Six countries neighboring Russia announce a “drone wall” to protect themselves

The United States announced Friday the sending of $275 million in arms to “help Ukraine repel Russia’s offensive near Kharkiv.”

The equipment, taken from American military stocks, includes ammunition for the Himars rocket launcher system, artillery shells, guided missiles, and anti-tank weapons, all weapons that Ukraine “urgently needs” , according to a press release from the US State Department.

The six NATO member countries neighboring Russia have agreed to erect a “drone wall” to defend their borders against “provocations”, the Lithuanian government announced on Friday.

“This is a completely new thing, a wall of drones stretching from Norway to Poland. The goal is to use drones and other technologies to protect our borders,” Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite told BNS news agency.

The Paris Council unanimously adopted on Friday the idea of ​​naming a street in the 16th arrondissement after the Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny, who died in detention in February. The future Alexeï-Navalny route “would possibly be on avenue Chantemesse”, an artery located just in front of the Russian embassy, ​​declared Francis Szpiner, elected LR to the Paris Council, during the meeting.

The text of the wish recalls that “many families of White Russians” settled in this district, notably rue de Passy, ​​after the revolution of 1917.

Alexeï Navalny, who “died because he had a certain idea of ​​what freedom should be”, “became in Russia and beyond Russia a symbol of freedom”, underlined Francis Szpiner.

NATO stands in “solidarity” with Estonia after the border incident between it and Russia, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday.

“I spoke with Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, NATO stands in solidarity with our ally Estonia, in the face of any threat to its sovereignty,” Jens Stoltenberg said on X.

Russia’s withdrawal on Thursday of the buoys demarcating its border with Estonia on a river is “unacceptable”, judged the head of diplomacy of the European Union (EU) Josep Borrell.

European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni noted Friday at the G7 Finance meeting in Italy “a climate of positive convergence” on the use of interest generated by frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.

“There are still many details to clarify, to deepen,” he admitted on the sidelines of the meeting of the big financiers of rich countries which is being held until Saturday in Stresa on the shores of Lake Maggiore (north) . “But it seems to me that we are moving forward in a climate of positive convergence,” he welcomed, hoping to achieve “in the medium term an agreement that could perhaps be concluded at the political level at the G7” of heads of state and government planned for mid-June in Puglia (southern Italy).

On Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called on the G7 to be “more ambitious” in the use of Russian assets.

The Kremlin said on Friday it was preparing a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korea, a country accused by the West of supplying Moscow with munitions for its offensive in Ukraine.

“President Putin received an invitation to make an official visit to North Korea. This visit is currently being prepared. We will announce the dates of this trip in due time,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. The Russian president received North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Russia in September 2023

Colonel Igor Prokhorenko described the situation as “difficult” but “stable and under control” in the Kharkiv region where fighting is taking place in particular for control of the city of Vovchansk. “The enemy is completely bogged down in street fighting in Vovchansk and has suffered very significant losses,” General Oleksandr Syrsky, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, assured this Friday, affirming that Moscow was sending “reserves” to continue his assault.

According to kyiv, Russia aims to extend until breaking the defensive lines of the Ukrainian forces, weakened by two years of war, the lack of new recruits and shortages of weapons due to months of Western procrastination. Since May 10, nearly 11,000 civilians have been forced to leave their homes in the region, Governor Oleg Synegubov said Thursday.

The Ukrainian army said on Friday that it had “stopped” the Russian assault launched on May 10 in the Kharkiv region (north-east) and was carrying out “counter-offensive actions” there to repel Moscow’s troops.

“Ukrainian defense forces have stopped Russian troops in the Kharkiv sector and are carrying out counter-offensive actions,” Colonel Igor Prokhorenko, a Ukrainian General Staff official, told reporters.

A man was arrested in Romania on suspicion of spying for Moscow, the prosecutor’s office announced on Friday. It is the first such case in the Eastern European country since the start of the war in Ukraine. “It appeared that he had been monitoring Romanian or NATO targets since 2022” near the town of Tulcea (south-east), in a border area with Ukraine, the prosecutors responsible for the investigation said in a statement. fight against organized crime and terrorism (Diicot).

Targeted by an investigation for “treason”, he is accused of having “gathered military information and took photos of combat equipment and soldiers’ movements, which he then transmitted to diplomats at the Russian embassy in Bucharest.

The head of French diplomacy deplored this Friday the increase in “provocations” from Russia on the borders of Estonia, Finland and Lithuania. “Russia has increased its provocations (…) Full solidarity in the face of these unacceptable aggressive actions,” reacted Stéphane Séjourné in a message posted on X. And added: “We are closely monitoring the situation alongside our allies, who act with calm and composure. »

The Estonian coast guard said Thursday that their Russian counterparts had removed buoys placed on the Narva River, which separates the two countries, during the night as part of a dispute at the border.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, the region of which has been the target of a Russian offensive launched from the border for two weeks. “Today I am in Kharkiv,” Mr. Zelensky said on X, claiming to have chaired meetings on the defense of the region and the restoration of energy infrastructure heavily damaged by Russian strikes.

Russian forces are “bogged down” in street fighting in the town of Vovchansk, in the Kharkiv region (north-east), the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army said on Friday, also reporting “intense” fighting. » in three key areas of the Eastern Front.

“The enemy is completely bogged down in street fighting in Vovchansk and has suffered very significant losses,” General Oleksandr Syrsky said in a Telegram message, also reporting sustained Russian offensives to try to break through the Ukrainian lines towards Chassiv Iar, Pokrovsk and Kurakhové.

Russia on Friday for the first time clearly recognized the responsibility of the Islamic State (IS) organization in the attack on Crocus City Hall, which left at least 144 dead on March 22, and in which Moscow had pointed out the responsibility of Ukraine.

“During the investigation (…), it was established that the preparations, financing, attack and withdrawal of the terrorists were coordinated via the Internet by members of the Khorasan Province group”, the Afghan branch of the EI, declared the director of the Russian security services (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, quoted by the RIA Novosti agency.

A wave of Russian missiles killed at least seven people on Thursday in Kharkiv, capital of the region of the same name in northeastern Ukraine and the country’s second city where the Russian army has been waging an offensive for nearly two weeks.

“Vladimir Putin (…) will do this for me, but for no one else, and we will pay nothing! “. Former President Donald Trump, campaigning to reconquer the White House, assured Thursday that if he is elected in November, he will be able to free American journalist Evan Gershkovich, detained in Russia. “Evan Gershkovich, the journalist from Wall Street Journaldetained by Russia, will be released almost immediately after the election, but certainly before I take office,” writes the Republican candidate on his social network Truth Social.

“He will be at home, safe and with his family,” adds the candidate.

In a joint statement, Poland and Greece asked the European Union on Thursday to equip itself with an anti-aircraft “shield” in order to better protect themselves in the midst of the war between Russia and Ukraine. “Europe will be safe as long as the sky above its head is safe,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a joint letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

This proposal comes as the 27 are already struggling to find the financing necessary for the development of their defense industries, decided following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

On Thursday evening, the United States put pressure on the G7 countries by calling on them to be more “ambitious” in the use of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, while Vladimir Putin authorized the same day the confiscation of US assets.

This thorny subject should dominate the discussions of the finance ministers and central bankers of the seven richest countries in the world, who are meeting until Saturday on the shores of Lake Maggiore in view of the summit of heads of state and government scheduled for mid -June in Puglia, Italy.

Like every day, the editorial staff of 20 minutes is mobilized to give you all the information on the war in Ukraine. This was declared with Russia’s invasion of the country on the night of February 23 to 24, 2022. Thursday was the 820th day of the conflict. A day marked by a deadly bombing on Kharkiv and by the warnings issued by the Kremlin to Western elected officials.