Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Friday, May 24, 2024, discover the latest news around this conflict.
Ukraine says it stopped Russian assault on Kharkiv region
Ukraine assured Friday that it had “stopped” the Russian assault on the Kharkiv region, which had been underway for two weeks, and had begun a counterattack in this sector of the northeast of its territory where the president visited Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Russian army launched an offensive in the Kharkiv region from the border on May 10, seizing several localities and forcing Ukraine to deploy valuable reinforcements in the area.
After two weeks of fighting, “lUkrainian defense forces stopped Russian troops” And “carry out counter-offensive actions“, Colonel Igor Prokhorenko, an official of the Ukrainian army general staff, said on Friday.
He described the situation as “difficult” but “stable and under control” in this region where clashes are taking place in particular for control of the city of Vovtchansk, cut in two and where kyiv has accused Russian forces of abuses.
“The enemy is completely bogged down in street fighting in Vovchansk and has suffered very significant losses“, General Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, assured Friday, affirming that Moscow was sending “reserves” to continue its assault.
Ukrainian missile attack kills two in Crimea
Moscow-installed Crimean Governor Sergei Aksionov said two people were killed by a Ukrainian missile strike near Simferopol, the administrative capital of the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
A Ukrainian missile also hit an empty building near Alushta, in the southeast of the peninsula, Sergei Aksionov said on Telegram.
Air defenses intercepted three ATACMS missiles over Crimea and the army destroyed three naval drones heading towards the peninsula, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, cited by the Tass news agency.
Ukraine did not comment.
Ukrainian military bloggers and unofficial media reported that several targets were struck on the peninsula.
Krymsky Veter, an online media outlet covering Crimea, published a video it said showed an explosion and fire in Alushta, adding ambulances were heading to the scene.
The RBK-Ukraine media outlet reported, without citing a Source, that explosions occurred at three other centers and said the targets could include coast guard headquarters or intelligence centers.
According to Russian bloggers, not all missiles were intercepted.
Prison population declines as detainees enlist in Ukraine conflict
The number of inmates in Russian prisons fell by 58,000 in 2023, independent Russian media reported on Friday, a phenomenon which can be partly explained by the recruitment of prisoners into the Russian army to fight in Ukraine.
In total, some 105,000 prisoners were released between 2022 and 2023, the media said, citing data published in the official journal of the Russian prison administration.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin has worked to facilitate the recruitment of detainees to swell the ranks of armed forces in combat.
It was first the leader and founder of the Wagner paramilitary group, Evgeni Prigojine, who died in August 2023, who undertook to enlist prisoners to fight on the Ukrainian front, in exchange for the non-execution of their prison sentences. . He reported 50,000 recruits.
The Russian authorities have provided a legislative framework for this practice in order to continue recruitment.
Regional authorities in Siberia are planning the closure of several penal colonies this year due to the drop in the number of prisoners following these “trainings”.
Last year’s decline is part of a long-term trend. Since 2009, the number of convicts in Russia has been cut by three, from around 730,000 to around 250,000, according to calculations by independent media, as Russia has eased penalties for certain financial crimes.
Vladimir Putin ready for a ceasefire in Ukraine on the current front lines
Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to end the war in Ukraine as part of a negotiated ceasefire ratifying the current front lines, four Russian sources told Reuters. If Kyiv and the West remained closed to discussion, the Kremlin leader would be determined to continue the military operation begun in February 2022, they added.
According to three of these sources, familiar with the discussions in Vladimir Putin’s entourage, the latter expressed his frustration in front of some advisers over the refusal of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to initiate talks. He would also mention maneuvers, supported according to him by the West, to thwart any negotiations.
“Putin can fight as long as it takes, but he is also ready for a ceasefire – to ‘freeze’ the war“said Reuters’ fourth interlocutor, a high-ranking Russian Source who has worked with Vladimir Putin and is aware of the exchanges in the Kremlin.
Reuters spoke to a total of five people who work or have worked with Vladimir Putin at a high level in politics and business. In response to a request for comment, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin leader had repeatedly made clear that Russia was open to dialogue to achieve its goals, saying the country did not want to not an “eternal war”.
However, the prospect of a ceasefire, if that is the Russian president’s wish, seems distant. Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stated that peace negotiations on Vladimir Putin’s terms are not possible. The Ukrainian president is committed to retaking the territories annexed by Russia, notably Crimea which came under Russian control in 2014. He also signed a decree in 2022 officially declaring any negotiations with Vladimir Putin “impossible”.
One of the sources judges that no agreement can be concluded as long as Volodymyr Zelensky is in power, unless Russia “bypasses” him and negotiates directly with Washington. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited Kyiv last week, told reporters that he did not think Putin was interested in serious negotiations.
A spokesperson for the US State Department, contacted by Reuters, said: “The Kremlin has not yet shown significant interest in ending the war, quite the contrary“.
Switzerland is hosting a “peace conference” in Ukraine on June 15 and 16, to which Russia is not invited. Moscow has argued that any discussions would be groundless in its absence.
