfield.

Zelensky met with Polish President Nawrocki. The Ukrainian president said Kyiv and Warsaw share a common position and discussed potential contacts for the near future, keeping bilateral coordination active as Ukraine works to strengthen defense and diplomatic backing.

#Lebanon / #Israel / #Iran / #USA 🇱🇧🇮🇱🇮🇷🇺🇸: Hezbollah struck a building in #Houla, where Israeli Army (#IDF) soldiers were positioned.


Group seemingly used a possible 9M133F-1 “Kornet-E / Dehlavieh-TB” Thermobaric / HEAT Guided Missile (ATGM) to carry out the attack.

https://x.com/i/status/2054610560419832257

Ukraine said air defenses downed or suppressed 710 of 753 Russian drones from 08:00 to 18:30, after 139 more overnight. More than 892 UAVs attacked in one day, mainly targeting western regions, with Russia routing drones through Belarus and Moldova.

🇫🇮🇺🇦 Zelensky: Discussed diplomatic efforts to bring an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine and Europe’s role in this process with the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb. Transatlantic unity on the path to peace is essential. We coordinated our positions on the next steps.

Importantly, during our meetings, partners note Ukraine is now in its strongest battlefield position over the past year and has become a reliable security provider in Europe and other regions. Our teams are already working on preparing a Drone Deal, and we expect a prompt result. Special attention was given to Ukraine’s European integration. A necessary window of opportunity has now emerged to open all six negotiation clusters.

I thank Finland for its support of the PURL initiative, which is helping greatly protect lives in Ukraine, especially in light of massive Russian air strikes like the one we are seeing today. I am grateful for all of Finland’s support, and personally to Alex for his principled and consistent position on supporting Ukraine.

❗️Slovakia closed all border crossings with Ukraine from 15:00 over a security issue. Authorities said the checkpoints will remain shut until further notice, cutting regular cross-border movement on the Slovak-Ukrainian frontier.

Словацкая сторона возобновила работу контрольно-пропускных пунктов на границе с Украиной, сообщает финансовое управление Словакии.

@interfaxonline

Ukraine's General Staff said Russian troops ambushed soldiers of the 225th Separate Assault Regiment on the Huliaipole axis on May 12, killing 2 Ukrainian troops. According to intercepted intelligence, a Russian commander gave a direct order to mutilate the bodies of the fallen soldiers and place evidence in a visible area “for confirmation.” Ukraine said the unit involved has been preliminarily identified and called the act a war crime.

Reuters said Russia’s Perm refinery fully halted operations after a May 7 Ukrainian drone attack. The plant emergency-stopped 3 primary crude processing units and part of its secondary units, with repairs expected to take several weeks and no clear restart timeline. Permnefteorgsintez, owned by Lukoil, is Russia’s seventh-largest refinery by crude processing volume.

Since the beginning of May 13, Russia has carried out 23 attacks on railway facilities across Ukraine.

The strikes damaged three locomotives, seven suburban railcars, eight freight cars, five traction substations, five depots, and two bridges.

Putin announced that Russia is to keep modernizing and expanding its strategic nuclear arsenal.