Lithuania announced this Friday evening that NATO countries bordering Russia will erect “a wall of drones”.
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More than two years of war in Ukraine
DECRYPTION ON LCI
What could this “drone wall” wanted by NATO member states bordering Russia look like? Explanations on LCI with Xavier Tytelman, former military aviator and aeronautics specialist.
“A wall of drones” to protect NATOSource : TF1 Info
“DRONE WALL”
The six NATO member countries neighboring Russia have agreed to build a “drone wall“in order to defend their borders against”Provocation“, 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 the BNS news agency.
ESTONIA
NATO is “united“of 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 Estonian ally, in the face of any threat to its sovereignty” Mr. Stoltenberg said on X.
The Estonian coast guard said Thursday that its Russian counterparts removed buoys placed on the Narva River, which separates the two countries, overnight in a border dispute.
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.
PUTIN TO VISIT NORTH KOREA
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, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian news agency Ria Novosti. This visit is currently being prepared. We will announce the dates of this trip in due course.“The Russian president received North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Russia in September 2023
RUSSIAN ASSAULT “STOPPED” ACCORDING TO UKRAINIAN ARMY
The Ukrainian army said 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.
ZELENSKY IN KHARKIV
“Today I am in Kharkiv,” writes Volodymyr Zelensky on the social network on X, claiming to have chaired meetings on the defense of the region and the restoration of energy infrastructure heavily damaged by Russian strikes. “The entire city and the region (…) deserve our support, our gratitude and our respect,” underlines the Ukrainian president.
EVACUATIONS
Since a new Russian offensive on northern Ukraine, 11,000 people have been evacuated in the Kharkiv region. Some departures are made possible thanks to volunteers who do not hesitate to seek out residents trapped by the fighting. Reporting.
TOKYO AND SEOUL SANCTIONS
Tokyo and Seoul announced sanctions against entities and individuals accused of being involved in supplying North Korean weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine and in violation of UN resolutions.
“We cooperated with allies such as the United States to freeze the assets of 11 groups and one individual involved in military assistance between Russia and North Korea intended to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow,” declared Japanese government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi.
THE “DECISIVE ROLE” OF EUROPE
Guest of the LCI morning show, the Minister Delegate for Europe, Jean-Noël Barrot, insisted on the “decisive role” of the European Union in helping Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion.
“STREET FIGHTS” IN VOVTCHANSK
Russian forces are “bogged down” in street fighting in the town of Vovchansk, in the Kharkiv region (north-east), said the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army. “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.
POINT POSITION
Find below the major information related to the conflict of the last 24 hours:
- A strike in Kharkiv: a wave of Russian missiles killed at least seven people in Kharkiv, capital of the region of the same name in northeastern Ukraine where the Russian army has been leading an offensive for almost two weeks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted by once again pointing out the insufficient number of anti-aircraft defense assets that the West had agreed to deliver to him.
- Two dead in Ukrainian attacks: Russian authorities have reported two deaths in Ukrainian attacks in the border region of Belgorod and the Ukrainian region of Donetsk (East), partially occupied by the Russian army.
- Conquest of a village: Moscow claimed the capture in the Donetsk region (east) of the town of Andriïvka, about ten kilometers south of Bakhmout, a town conquered by Russia in May 2023 after a ten-month battle. Russian forces are gaining ground in eastern Ukraine while kyiv has lost the initiative on the front.
- Russian tourists, refused at the Norwegian border: Norway has announced the upcoming closure of its border to Russian tourists, depriving them of the last direct access point into the Schengen area. A “discriminatory” decision according to Moscow which promised a “response”.
GOOD MORNING
Hello and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the war in Ukraine. On this Friday, May 24, find here all the information related to the conflict started more than two years ago by Russia.
The Kremlin’s new warning. Moscow denounced Thursday calls from American elected officials to authorize Ukraine to use weapons provided by Washington to strike Russian territory, seeing it as a “escalation“kyiv demands the ability to strike with Western weapons on the Kremlin’s rear bases and positions located on Russian territory, something that Europeans and Americans prohibit for fear of provoking an aggravation of the conflict.
“In Washington and in several European capitals, some are zealously trying to provoke, to constantly raise the level of escalation. In this regard, their position can be described as irresponsible.“said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov when questioned on the subject by Russian television.”Among American senators, among members of Congress, there are many hotheads who consider it their duty to add fuel to the fire“, he added.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has raged against the intransigence of Europeans and Americans, while his country has suffered for two years from strikes launched from Russian territory. Russians “can hit us from their territory, this is the biggest advantage Russia has, and we cannot do anything to their (weapons) systems located on Russian territory with Western weapons. We do not have any the right”he denounced last week in an interview with AFP.
On the ground, 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 where the Russian army has been carrying out an offensive for almost two weeks. On the Eastern Front, where Russian troops are enjoying a string of tactical successes against a Ukrainian army lacking resources, Moscow has claimed the capture of the small village of Andriïvka, in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk (east).
