Air protection is working towards enemy drones within the Kyiv area
On the morning of Might 23, Russian drones attacked the Kyiv area. Air protection forces are working, native authorities urge folks to stay in shelters till the top of the alarm.
Russian air defenses reportedly intercepted greater than 150 Ukrainian drones over a number of areas, together with areas close to the capital, in what seems to be one of many largest such aerial assaults, Russia's Protection Ministry stated on Could 22.
For no less than two days in a row, Ukraine has launched large waves of drones deep into Russian territory. Between the night of Could 20 and the morning of Could 22, Russia claims to have shot down 485 drones on its territory.
In keeping with the Russian navy, 159 drones had been destroyed between 8 a.m. and eight p.m. Moscow time on Could 22. The ministry stated Ukrainian drones had been intercepted throughout a number of central and western areas, together with Moscow, the place 22 drones had been reportedly shot down. The encompassing areas of Kursk, Oryol, Tula, and others additionally got here below assault, with dozens of drones intercepted in every space.
The ministry described the drones as fixed-wing, aircraft-type unmanned aerial automobiles. The Kyiv Impartial couldn't independently confirm the claims. Ukrainian authorities haven’t commented.
The reported wave of drone exercise follows a broader development that has intensified in latest months. Ukraine has more and more focused Moscow and its surrounding areas.
Whereas few drones seem to have reached the capital itself, their mere method has already pressured widespread disruption. For the reason that starting of the 12 months, Russian airports have been quickly shut down no less than 217 occasions resulting from drone threats.
Just lately, Ukrainian drones struck Russia's Bolkhov semiconductor plant in Oryol Oblast, which produces elements for Sukhoi warplanes and Iskander and Kinzhal missiles. The power offers parts to no less than 19 Russian factories engaged in manufacturing Sukhoi fighter jets in addition to Iskander and Kinzhal ballistic missiles.
In April President Volodymyr Zelensky introduced that Ukraine is ramping up drone manufacturing to the "most."
Russia is now saying the quiet half out loud. It has no intention of stopping the conflict in Ukraine.
We in Ukraine knew this all alongside, after all, however to sate the calls for of worldwide diplomacy, Moscow and Washington have engaged in a now greater than two-month-long peace course of that has achieved nothing apart from demonstrating that neither is prepared to do what is critical to realize it.
Russia has apparently grown uninterested in its main function within the charade and, emboldened by what’s now the just about sure information it should face no repercussions from the U.S. President Donald Trump, is overtly bragging about having little interest in negotiations with Ukraine or a ceasefire.
"We don't need this anymore," Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Might 21, confirming what his boss informed Trump in a telephone name two days earlier — that the Kremlin shouldn’t be prepared for peace in Ukraine as a result of it believes it’s profitable the conflict.
Trump was livid on the information, apoplectic that Putin had been stringing him alongside and humiliating him all this time, swiftly imposing the long-threatened sanctions, as European leaders rallied collectively.
Oh, wait, sorry, that is what should have occurred if there had been even an oz. of logic and decency left on this state of affairs.
In actuality, Trump barely shrugged, apparently content material that he's maintaining Russian money-making alternatives on the desk, whereas the EU's newest sanctions are so ineffective it's been left as much as Ukraine itself to elucidate to the bloc the way it might possibly try to make them a bit harder.
It's starting to really feel a bit like, regardless of all of the rhetoric, the one participant who actually needs the conflict to finish is Ukraine.
Any notion of a peace course of is successfully over, and there's just one remaining hope — these People who truly imply what they are saying and actually need the conflict to finish should comply with by way of and at last apply some good old school world superpower stress on Russia.
Sure, U.S. senators, we're speaking to you.
A technique the conflict can finish is that if the U.S. makes Russia finish it. Russia, and Russia alone, is accountable for the violence being inflicted on this conflict.
Russia's ceasefire proved the one factor that Putin couldn't admit on the time — that Russia and Russia alone is accountable for the violence being inflicted on this conflict.
Take a current instance — solely two Ukrainian civilians have been killed by Russian violence on Might 8. Solely two — which will sound cynical, and is on no account meant to detract from two tragedies, however the quantity is massively important.
The day earlier than, on Might 7, 14 folks have been killed and 54 others injured. In Kyiv on Might 7, we spent the night time in bomb shelters and hallways, listening to the sounds of ballistic missiles exploding, and assault drones flying overhead and crashing into folks's properties.
In a single day on Might 8, we slept uninterrupted all through the night time.
Emergency personnel reply after a Shahed drone assault set fireplace to a multi-story residential constructing in Lviv, Ukraine, on March 23, 2025. (Vlada Liberova / Libkos / Getty Photos)Attendees react through the funeral ceremony of eleven-year-old Maksym Martynenko and his dad and mom, Mykola and Nataliia, who have been killed by a Russian missile strike on April 13, 2025, within the village of Stare Selo, outdoors Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, on April 16, 2025. (Roman Pilipey / AFP through Getty Photos)
What was the distinction between these two days? On Might 8, a three-day ceasefire unilaterally proposed by the Kremlin got here into impact.
Now let's get one factor straight — the Kremlin's ceasefire was a sham, introduced with out consulting Ukraine, with the only goal of not embarrassing Russian President Vladimir Putin by forcing the cancellation of his Victory Day parade on Might 9.
The Kremlin additionally violated it, and along with the 2 deaths famous above, Ukrainian troopers informed the Kyiv Impartial that Russian forces have been nonetheless lively and attacking on the entrance strains.
However Russia suspended a significant a part of its army operations — aerial assaults towards Ukrainian cities — and the quick impact was a dramatic discount in civilian deaths.
April was one of many deadliest months for civilians through the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — at the very least 209 civilians have been killed, together with 19 youngsters, and 1,146 others have been injured, all by Russian missiles, drones, and bombs.
Inadvertently, Russia's ceasefire proved the one factor that Putin wouldn’t admit — that Russia and Russia alone is accountable for the violence being inflicted on this conflict.
It’s in Russia’s energy to cease the conflict any second, unilaterally, and to finish the violence, because it confirmed with the ceasefire. But it surely received’t do it.
The identical is true on the entrance strains.
Ukraine can not finish the combating so long as Russia retains attacking.
The place their armies conflict, Ukraine, because the defending facet, is reportedly accountable for almost all of the killing, because it’s conducting simply and authorized self-defense towards Russian troopers committing an unprovoked and unlawful invasion of one other sovereign nation.
For this killing to finish, Russia can merely cease attacking. Other than the non-public humiliation of 1 man — Putin — Russia would endure nothing, and lose nothing, from stopping the conflict.
Ukraine doesn’t have the identical alternative. It can not finish the combating so long as Russia retains attacking. It has the whole lot to lose, and the violence its armed forces inflicts is dedicated within the title of survival, not conquest.
Troopers of the a hundred and fifteenth Brigade air protection unit fireplace at drones within the Lyman space, Ukraine, on April 24, 2025. (Jose Colon / Anadolu through Getty Photos)
Even Ukrainian offensive operations like drone strikes into Russian territory are carried out in an try to deprive the Kremlin conflict machine of ammunition, gasoline, and cash, in an effort to assist Ukraine's survival.
That is the prism by way of which Washington ought to have seen the U.S.-led peace course of, however since Trump took workplace, the other has been true.
The U.S. has been making use of stress not on Russia, however on Ukraine, which has no alternative apart from to do what’s required to outlive.
In stark distinction, Russia stays unpunished by the Trump administration and is as a substitute being wooed.
However there’s nonetheless hope — the U.S.'s actions in direction of Russia should not solely within the arms of the president, and we all know there are many folks on Capitol Hill who don't agree with the course that’s at present being charted.
For one, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham's sanctions invoice, the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, must be handed. People want to achieve out to their representatives in Congress to demand that their elected officers assist the invoice.
If People wish to present they received’t be complicit in appeasement, they need to increase their voices for Ukraine — and for accountability — beginning with this invoice.
Producer Bardash sentenced to 10 years in jail for supporting Russian aggression
Yuriy Bardash was discovered responsible of battle propaganda and supporting Russian aggression. The courtroom sentenced him to 10 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Could 22 that he ordered the navy to start making a "safety buffer zone" alongside the border with Ukraine, Russian state media retailers reported.
The feedback come a day after Putin made his first identified go to to Russia's Kursk Oblast, a border area the place Ukrainian forces launched an incursion final summer season. Whereas the Kremlin claims to have absolutely liberated the territory, Ukraine says operations are ongoing in Kursk.
"I’ve already mentioned {that a} resolution has been made to create the mandatory safety buffer zone alongside the border," Putin mentioned in a video convention with authorities officers.
"Our armed forces are at the moment fixing this downside."
Putin mentioned the zone could be alongside border of Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod oblasts.
Ukraine's International Ministry responded to the assertion later within the day, saying Putin's remarks are additional proof that Russia will not be meaningfully fascinated by peace.
"I remind the world that Putin's statements in regards to the 'buffer zone' come amid energetic efforts to attain a full, sturdy ceasefire, cease the killing, and advance peace," International Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.
"These new aggressive claims clearly reject peace efforts and present that Putin has been and stays the one motive the killing continues. He must face extra strain to finish this battle."
International Ministry Spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi echoed these sentiments, calling Russia an "impediment to peace efforts" and suggesting that any future "buffer zone" be confined to Russian territory.
"These phrases show clearly that it’s Putin, it’s Russia that’s an impediment to peace efforts now and it’s they who should be pressured in all types to drive Russia and Putin to peace and to a full long-term ceasefire," he mentioned in a remark to a number of Ukrainian information retailers.
"And as for the 'buffer zones,' there is usually a 'buffer zone' on the territory of Russia, which is why Ukraine has been conducting an operation there since final yr."
Ukraine launched a cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblastin August 2024, marking the primary large-scale invasion of Russian territory by overseas forces since World Struggle II. Whereas a Russian counteroffensive — supported by North Korean navy personnel — recaptured a lot of the Ukrainian-occupied land in spring 2025, Ukrainian troops proceed to hold out missions throughout the border.
The Common Workers of Ukraine's Armed Forces mentioned on Could 21 that whereas circumstances within the area stay tough, Ukrainian forces are holding their positions and inflicting losses on Russian troops.
The Kursk operation efficiently thwarted Russia's plans to ascertain a "buffer zone" in Sumy Oblast in northeastern Ukraine, Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi mentioned in November 2024.
Putin's newest feedback concerning a buffer zone comes as Russia has as soon as once more rejected U.S. and European proposals for an entire ceasefire within the battle towards Ukraine. Putin didn’t comply with the phrases in a Could 19 cellphone name with U.S. President Donald Trump and the Kremlin has doubled down on its maximalist calls for.
Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed on Could 21 that Russia has no real interest in pursuing a ceasefire: "(W)e don’t need this anymore," he sais.
Occupants superior close to Yablunivka and Nadiivka in Donetsk area – Deepstate
Russian troops are advancing on Yablunivka from three sides and transferring in the direction of the executive border with Dnipropetrovsk area close to Nadiivka. There have been 69 fight clashes on the entrance.
Ukraine is requesting the EU start financially supporting its armed forces beginning in 2026, pitching the thought as a sensible option to strengthen Europe's collective protection and share the price of containing Russian aggression, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko stated on Might 22.
The EU hasn't up to now straight funded Ukraine's army, however member states present weapons and different help by way of nationwide packages and broader EU assist packages.
Marchenko stated Kyiv is proposing a brand new mannequin: European companions would assist fund the Ukrainian army, and in return, Ukraine can be additional built-in into the continent's protection system.
"I’m satisfied that this determination has numerous strategic benefits for Ukraine, together with sustaining monetary stability in 2026 and past," Marchenko stated in an announcement following conferences with G7 finance leaders in Canada.
"And for the EU — safety from potential Russian aggression. In spite of everything, the Ukrainian military has all of the expertise crucial for this."
Beneath the proposal, the price of supporting Ukraine's army would symbolize solely a small fraction of the EU's mixed GDP, Marchenko stated, and may very well be shared amongst nations prepared to take part. These contributions might depend towards NATO protection spending targets.
"Over the previous three years, Ukraine has obtained greater than $133 billion in worldwide monetary support," he stated. "This assist enabled the federal government to protect macro-financial stability throughout full-scale struggle, guarantee wage funds to academics, medical doctors, and public servants, and proceed pensions and social assist for essentially the most susceptible."
"The monetary system nonetheless faces challenges, which makes continued exterior assist completely vital," the minister stated.
With struggle nonetheless raging and Russia displaying no indicators of backing down, Marchenko argued that relying solely on increase nationwide armies throughout Europe might take years and require monumental assets.
U.S. President Donald Trump proposed a full ceasefire in March. Ukraine instantly agreed, and the plan was supported by European leaders.
Russia has persistently refused, culminating in a telephone name on Might 19 between Trump and President Vladimir Putin, throughout which Putin as soon as once more rejected the proposal and as a substitute demanded a "memorandum concerning a possible future peace treaty."
On Might 16, Russia initiated peace talks in Istanbul however despatched solely a low-level delegation led by Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky and reiterated calls for that Kyiv cede Crimea and 4 jap areas. President Putin and Lavrov had been each absent.
Not too long ago, Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov nearly confirmed Moscow has little interest in negotiations or a ceasefire, saying on Might 21 that "we don't need this anymore."
29 flights had been cancelled at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport allegedly as a result of risk of UAVs – Russian media
29 flights had been delayed for departure and 33 for arrival at Sheremetyevo airport as a result of risk of a drone assault. Russian air protection forces reported capturing down 159 Ukrainian UAVs over Russian areas.
Ukraine has introduced 9 extra youngsters from Russian-occupied territories to Ukrainian-controlled areas, Presidential Workplace chief Andriy Yermak stated on Could 22.
For the reason that begin of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has recognized over 19,500 youngsters who’ve been forcibly deported to Russia, Belarus, or occupied territories. Up to now, solely round 1,300 of them have been safely delivered to Ukrainian government-controlled territory.
Among the many rescued youngsters is a lady whose life was at risk as a result of lack of ample medical care within the occupied territories, and a boy who, alongside together with his mom, was locked in a basement by Russian forces whereas his father was tortured in a close-by room, Yermak stated.
Others embody two sisters who didn't go away their residence for almost three years due to fixed shelling and the presence of Russian tanks, and a teenage lady who was minimize off from on-line education attributable to communication blockades imposed by Russian forces.
"These youngsters lived by horrors," Yermak stated in a press release. "We’re fulfilling the president's job: to deliver all youngsters again residence."
The rescue mission was carried out as a part of Convey Children Again UA, a nationwide initiative spearheaded by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and coordinated by his workplace to return deported youngsters to their households and communities.
Ukrainian youngsters forcibly taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territories are positioned in households or Russian camps, the place they’re recognized to be subjected to intense anti-Ukrainian propaganda, and at instances, navy coaching.
Kyiv has repeatedly said that returning all these youngsters is a key situation for any future peace settlement with Russia.
The Worldwide Legal Court docket (ICC) has additionally taken up the matter. In March 2023, it issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Youngsters's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova over their involvement in abductions.
On Could 8, the European Parliament overwhelmingly handed a decision condemning Russia's forcible deportation and Russification of Ukrainian youngsters, calling it a "genocidal technique" aimed toward erasing Ukrainian identification and demanding the unconditional return of all kidnapped minors.
The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy
