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Morning Headlines
POLITICO: Moscow bagged €3 billion through a sanctions loophole that allows Turkey to relabel Russian gas and ship it to the EU.
Reuters: France and the Netherlands are seeking European Union sanctions on any financial institution in the world that helps Russia's military pay for goods or technology for making weapons, according to a proposal seen by Reuters.
The Kyiv Independent: U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is working to supply Ukraine with an additional Patriot air defense battery to help the country repel Russian aerial attacks, Bloomberg reported on May 15.
POLITICO: Ukrainian officials are making a new push to get the Biden administration to lift its ban on using U.S.-made weapons to strike inside Russia, saying the policy kept them from attacking Russian positions as they prepared for their major march toward Kharkiv.
ISW: The pace of Russian offensive operations in northern Kharkiv Oblast appears to have slowed over the past 24 hours, and the pattern of Russian offensive activity in this area is consistent with ISW's assessment that Russian forces are prioritizing the creation of a "buffer zone" in the international border area over a deeper penetration of Kharkiv Oblast.
The Guardian: Ukraine’s war-torn economy faces a renewed threat as Russia’s intensifying war takes its toll on power plants and forces Kyiv to send key workers to the frontline, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has warned.
More News
Reuters: Ukraine's military said on Tuesday it was moving troops to new positions in the north of Kharkiv region in response to heavy Russian fire and advances.
AFP: Ukraine rolled out emergency blackouts Tuesday after weeks of Russian strikes on power plants left the country unable to deal with a drop in temperatures, state power operator Ukrenergo said.
The Daily Beast: Hundreds of Sri Lankan citizens have reportedly been recruited to join Russia’s war against Ukraine—and many of them were tricked into it.
BBC News: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Putin must pay to rebuild what he has destroyed in Ukraine. Speaking in Kyiv, Mr Blinken said Washington has the power to seize Russian assets in the US and will use them to help rebuild Ukraine.
Reuters: Russia carried out a series of air strikes on residential areas in the city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine on Tuesday, local officials said, injuring at least 20 people.
Bloomberg: The US Treasury Department has sanctioned an individual and three Russian-based companies involved in a canceled share deal that Raiffeisen Bank International AG had hoped would allow it to pull capital out of Russia (archive).
The Insider: Austrian weapons continue to flow to Russia despite EU sanctions and Austria's stance of neutrality, which Vienna uses to justify its refusal to officially supply weapons to Ukraine.
Reuters: Hundreds of children began lessons this week in Ukraine's first purpose-built bunker school, 6 metres (20 feet) below the ground to protect them from Russian drone and missile attacks.
The Kyiv Independent: The often-repeated narrative that "Ukraine rejected a peace deal offered by Russia in the spring of 2022" is "one of the favorite lies promoted by Russia," said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Reuters: France will deliver extra military aid to Ukraine in coming days and weeks, the Elysee said on Tuesday, after President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The Kyiv Independent: The Estonian government has held no specific discussions on sending the country's troops to Ukraine, Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said on May 14, according to public broadcaster ERR.
The Guardian: Russia is increasingly seeking to encourage and direct hackers to attack British and other western targets, the director of GCHQ has said in her first keynote speech as head of the British intelligence agency.
Reuters: Putin demoted Nikolai Patrushev, a Cold War warrior who crafted the Kremlin's national security strategy, to a job overseeing the shipbuilding industry while raising two younger lieutenants to senior Kremlin jobs.
POLITICO: Britain will not row back on supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia, U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps vowed Tuesday. Speaking as the U.K. announced plans to build six new naval ships, Shapps insisted his government would never force the country to sign a peace agreement.
Reuters: Ukraine's military said on Tuesday its forces pulled back to new positions in two areas of the northeastern Kharkiv region where Moscow is pressing an offensive, and warned of a Russian force buildup to the north near its Sumy region.
Bloomberg: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to the US for air-defense batteries to shield its second-biggest city as Russia launched a large-scale offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region (archive).
FT: Moldova defies Moscow with security pact that would see the country participate in EU military missions, do joint weapons procurement and access better intelligence from Brussels (archive).
AFP: Putin will visit China this week on the invitation of leader Xi Jinping, Beijing's foreign ministry said Tuesday. Putin will be in Beijing from Thursday to Friday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, in the Russian leader's second trip to China in just over six months.
worth mentioning
RUSI: In Ukraine, Russia is beginning to compound advantages
AP gets rare look as Ukraine tries to slow Russia with drones on new front
Georgia approves controversial law that sparked mass protests
Russia’s seaborne crude exports plunge to a two-month low
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