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Morning Headlines
AP News: Russia is waging a shadow war on the West that needs a collective response, Estonian leader says.
Reuters: Ukrainian servicemen operating a howitzer in Kharkiv region near the Russian border work around the clock to stop an incursion by Moscow's troops, and they are finally getting the shells to do it.
ISW: The Kremlin continues to time its nuclear saber-rattling to coincide with major policy discussions in the West as part of a Kremlin reflexive control campaign to influence Western decision-makers.
Reuters: Russian drones struck energy sites early on Wednesday and knocked out power to some parts of Ukraine's northern Sumy region, officials said.
More News
The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine will receive the first delivery of funds stemming from the revenue of frozen Russian assets in July, the European Commission said on May 21.
Euromaidan Press: Russian authorities have decided unilaterally to change the country’s maritime borders with Lithuania and Finland in the Baltic Sea, according to a draft government decree, The Moscow Times reports.
The Times: Russia is working with Serbia on disinformation campaigns and cyber-attacks against Balkan countries that are backing Ukraine, the Kosovan prime minister has warned (archive).
The Kyiv Independent: A bipartisan group of U.S. members of Congress wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on May 20, urging the Pentagon to permit Ukraine to strike Russian territory with U.S.-supplied weapons.
CNN: The US has assessed that Russia likely launched a counter space weapon last week that is close to, and capable of attacking, a US government satellite orbiting nearby, US Ambassador Robert Wood said at the UN on Monday.
Reuters: Russian forces have started the first stage of exercises ordered by Putin to simulate preparation for the launch of tactical nuclear weapons, the Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.
The Insider: Russia’s ex-Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov knew about his impending arrest in advance and was heavily guarded, an FSB source told The Insider. The FSB had to improvise, arresting Ivanov during a hospital checkup and leading him out the back door.
Novaya-Europe: Newly appointed Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov has been revealed to have managed the accounts of the controversial Wagner mercenary organisation while serving as Putin’s economic adviser.
Reuters: Germany plans to ramp up military aid for Ukraine by another 3.8 billion euros this year, a source told Reuters on Tuesday, confirming a report by top-selling Bild.
The Kyiv Independent: The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces confirmed on May 21 that the Russian missile ship Tsiklon was struck in a Ukrainian attack in Sevastopol, occupied Crimea, on May 19.
Reuters: Poland's prime minister announced on Tuesday the re-establishment of a commission to look into undue Russian influence, as Warsaw grapples with what it says is an intense campaign by Moscow to destabilise the country.
The Moscow Times: Russia is likely to keep banking on various coercion tactics to bolster its military manpower in Ukraine, experts say, a strategy that has proven effective at ensuring a continuous supply of fresh recruits to the frontlines for the past two years.
Reuters: EU countries have formally adopted a plan to use windfall profits from Russian central bank assets frozen in the EU for Ukraine's defence, the Belgian government said on Tuesday. Under the agreement, 90% of the proceeds will go into an EU-run fund for military aid for Ukraine against Russia's invasion, with the other 10% going to support Kyiv in other ways.
The Guardian: Britain and Finland are discussing plans to require third parties to do more to block the Russian shadow oil tanker fleet operating in the Baltic and the Channel, the Finnish foreign minister has said.
Reuters: Moldova has signed a security and defence partnership with the European Union, the first country to agree such a deal with the bloc, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday.
AP News: A Russian general who was relieved of duty last year after complaining about problems faced by his troops in Ukraine has been arrested on charges of widescale bribery, Russian news reports said Tuesday.
Reuters: Russia has brought a string of treason cases against scientists researching super-high flight speeds, an area that underpins its development of hypersonic missiles. In the latest, physicist Anatoly Maslov was sentenced to 14 years on Tuesday.
AP News: Sending air defense systems to Ukraine to help protect it from Russian cruise missiles, rockets and drones is an “absolute priority,” Germany’s foreign minister said in Kyiv on Tuesday after visiting a local power plant that was largely reduced to ruins by a recent barrage.
Reuters: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged German bank executives on Tuesday to step up efforts to comply with sanctions against Russia and shut down efforts to circumvent them to avoid potential penalties themselves that would cut off dollar access.
Reuters: Finland's government proposed emergency legislation on Tuesday to block asylum seekers entering across its vast and often snow-bound border with Russia which it believes Moscow is promoting due to political antagonism since the Ukraine war.
worth mentioning
Read a transcript of Volodymyr Zelensky’s interview with The NY Times
Tucker Carlson team says reports of Russian TV show are ‘pure nonsense’
Economist Jan Pieter Krahnen on designing an effective ‘Marshall Plan’ for Ukraine
Eagles changed migration route to avoid Ukraine war
Flooding emergency declared in Far East Russia’s Sakha
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